I’m mad at CUTV & homophobia
trigger warning for discussions of harassment and consent
Here is a letter that was sent to CUTV. If you support consent and work to fight homophobia, sexism, racism and transphobia, this might interest you since the person who ‘tricked’ people to make fun of people who lack privilege in general (but it seems to be mostly women, queers and trans* that are his preferred targets) and promote his own comedy career. I am very mad at the moment and if you feel like writing to CUTV about this, please do! Don’t hesitate to PM me if you need more info. CUTV is usually very cool, so I believe that they will help for the removal of this video and hopefully will remove this disrespectful person from their programming.
Dear CUTV,
I am a Concordia student who has been featured in a video of Adam Susser against my will. It is a very serious ethical issue since I told him and his fellow cameraman, after I understood he was not taking me seriously and start making fun of how I dress, that I didn’t consent to be in his video and that he should remove any footage I appeared in. Since he clearly presented himself as a reporter for CUTV, I took for granted that he would respect my removal from this video – in other words, I trusted CUTV.
As a Women’s Studies student who has been involved in the strike movement, I witnessed the effort of CUTV to produce an alternative view on the student strike, giving a voice to people who don’t have it in the mass media. I was very surprised to find out that Adam Susser’s video was not there to discuss critically sexism and comedy, but rather make fun of us protesters – and that I’ve been featured there against my will. Not only we have been tricked as a group of feminists hoping to discuss our actions in a media that we believed in- but I also have to deal with personal issues of appearing in a video that I felt was not ‘safe’ (I then removed my consent, remember?).
Because feminists always have bad press, we all thought that it might be a good opportunity to explain what was going on at the demonstration against Testostérone, especially since everything we have done online to promote it have been filled with hateful comments, particularly of homophobic nature. It is no surprise then that after Susser sent the video to Mike Ward (who posted it on his website and Facebook page, encouraging Susser to keep doing this kind of ‘comedy’), there is several comments where I can read that I am an ugly lesbian that no men will want – and several other misogynist attacks. And the part where I actually say stuff that matter, like Gilles Rozon’s rape accusations and the effect of common-sense racism, homophobia and sexism in the Québécois comedy culture, was not featured in this video, which is available online.
We all know that Internet is not a ‘safe space’. As we all witnessed with Concordia’s backlash on strikers, we know our school is not ‘safe space’ neither. I assume that Susser is a fellow Concordian – which give me anxieties. I do not want to encounter him at school, where I study and I’m involved with organization fighting sexism, racism and homophobia (areas that seems to be Susser’s favourite targets). Thanks to his anti-feminist work, I will never speak in front of a camera again, and I will avoid to be present in a space where people are filming – after all, who knows their intentions?
CUTV staff, I am asking your help to get this video removed from the Internet. It is not available on the CUTV website anymore, but it is on Susser’s Youtube and Facebook accounts as well as Mike Ward’s website and Facebook account. I sincerely hope that you give a real talk about ethics to your ‘reporter’ Adam Susser. I had personal issues about being in this video, and he and his cameraman didn’t respect my choice not to be featured in this video. There are at least four fellow protesters who witnessed me asking him to be removed from this video. I am very mad and considering legal recourse. I think a progressive tribune such as CUTV should stop promoting Adam Susser and his hate speech. I still cannot believe that CUTV give him the resources to do this type of ‘work’. Not only his videos are all about disinformation (like what you see in numerous mainstream media), but it is also his personal attack on feminism. He used his privilegs to jump into a heated debate where he was able to promote his personal career by manipulating people who are ALWAYS dismissed in popular culture – feminists and their allies.
I sincerely hope you will do your best to respect my demands to not appear in any of Susser’s video (at any point). If he needs a reminder since he don’t know what consent is – I’m the girl with the ‘Don’t fucking touch me’ vest (which has been use to identify me in the trolling of hate speech comments).
Thank you,
(name withheld for privacy)
UUUUGH. i looked for this video on youtube and it is BEYOND painful. @44 secs?! that’s what fucking unwanted touching and harrassment looks like. adam susser clearly thinks it’s “funny” to do something a stranger CLEARLY does not want him to do. write to CUTV to tell them not to work with this so-called journalist and comedian, and to remove the people from the video who did not give their consent.
edited to add: i left a comment on sunday on the youtube video link and the CUTV link. CUTV removed the video from their website but have not responded to people’s concerns about hiring adam susser. my comment on adam susser’s youtube channel has been deleted.
ah, the internet misadventures of a “humourless feminist.” where shitbags send you hate messages, encourages his friends to harrass you, and then blocks YOU on twitter. where douchebags make videos like these and delete any comment that isn’t a glowing review, but lets strangers say “it’s just too bad some frustrated cunts can’t just live and let live”. fun times.
(Source: catsandgraffitis)
