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Depp and Heard trial from MY feminist point of view.

Depp and Heard trial from MY feminist point of view.

I am really sad. I think I am mostly angry, but also sad. I think my husband Chris is too, but for different reasons… basically the whole Depp/Heard trial is the main conversation I keep returning to no matter what the original topic was and he keeps receiving similar messages in different tones and volumes. And a lot of swearing.

I didn't really want to comment on it at first because I really try to avoid the urge to have an opinion on everything (in public, if you know me, you know that in private I am definitely ok with that). Also, I didn't feel that I knew enough about this case, but since then not only I have learnt more but mostly I have been increasingly outraged about the way the world is reacting.

I guess I can no longer use Chris alone as an outlet for my rage ,so following my own advice to trust the power of conversations, I am here, in front of the computer, determined to have a conversation with as many of you as possible. 

I know that a lot of men, probably a lot of abusive men and the whole manosphere is clapping at the implications of this trial. They were right all along! Women are manipulative gold diggers that abuse men. Women are histrionical liars. Women are as bad as men, actually women are worse. Apparently this believing women thing was going to far (even if the statistics of rapemen violence against women and femicide are quite black and white) and Johnny Depp is the hero they needed to prove just that.

But this is not what this trial is about. Well, it is, under the desguise of being about something else. This case is not about domestic violence. He is not suing her for what she allegedly did, he is suing her for defamation. Despite losing his case in the UK in 2020 when he sued The Sun newspaper for the same reason.

This whole trial is based on an article from 2018 in which she talked about HER experience as a woman victim of domestic abuse in the public eye. She doesn’t give examples of her marriage; she doesn’t mention Johnny Depp. But she dared to speak up about the way society protects men in general, powerful men in particular. She talked about how speaking up means that you are the one in trial, and somehow, maybe unsurprisingly, he felt an urge to punish her for it.

In the case against the Sun the judge determined that 12 of the 14 cases that she brought forward were proven. There was no defamation because there were no lies in the implications. “I have found that the great majority of alleged assaults of Ms. Heard by Mr. Depp have been proved to the civil standard. … I also accept that Ms. Heard’s allegations have had a negative effect on her career as an actor and activist.” End of story. And that was against a newspaper that called him, identifying him by name, “wife beater”. The case he would need to win now is against an article that doesn’t even mention him. It seems like a long shot.

But in fairness, the money he wants her to pay him or the possibility to win is almost anecdotical. He knows he will most likely lose (and not because the system doesn’t like men to get off the hook) but it doesn’t matter because the aim of this trial is gathering support in the public eye, it is about changing a narrative and mostly is about punishing her and telling the world that she deserved it. That women, sometimes, deserve it.

I am not saying that she didn’t do anything wrong during the relationship, what I am saying is that this is not what is on trial at the moment, although people seem to think that it is. I am also saying that I refuse to participate in a culture in which we blame the victims.

What he did to her is proven by a court of law after a lot of investigation. What she did or didn’t do is irrelevant in this context, unless we want to tell the world that abuse is ok if you deserve it. Unless we are willing to accept the idea of the perfect victim - the maternal one, the caring one, the one that doesn’t fight back. The one that is selfless and easy and submissive and YET she gets abused. Why is this conversation turning into who gets to be socially accepted as a good victim of domestic violence? And how good is good enough?

We see this all the time. A woman gets raped, and society starts questioning if she was drunk, if she had flirted with him, if she said no loud enough. We ask if the skirt was too revealing. Because if any of those were true, or even worse, if all of them were true, then who is she to ruin his life? Why is she not taking her part of responsibility? At the very least her part.  

What is important to understand here is the wider implications of this case. It is problematic that to have this conversation at all we have the desperate need to concede that “she too is bad” or that “they are both toxic”. Why do we need to collectively agree that she is awful, before we can even start making our point? Why is punishing her the very minimum required  to address any of the other problems if you want to maintain the public façade that you are not going too far? The way this case works, and the way we are all reacting around this case, affects every woman because it fuels the same misogyny that already affects every woman.

