Harassment Needs To Stop Being Passed Off As Entertainment

In the past few weeks, rapper Kanye West’s Instagram page has become the source of public entertainment and discourse. 

Various posts feature his incessant and unwanted attempt to rekindle his relationship with Kim Kardashian.

The situation has progressively escalated to worrisome status.

His Instagram has documented real-life events such as Kanye having a truck full of roses delivered to Kardashian’s house. 

While the act might seem somewhat romantic at first glance, it quickly loses that illusion once the context is considered. 

He has actively been threatening her new partner, comedian Pete Davidson. If we remove the glamorous lens of celebritydom, it simply becomes an overbearing unwanted act.

It is a painful reminder of a reality that way too many women are familiar with.

The notion that their rejections and boundaries are simply suggestions that the “romantic” thing to do is to keep pushing and asking. In what other context is actively going against someone’s wishes considered acceptable?

This pervasive idea that women’s desires and decisions are malleable is often perpetuated in romantic movies where the “stubborn” woman simply needs constant attempts by the male lead to make her realize her “true feelings.”

The reality is that Kardashian doesn’t want to be wooed. She wants to move forward with her life. She wants to pursue new relationships. West is deciding to make those decisions for her. 

This isn’t the first time that West has devalued a woman’s independence.

In 2016, he famously rapped, regarding singer Taylor Swift, “I made that b*tch famous” as an attempt to take credit for her success due to his infamous interruption of her speech at the 2009 VMA’s.

He has also shared private conversations between himself, his ex-wife and his ex-wife’s new partner with millions of followers. 

Davidson has become the target of West’s attacks through social media. He has even been the subject of a claymation music video in which West’s character cuts off Davidson’s head. Kanye has also encouraged his fans to scream “KimYe Forever” at Davidson.

While it is important to acknowledge that Kanye’s struggle with bipolar disorder may be clouding his judgment and that racially motivated attacks toward him are never justified, his behavior toward Kardashian is undeniably harassment. 

However, a big part of the internet doesn’t seem to recognize that. Some are trivializing it. Others are using it as material for comedy through reposts or memes. And lastly, some are taking it even further and calling her “deserving” of such treatment. 

Kardashian is not without flaws. She’s been accused of various transgressions ranging from setting unrealistic body expectations through the non-disclosure of cosmetic procedures to the appropriation of Black culture. 

Nevertheless, it should not be weaponized to “disqualify” her from the status of a victim nor to laugh at her distress. 

It is a very dangerous road to take when we start to pick and choose which women are worthy of respect or which ones are deserving of the sexism and harassment they receive. 

Respect is not something to be won over through someone’s character. 

When we deny Kardashian respect, sympathy and support, we are telling all women that an ex crossing boundaries and sending threats is only creepy and unacceptable if she’s been a “good girl.”

We need to do better as a society.