Rita Panahi: Selwoods didn’t need to mop up video fallout
Joel and Brit Selwood’s video wasn’t some grand statement on womanhood. And the couple shouldn’t have deleted it because a few sad souls worked overtime to be offended on Brit’s behalf, writes Rita Panahi.
Rita Panahi
Don't miss out on the headlines from Rita Panahi. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Who among us had “Geelong star Joel Selwood cops backlash for video showing him using wife Brit as a mop” on their 2020 bingo card?
It’s reassuring that even in the midst of an economy-destroying pandemic we can rely upon perpetually outraged numpties to find new and ever more absurd things to be indignant about.
If nothing else, at least these miserable souls provide the rest of us with some m uch-needed comic relief as we mock their righteous anger and laugh at their misplaced fury. That is a welcome diversion at a time when the news is dominated by disease, debt and other grim tidings.
The latest target of the PC police’s bile is Geelong captain Selwood who, along with wife Brit, made the mistake of posting a humorous little video on social media site, TikTok.
For the uninitiated, TikTok, is a video sharing platform where young’uns post short clips, typically set to music. It’s a cross between Instagram and Twitter and is all the rage with Millennials and Generation Z, though increasingly the platform is being adopted by “oldies”, that is, people over 35.
In the short video set to the music of The Clean Up Song Joel picks up a smiling Brit, who keeps her body erect like, err, a broomstick, and turns her upside down, dipping her head in a bucket of water and then using her hair to sweep the floor.
Profound? No. Champagne comedy? Not quite. Offensive, sexist and degrading? Only if you’re desperate to find offence where none exists or was intended. But that didn’t stop the usual keyboard warriors from venting their spleen on social media.
“So sexist on so many levels. Shame on you Joel” and “A lot of kids, boys and girls, would look up to Joel Selwood so what a horrible example of how to treat women he is showing them,” posted Lynne Black who describes herself as a “proud SJW (social justice warrior) and lefty snowflake”. At least she’s self-aware.
“I will make sure everyone has a copy including the AFL boss. its (sic) a disgrace coming from a captain of geelong (sic) football team,” wrote Lindy whose bio lists her as an animal lover.
“Great way to treat a female,” tweeted Rex Eastley, while Lyn Bender called the video “a great show of Macho insensitivity” and lambasted Joel for “humiliating” and “physically overpowering” his wife.
However, for every appalled viewer there were dozens and dozens of social media users rushing to the couple’s defence. The overwhelming majority of comments were positive and saw the video as playful, funny and nothing more than a young couple having a little bit of fun during lockdown.
Nevertheless, the backlash from the teeny, tiny but loud minority saw both Joel and Brit delete the video. There were reports the Cats were unhappy and encouraged the deletion though the football club did not respond to a Herald Sun request for comment.
Sporting clubs, along with other businesses, large and small, have become hypersensitive to online criticism from those who bombard them with emails, social media posts and sometimes harass their sponsors and affiliates. By giving in to bullies they empower the loud, intolerant minority, who demand everything they dislike be silenced, deleted or de-platformed.
Now, personally the Selwoods’ video isn’t my cup of tea. I probably wouldn’t press “like” if I was scrolling past but one can dislike something without trying to find some sinister meaning behind the behaviour you’ve chosen to witness.
The Selwood video wasn’t some grand statement on womanhood. And the couple shouldn’t have deleted it because a few sad souls worked overtime to be offended on Brit’s behalf.
The mere act of deleting a post is seen by detractors as an admission of wrongdoing.
Keyboard warriors aside, the most prominent name to find the video troubling was veteran footy journalist Caroline Wilson, who claimed on Channel 9 that “a lot of people were very offended by what happened” and that the behaviour didn’t pass the “pub test”.
Maybe if the pub is in Fitzroy. Wilson said she wasn’t outraged by the video but added: “I looked at it and went, ‘Oh Joel, you’re the Geelong captain’. It’s pretty stupid,” and “I don’t know why he did it. And you know what, Geelong Football Club feels the same way.”
If that’s true then shame on Geelong for being weak and giving in to a few faceless trolls instead of backing its captain and Brit Selwood.
Rita Panahi is a Herald Sun columnist