Controversial photo of female footballer taken down then put back up
Of course a flattering photo of an attractive young woman is going to attract comments. What is wrong with just deleting the ruder comments? It's a very good image of an Australian sportswoman
Women's AFL star Tayla Harris has spoken out about the vile comments she received after a photo of her kicking a football was posted online.
The photo, taken by Michael Wilson, shows Harris' athletic prowess as she drop punts the ball during a match.
Comments on the photo on the 7AFL site were filled vile sexual tones, forcing the image to be taken down - a decision that caused further backlash.
Harris appeared on breakfast radio on Wednesday morning and said some of the comments were 'sexual abuse'.
'I'm feeling empowered this morning. I think because of the reaction that's come, it's been a bit of a whirlwind,' Harris told RSN Radio's Breakfast Club.
'It is really amazing that the AFL community got around me,' the star said, while admitting the issue is now about what authorities can do to stop social media trolling ever being accepted.
The image was captured in a match against the Western Bulldogs, but 7AFL's Twitter post was quickly hijacked by trolls, leading them to replace it with a message about the post.
'The original purpose in publishing the image was to celebrate the power, athleticism and skills on show in Carlton's thrilling win over the Western Bulldogs,' the message read. 'The image attracted a number of comments, some of which were inappropriate and offensive. As a consequence we have removed the image and the comments.'
Fans immediately questioned why the image needed to be taken down and eventually 7AFL posted it again.
'It's with the misogynistic behaviour by the supporters in the comments. Try blocking these accounts from your social media. Take a stand.' one user said.
AFL stars and athletes criticised 7AFL for making the decision to remove the image.
Footballer Darcy Vesico posted: 'Deleting this post is giving into trolls. Also you're eliminating all the positive conversation. Also you're removing more content around women in sport.'
SOURCE
UPDATE: This story seems to have got a lot of press. So here is another photo of the lady:
She is about as good-looking as they come -- with a light dusting of freckles only adding to the effect. Her athleticism is not limited to football. She is quite advanced in boxing also. If a man were to harass her, she could quite likely deck him
4 comments:
S0me people are simply obnoxious.
IIRC there were only three dodgy comments I saw:
1. about her kicking ability
2. about a different trans-gender player
3. about her risk of 'flashing' something.
I didn't see anything especially out of the ordinary - just trolls trying to get a rise out of people.
But it has turned into the cause celebre of the moment.
While it is an ugly part of public notoriety it kinda comes with the territory.
It was probably an unwise choice to publish the picture.
Everything that has happened was entirely predictable.
Yes - It's a great action photo.
No - there is nothing wrong with the photo - no reason not to be proud of what it represents.
Unfortunately, there are a small number of truly obnoxious jerks out there.
Such jerks love the anonymous attention this brings them.
Only an idiot wouldn't foresee a few obnoxious, crude comments from attention seeking jerks.
And again - only an idiot wouldn't foresee the potential maelstrom of angry responses to those comments.
Since everything that has happened here was entirely predictable my sense is that it was either profoundly stupid or intentionally cruel to publish that photo, and thus subject Ms. Harris to this entirely predictable unpleasantness UNLESS having first checked in with her to see if this was a fight she wanted to take on.
Given that this result was entirely predictable, and assuming the publisher isn't a complete moron (huge assumption), who is the greater ass - the moron commenters or the publisher who willingly subjected Ms. Harris to this entirely predictable firestorm?
Having said that - nothing about this in any way whatsoever justifies any sort of call for any sort of censorship of anybody involved. All it does is tell us that the world contains many idiots and many jerks. To censor them only empowers the powermonger censor who in the end will be far, far, far worse.
But it also instructs us there is nothing wrong with the civility of self-censorship so long as it is not coerced.
Politeness and civility are at the heart of a decent society.
Political Correctness is the starting point on the road to enslavement.
If it were myself in the picture, I would not want it published anywhere. It's embarrassing for her and those who are startled to see it in public. Many of us still have higher ethics and morals than those younger people who have practically none.
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