I picked up the new issue of Newsweek, now under a new editor, and saw that it was the “Women Issue” with a picture of Hillary Clinton on the cover. I remain unimpressed whenever someone tries to sell Clinton as some sort of feminist hero so I started reading the magazine with a cynical eye. However, imagine my surprise when I saw that in an article on Charlie Sheen, Newsweek actually brought up a very valid point.
I shall not keep you in suspense. The article in Newsweek points out that no one really seems to care that Charlie Sheen’s drug problems consistently lead to women being abused. The article quotes New York Times writer Anna Holmes who said, “[Sheen’s] abuse of women is barely noted.”
It’s tough to argue with that, isn’t it? Sheen’s history includes shooting his ex-wife (if we take him on his word that it was an accident then at best Sheen is a moron who plays with dangerous objects), threatening to kill or harm various women, held a knife to his wife’s neck and just today had his house raided for weapons. Sheen may well be a tragic figure of a sort but he is a habitual abuser of women and I find it incredibly difficult to muster up tears for him.
But what disturbs me the most is the fact that most people don’t seem to give a shit about any of this. Sheen’s abuse of women is met with a muted shrug of disinterest by the general public. Not until he badmouthed his boss did people start saying, “Wow, maybe there’s something wrong with this guy.” Now I know we live in a capitalist society but is badmouthing your boss, who writes an incredibly sexist show, worse than holding a knife to your wife’s neck and threatening to kill her? Apparently so. Only now are people saying what a wacko Charlie Sheen is because he lost his lucrative job. Beating women? Meh, who cares? Losing a well paying job? Well, now he’s just gone way too far.
Now I can’t blame Charlie Sheen for the fact that his abuses aren’t being covered by the media. That’s squarely on the media’s shoulders and, to an extent, our own.