This is a very loud message for all victims that says, “are you sure you didn’t deserve it? Are you willing to put your whole life in trial just for speaking up? Knowing that you will be silenced, medicalised, ridiculed, and ostracised. Do you want to speak up that much? Would you take your chances knowing that no matter what the outcome you will always have more to lose than to win?”

And what is even scarier is that this is an even a louder message for all abusers. This trial tells them that they don’t have to put up with women fighting them back, that they can turn this around and still become the heroes of their stories, the ones deserving the sympathy and support. That there is a further outlet to keep women in line. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that Marylin Manson, Johnny Depp’s matching-tattoo friend, is also suing for defamation against those who held him accountable.

I have OF COURSE no problem with men who bring forward cases of domestic abuse, I think it takes bravery and vulnerability in a world in which toxic masculinity forces men to never come across as weak, ESPECIALLY never weaker than a woman. I think that men can be victims of domestic abuse by their partners. But again, this is not a case of domestic violence, this is a trial for defamation. What the court is being asked to decide is if Amber Heard knowingly lied in her article, therefore acting in bad faith and damaging his career in doing so.

But to understand this we need to understand that Johnny Depp’s style of work (from hitting a crew member, to arriving drugged and drunk to the studio, or his stupidly expensive demands or the fact that he can’t be bothered learning the lines of his scripts, prefering someone to read them to him through an earpiece) is what has potentially cost Depp his career. Hollywood doesn’t punish misogynistic powerful men, the public don’t stop watching films, or praising men’s arts or their capacity to play a sport “JUST” because they have abused a woman, not even many women. What Hollywood punishes hard is investing money on films that don’t bring the money back, and that was what Johnny Depp was delivering. The belief that women have the capacity to destroy a man’s career with false allegations is just not true. It takes lots of brave women to come forward, to be scrutinised, to show evidence, to be hurt and harmed in the whole process for anything to happen at all. Just for it to be all forgotten shortly after a vague apology. We see it with disbelief time after time.  As long as they maintain their capacity to make money they are generally received with “Just stay quiet for a bit, then we will bring you back, with your image restored, you will be bigger than before son, don’t you worry.”

There are so many things that I want to talk about here, so many “LET’S NOT FORGET ABOUT THIS!” really important points. For example, the fact that he was 46, really famous and rich and she wasn’t any of the above and was 23 when they started dating. The fact that he also started dating a 17 year old Winona Ryder when he was 24, a 20 years old Kate Moss when he was 31, and Polina Glen when she was in her early 20s and he was in his mid 50s. Unbalanced power in a relationship is important when trying to put things in context. Why is what Amber did or didn’t do the only context people feel they need to understand the situation?

What about the fact that no normal person, no matter how witty or “abstract” their sense of humour is, sends the horrendous messages that he sent when referring to women. Have we lost all our capacity of react to misogyny to such an extent that we think it is excusable in any shape or form to say “Let’s drown her before we burn her. I will f**k her burnt corpse afterwards to make sure she’s dead’ or “I have no mercy, no fear and not an ounce of emotion or what I once thought was love for this gold digging, low level, dime a dozen, mushy, pointless dangling overused flappy fish market …”.

He, himself, has admitted how in order to be good he needed to “lock up the monster”. There are texts of him praising her efforts to get him detoxed and admitting how hard it must have been for her and how he wouldn’t be alive without her. We have seen confessions in texts of what it is undeniable abuse YET we feel that we NEED to know what she did too because, there is a possibility that she was as bad (or hopefully even worse), and if that were the case he should be excused of any accountability. Then we can direct our anger and repulsion to her. We can keep talking about how they both deserved each other. How it wasn’t abuse.

