The Bad Side of Being Famous Imagine someone in their home minding their own business and someone else records them walking in their underwear. Instead of deleting the video the person uploads it to YouTube for millions to see. For the person in the underwear that would mean that they would get publicly humiliated, and there’s no telling who could’ve seen that video. This is what Jessica Bennett is trying to get across to readers that sure some people would enjoy the same but there are some people that don’t want to be famous, especially if it’s because they’ve been humiliated. In this day and age almost everyone has a phone and that phone most likely has connection to the internet. It’s due to that fact that just about anything a person can do could be on the internet at any given moment. According to (Bennett PG 597) “already dozens of websites exist solely to help those who would shame others.” There are websites out there for shaming just about anything actually. For example, they have a site for: ex-lovers, bad tippers, lousy drivers, and images of public bad behavior. Bennett also says that such sites can be beneficial to someone or the complete opposite and make life a nightmare. The internet may be a great resource for some but it can ruin lives in a heartbeat. Like professor Daniel Solove of George Washington …show more content…
The Romans punished people by branding them, cutting off their fingers, clamped to stocks in the public square, and all sorts of horrible things in order to get their point across. While in the present our methods are not as severe we still continue to shame those that we feel deserved it. Bennett said “More recently a U.S. judge forced a mail thief to wear a sign announcing his crime outside a San Francisco post office.” The thief was shamed by having to stand in front of the post office with a sign that said he stole the
Public shaming happens more often than we are aware of. “So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed” by Jon Ronson is a book focused on modern public shaming. Ronson refers to the puritan era multiple times and compares their public shaming to modern shaming. He provides evidence where shaming can be used for good and when shaming can be used for destruction. Although Ronson choses to lean on how shaming has destroyed multiple individual's self-esteem, careers and their lives in general; he makes sure to add in happy story endings, where the shaming had changed their lives for the better. Ronson is incredibly thorough with each story he tells and very little is left to the imagination. At times he goes over board and provides too much information which could leave the reader confused.
Public shaming can sometimes work when sending people to prison or jail does not; this is because it makes them own up to what they did. It makes the people not want to do it again and it also sets an example to everyone that sees them. Making a person hold a sign in public seems to be the most popular form of public shaming as a punishment, for example: a woman who drove on a sidewalk just to go around a school bus was made to wear a sign and stand at an intersection (Reutter); by forcing her to do this she will probably not drive around a bus again and will hopefully
Dan M. Kahan argues in his article “Shame Is Worth a Try” that people who understand the potential of shaming know that it is “cheap, efficient, and an appropriate alternative to short jail sentences” (571).
These feelings are still alive from the nonstop coverage of entertainers on the train to parents who force their children to show signs of their crime in the streets. Of course, there are various degrees of shaming, and some people claim to use it. Shame is powerful, and can form the behavior of the person being shamed and the people around him. Back in high school and college, there were (silly) things I did not do. For I have seen others rejected it as though I had never been again (foolish) because I was rejected because of it.
The role of punishments in the justice system is designed to be served for a certain period of time then end, but today “public shaming exercises haphazardly mix the real world with virtual reality [social media] [...]” (Beato) because public humiliation fails to have an exact ending due to social media. A crucial part of the justice system is to reform the individuals who are punished under it; punishments that end allow individuals to move on and become good citizens again. Since public humiliation does not end, it is not a viable option for punishments that reform the individual. Judges often sentence criminals to public humiliation because they believe it to be a less intense form of punishment. However in reality, public humiliation is the most damaging form of punishment, below the death penalty, because the damage caused by public humiliation follow the individual for the rest of their life. Public humiliation is too damaging to be used to punish
In the article “Condemn the Crime, Not the Person,” June Tangney argues that shaming causes more harm than good. She focuses on alternatives to traditional sentences instead of shaming and incarceration. As a most recent trend, officials are using shaming sentences. Tangney states that it is important to know the distinction between shame and guilt. She explains that feelings of shame involve painful focus on the self, the humiliating sense of “I am a bad person,” and guilt impacts a specific behavior, the sense of “I did a bad thing” (570-571). She also emphasizes in evidence suggesting that publicly shaming make a problem instead of creating a constructive change in people. Even thought, the tone of her essay is informative and innovative, it is one sided, ineffective
In the 1750s if caught or assumed to be a thief in the first conviction a person was to be whipped. The second time caught the accused was to repay damages and whipped in public. The third offense was sentence to hang. (Lewin, 2013) Corporal punishment, public humiliation, forced labor, exile, and death were reform tactics and carried out right after convincing a prisoner instead of long-term prison sentences. (Lynch) Today we still have some of the very same tactics,
As an individual, it’s a part of life to make plenty of mistakes, but is public shaming the answer to solving it? In todays’ society, punishment for people is completely different from back in the Puritan days. For example, in the novel the Scarlett Letter, Hester Prynne commits adultery, which leads her to having to wear the letter “A” on her chest, which is a form of public humiliation but in this sense, it’s not right. This is Hester Prynne’s sin that she committed that she lives with forever and it shouldn’t be any of the public business for her to be humiliated even more. This is a form of public ridicule, reintegrative shaming where attention can be drawn by wrong doing, and in order for you to learn in life you have make some mistakes . Public shaming is immoral in today’s society because as an individual that has done something wrong, you will start to feel like an outcast besides having to endure humiliation for your actions.
