Paige Spiranac on Cyber Bullying

[iacas]

On the eve of the 2016 Omega Dubai Ladies Masters, Paige Spiranac talks about the abuse she received after her sponsor's invite to last year's event:

My take?

Sponsor's exemptions are just that: exemptions for the sponsor to use as they wish. I have no issue with her at all in accepting, and applaud her answers in the video above.

The social media stuff, well, it's a double edged sword. I don't support - at all - the bullies, and her message is good. The fame she gets with the Instagram stuff and all that is bound to come with detractors, but when they cross the line, it's not acceptable.

[rolopolo]

She comes across as a very naive girl. She is selling golf equipment/apparel and gets paid $$$ to do it. She is not selling it with her talent. She was blessed with some beauty. Sure it's not nice when people say nasty things to you, but this is the social media/marketing game.

[iacas]

1 minute ago, rolopolo said:

She comes across as a very naive girl.

So you'd rather blame the victim?

No, that doesn't have to be "part of the game."

[jbishop15]

7 minutes ago, rolopolo said:

She comes across as a very naive girl. She is selling golf equipment/apparel and gets paid $$$ to do it. She is not selling it with her talent. She was blessed with some beauty. Sure it's not nice when people say nasty things to you, but this is the social media/marketing game.

It doesn't matter what she's selling; she doesn't deserve to be treated poorly. People shouldn't act like assholes. 

[woodzie264]

3 minutes ago, jbishop15 said:

It doesn't matter what she's selling; she doesn't deserve to be treated poorly. People shouldn't act like assholes. 

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[jbishop15]

Just now, woodzie264 said:

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[rolopolo]

10 minutes ago, iacas said:

So you'd rather blame the victim?

No, that doesn't have to be "part of the game."

I'm not blaming her for what people are saying to her. But she is making money and the cost is a rude comment here and there. She can quit anytime she likes and stop the abuse. It is sad that what people get up to on social media, but yes I do think she is a bit naive.

[iacas]

28 minutes ago, rolopolo said:

I'm not blaming her for what people are saying to her. But she is making money and the cost is a rude comment here and there. She can quit anytime she likes and stop the abuse. It is sad that what people get up to on social media, but yes I do think she is a bit naive.

No.

That's all wrong.

[jamo]

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

No.

That's all wrong.

And sad, that people think it's acceptable. 

[newtogolf]

It's not acceptable.  No one should be bullied and if her life was threatened or someone wished her dead she has every right to speak out.  

When you put yourself out there on social media and dress and pose in a provocative manner you have to expect to be called out, critiqued and maybe have your true intentions questioned.  

There's a fine line in society right now, men are frequently accused of objectifying women but isn't that the intent when a woman posts pictures of herself wearing minimal clothing?  She's not posting her golf swing or anything golf related, she's objectifying herself to self clothing and/or gain followers / popularity on social media.  

[Buckeyebowman]

1 hour ago, newtogolf said:

It's not acceptable.  No one should be bullied and if her life was threatened or someone wished her dead she has every right to speak out.  

When you put yourself out there on social media and dress and pose in a provocative manner you have to expect to be called out, critiqued and maybe have your true intentions questioned.  

There's a fine line in society right now, men are frequently accused of objectifying women but isn't that the intent when a woman posts pictures of herself wearing minimal clothing?  She's not posting her golf swing or anything golf related, she's objectifying herself to self clothing and/or gain followers / popularity on social media.  

Again, well said, Sir! Of course, outright threats and bullying are not acceptable modes of behavior. Yet it amazes me how many will paint a bullseye on their chest, present themselves on the "range" (aka "social" media), and are all put out when someone takes a shot at them!

FWIW, this is as close to social media as I care to get. I do not "Face", "Twit", "Insta", or "Snap"! I get increasingly tired of people with their noses buried in their "mobile devices". Especially on a golf course!

[iacas]

6 minutes ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Yet it amazes me how many will paint a bullseye on their chest, present themselves on the "range" (aka "social" media), and are all put out when someone takes a shot at them!

Yeah, that's not this.

C'mon, this shit needs to stop, and part of that needs to be that people need to stop making excuses for people who bully and act like assholes.

