I have a lot of news mediums on my morning reading list and
TMZ is always one of them. TMZ gets a lot of things
right and they always have me coming back for more. But as of late, I am rather disturbed
by a couple of things TMZ did.
A radio interview published by TMZ had Ryan Lochte being
interviewed by with Ryan Seacrest, who asked him some very embarrassing
questions. But Lochte, like the true
Olympian he is, answered them as if they were no big deal. The question?
Did he urinate in the Olympic pool, to which Lochte answered “yes, all
the time.” The interview made news on
several more news websites and surely raised a few eyebrows.
This morning, while going over the news, I saw another story
about Lochte and this time it was about razors.
What really bothers me is the headline, which reads “Ryan Lochte, Pimped
Out & Razor Sharp.” Pimped out? Is that really a word we need to teach young people? Now TMZ is going from the guy who peed in the
pool to “pimped out”?
Let’s get one
thing straight. A pimp is a despicable
monster who lives off of young women, young men and children by selling their bodies for
sex. He or she then enriches himself or
herself with money from sex slave labor.
Using the word “pimp” to make Lochte "look cool" at the expense of others
is not only disgusting, but a complete misuse of language. Words like "pimped out" are designed to wrongly desensitize people away from the horrific tragedies victims of human
trafficking are coerced to endure.
We should always remember that human trafficking is a
serious crime and to joke about it in a dismissive, ignorant way
adds insult to injury to those who are victimized by pimps.
California is on it’s way to change the law for victims of
human and sex trafficking. The CASE Act,
also referred to as Proposition 35 is going to bring monumental change for sex
and human trafficking victims. It will
also help bring tools in the from of training to law enforcement, so officers may better recognize the need for treatment of victims who have been trafficked. Vote YES and Prop. 35 and STOP using words that hurt victims!!!
