Screencap from Women's Rights News
Nothing says "Peace On Earth" like women bound and gagged, am I right? Believe it or not, that's exactly the premise behind a family's Christmas card gone horribly awry.
The family photo, which featured the mother and daughters bound with Christmas lights and gagged with neon green tape while the son gives a thumbs up and dad looks on approvingly, was posted to the photographer's Facebook page. It quickly went viral with a disturbing number of people defending it as cute or funny while others pointed out how incredibly fucked up it all is.
I really shouldn't have to tell anyone that portraying "peace" as misogyny and violence against women isn't OK. It doesn't matter if the women of the family agreed. Hell, it doesn't even matter if it was their idea. Internalized misogyny doesn't make it any less misogynistic, and there's nothing funny about it.
It is bad enough that these girls were silenced in the name of "humor" –– stripped of their power in the name of "peace." But that confused little boy giving a tentative thumbs up haunts me. His mother is probably the center of his universe still and my heart aches for the lesson that he was taught that day: life would be better if his mother sat down, shut up, and knew her place.
Let there be peace on Earth, indeed –– but that will only happen when we reject oppression, not encourage it.