If you don't like someone promoting themselves on social media, the only acceptable form of behavior is to not follow them. That's it.

Anything else - any excuse-making or anything like that - is victim blaming, and is part of the problem.

[saevel25]

16 minutes ago, iacas said:

If you don't like someone promoting themselves on social media, the only acceptable form of behavior is to not follow them. That's it.

Anything else - any excuse-making or anything like that - is victim blaming, and is part of the problem.

Exactly. 

The people who make excuses for bullies are just enablers. They also do harm to the person being bullied by making them feel more isolated, that no one is on their side when they did nothing wrong. 

Imagine how much good it would do if instead of making excuses people stand up against the bullies. How many teenagers would not commit suicide because they feel like there is no one on their side who supports them. In the end bullying is torture. 

[cipher]

A famous female hunter posted this the other day.  I get that she is a bit exposed and hunting often draws out some of the worst kinds of bullying, but nobody should see these kind of comments.  It is a pretty sad reflection on society to me.

 

[newtogolf]

51 minutes ago, iacas said:

Yeah, that's not this.

C'mon, this shit needs to stop, and part of that needs to be that people need to stop making excuses for people who bully and act like assholes.

If you don't like someone promoting themselves on social media, the only acceptable form of behavior is to not follow them. That's it.

Anything else - any excuse-making or anything like that - is victim blaming, and is part of the problem.

You believe someone can put themselves out in the public eye via social media wearing provocative outfits or having provocative/controversial opinions and they should only expect praise and kudos, nothing negative?  

If that's the case then Obama, Trump and Clinton are all victims of cyber bullying.  What separates a Paige Spiranac from a Brandel Chamblee, Tiger Woods or Hank Haney who have been ripped pretty hard on this site at times?  

What's the line between criticizing / voicing opinion and bullying (obviously death threats and wishing someone would commit suicide is bullying)?

[iacas]

3 minutes ago, newtogolf said:

You believe someone can put themselves out in the public eye via social media wearing provocative outfits or having provocative/controversial opinions and they should only expect praise and kudos, nothing negative?  

Nope. But there's a line, and it's crossed far too often and far too easily, then excused because, after all, she's dressed "provocatively."

[saevel25]

3 minutes ago, newtogolf said:

You believe someone can put themselves out in the public eye via social media wearing provocative outfits or having provocative/controversial opinions and they should only expect praise and kudos, nothing negative.

Of course not. There is always going to be bullies on the internet, in our schools, where we work. Using the excuse that they exist so we should just accept them, or expect them, is not right and just enables them. 

Just like we shouldn't expect it to go away, that will be impossible, but actually standing up to bullies will go along way to making it less likely for them to want to be an asshole. 

No one, not even bullies, like to feel the peer pressure of being judged for their actions. All we do now is judge the victims for doing nothing wrong. 

9 minutes ago, newtogolf said:

If that's the case then Obama, Trump and Clinton are all victims of cyber bullying.  What separates a Paige Spiranac from a Brandel Chamblee, Tiger Woods or Hank Haney who have been ripped pretty hard on this site at times?  

What's the line between criticizing / voicing opinion and bullying (obviously death threats and wishing someone would commit suicide is bullying)?

Voicing you opinion against the opinions of what someone else has said or believes is not bullying as long as those opinions are for constructive conversation or peaceful protest. 

Hate speech, bullying, online stalking, ect... is not even close to the same thing. Putting yourself out on social media does not give people a free right to bully someone. 

Not even Trump deserves to have someone stalk him online, bullying him with hate speech and threats. 

[newtogolf]

2 minutes ago, iacas said:

Nope. But there's a line, and it's crossed far too often and far too easily, then excused because, after all, she's dressed "provocatively."

I mostly agree with you, Paige should be able to post pictures of herself wearing whatever she like and ideally people would view and move on without the need to make nasty comments.  

Unfortunately that's not the world we live in, social media is a breeding ground for cowards who hide behind their keyboard and say things they'd never have the guts to say to someones face.  We also all know the pro's and con's of participating in social media.  Facebook and Instagram are like the wild west compared to this site, when you put yourself out there, you have to expect to take some heat because there's no one moderating comments and posts like there is here.