After reading “The Scarlet Letter” and watching the Monica Lewinsky Ted talk, one can see there are major differences and similarities between 17th century shaming and modern day shaming. In the 17th century scaffolds were metaphorically much smaller than they are now. In the 17th century a scaffold was a raised wooden platform used for the public execution of a criminal, whereas contemporary scaffolds are platforms used for verbal shaming, internet shaming, and shaming worldwide. In the 17th century only people in one’s town could see them being shamed, but today in society being shamed can be viewed by anyone because of technology used by people every day.
Although the internet can be a helpful tool in all facets of life, the negative effects it has on one’s body are undeniable. The brain is very adaptable, and changes occur at a biological level as one
Hawthorne claims that no crime is more flagrant than to prevent an offender from hiding his face in shame. After reading the novel, The Scarlet Letter I can see that there is very thorough evidence for agreeing with Hawthorne. Therefore, it is definite that there is no crime worse than being forced to confront your shame in public. Individuals should have the right to face their wrongs alone and should not be forced to confront them publicly. The article “The Shame of Public Shaming” clarifies that public shaming has been used as punishment in almost all societies but over the past couple of centuries have moved away from this kind of punishments. In the Massachusetts Bay Colony, they have publicly shamed many individuals the main one
Spain was not England’s only motive for colonization: England had duel economic problems of mass unemployment and lack of markets to sell their manufactured goods. Along with raw materials, colonization of North America would provide jobs for the idle youth of England as well as plenty of new markets. Hakluyt believed that the beggars, veterans, debtors, youth, and sailors would find work and grow to be in a “more happy state”. John Winthrope put it perfectly when he said that England “groews weary of her Inhabitants”; the “ burthen of [the] poore” was becoming too much for England. The poor of England were turing to crime, begging, and debt to try and survive during the 16th and 17th centuries. England was indeed being weighed down,
Fresh water is needed to sustain life for humans, animals, and plant life. Desalination plants should be built to aid in providing this necessary resource. According to the article entitled “A Source of Freshwater” the process of water desalination has been around since the time of Aristotle in 320 BCE. Also, desalination plants are inexpensive. Next, the plant will make up to 56 million gallons of fresh water each day. There for, 14% of people will lack fresh water by 2025. Finally desalination is the solution for the future. Some may say that the plants are too costly to build or bad for the environment, but it is well worth the costs and steps could be taken to protect ensure safety. In conclusion, water desalination plants should be built
In today’s internet savvy world, ‘Shaming’ has become an aspect of core-competency. And this aspect holds the power to destroy lives and confidences. This issue has become so large in the past few years that an entire book (“So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed”) has been written focusing on this very topic. But who is responsible for this chaos? Is it the person engaging in bad behavior or the person pulling the curtain off of the act? The answer depends on whom you ask. Social media when used properly has proved to be a powerful tool against the powerful organizations and influential people. Giving voice to pain of millions.
A time where I learned a gender role was from my dad, he has taught me to take care of my brother and look out for him. Since I’m the older brother I have to protect from all the bad this world gives. No matter what happens I will always support my brother in whatever he does along with making sure he going in the right direction in life. One thing my dad told me when I was starting middle school is that if my brother ever got into a fight with another person that he wants me to jump in and help my brother out if he’s getting a beating. That's a role I would gladly accept because no one going to beat up on my little brother accept for me, I had no problem with that. Another thing he would always tell me would be that always stay close to your