I think we can go ahead and draw a thick black line between what is ‘true’ and what is ‘popular’. The two have never been further apart. I swear, if such a thing were a venn diagram, ‘what is popular’ will sit nicely on your lap, and ‘the truth’ will be somewhere far out in outer space, orbiting one of Jupiter’s moons. Let’s be clear… What gets you likes, brand deals, lucrative financial return, and social media currency, is rarely correct, useful or productive. And what is genuinely helpful information is often painful, boring, extraordinarily unpopular, buried beneath outrage and can put you on a one-way-ticket to cancel town. This phenomenon is perhaps most pertinent within domestic violence advocacy. Because did you know women and men are equally violent in dating and marital relationships? Did you know there’s nearly four decades of evidence, and hundreds of studies proving it? Did you know this research has routinely been hidden, or buried for political reasons, with their researchers all receiving death threats? There it is, the nettle to be grabbed, the cactus to be sat upon… It’s… the truth. Just don’t say it too loud, because it could lead to your utter annihilation. And when it comes to domestic violence – the constant betrayal of objective truth, is the betrayal of men and boys; millions and millions of who are left behind, locked out and excluded from support. In the meantime, what’s popular prevails, and the truth is left to pick up the pieces. So what kind of reality do you want to live in? And what kind of truth will you dare speak of? ~ [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] Images by Codioful, Dave AJ, Kiwi Hug, Craig Whitehead and Mathias Reding.

2023-09-14