It feels that we could talk too about the way her mental health was called into question to invalidate her, including her “histrionic personality disorder’ that among other things included “a lot of cruelty”,  “very concerned with her image”, plays “a victim or princess role” is “overly flirtatious” and acts in “an overly girly way”to “avoid getting negative feedback or criticism”. It was common in the 18th and 19th century for women to be diagnosed with “hysteria” when stepping outside out societal expectations… are we really going back to this in the public eye?

And of course we could go on and on about all the many things that are making this trial a misogynistic circus.

It made my stomach turn when I read Javier Bardem’s words, “I love Johnny because he is a good human being, trapped in the lies and manipulations of toxic beings and yet smiling and loving us all in spite of it. How? Through his music, through his acting, through his silence. This means a lot. Thank you Johnny. Millions of others like me love you deeply.”

Javier Bardem, who said, when he was asked about the #metoo movement, that although overall it was positive, we needed to be careful about “online lynching” and talked about the importance letting serious matters be dealt with in court. I guess he meant only for men, because what happens now, when the courts have already accepted as proven 12 cases of domestic violence? What happens when the one at the other side of the lynching is no longer a powerful man but an “easy to hate” woman?

Johnny Depp  defended Polanski, He made Marylin Manson the god father of his daughter and tried to buy some nazi memorabilia with him, and in his list of great friends there are other proven abusers… there is a pattern of powerful men defending other powerful men, and this trial is a very obvious way to show how far and low they are willing to go for the world to respect the impunity that they think they deserve for their actions.

 I want to finish with the great words of the awesome Clementine Ford who is doing a great job on Instagram covering the whole trial,

“We don’t need men to protect women, we need men to stop protecting each other.”

 

 

 

33 Responses

Hypocrisy

Hypocrisy

January 15, 2024

The hypocrisy is so palpable. Apparently ‘female solidarity’ is greater than plain facts.
It is so clear that feminist claims of valuing equality were never the point. They just will not take ownership for the problems in their movement, and that’s why feminism will always be a minority movement; will never gain traction.

A man cannot grow old with a feminist. Feminism is a social cancer.

Poor Chris. I hope he signed a prenup.

Nadia

Nadia

April 06, 2023

WELL DONE FOR THIS! Ignore the haters in the comments. They are fuelled by the same old patriarchy BS and don’t know what they are talking about. Lots of love and strength to you!

Breanne Cronyn

Breanne Cronyn

September 26, 2022

My question is what your opinion about amber having an abusive past? Such as getting arrested for being physically towards her then partner? Why haven’t you brought that up? Obviously she has no problem with being abusive towards her ex wife in public so God only knows what she’s like behind closed. The fact she’s being defended is disgusting and a disgrace to feminism as a whole Sincerely, a feminist! 🤍

sarah sm

sarah sm

June 20, 2022

so are you still venting on poor Chris after jury gave an unequivocal decision? this was a major setback to women but not because of “manosphere” but cause of biased toxic feminists.

Duncan

Duncan

June 17, 2022

You are blaming the victim of abuse. You have become that which you claim to hate.

Pallas

Pallas

June 14, 2022

Clementine Ford thinks “all men should die!”
YOU are a very sick person! No men, no life. NO, you won’t print this.

Can't have it both ways

Can't have it both ways

June 13, 2022

You claim this isn’t about domestic violence to make the point that Heards claims are true. You then go on to claim that this is a win for misogyny and abusers will be empowered. This implies obviously that it is about domestic violence. You can’t have it both ways.

I agree firstly, this isn’t about domestic violence and it’s not about feminism either. What’s truly most sad about this, is so called feminists such as yourself’claim this is about feminism and misogyny, and this claim completely undercuts the very real misogyny that still exists in our culture, and real claims of rape and domestic violence. This fake outrage crap is why we wound up with Trump. The backlash isn’t against me to as a whole (a real and progressive movement, that has had real backlash by the alt right), it’s against this fake feminist posturing like this article.

You say it doesn’t matter what she did to believe her real claims, and assign her a victim. So using that same logic, it doesn’t matter what Depp did, since he has real claims we can assign him as a victim. Does he deserve the abuse he got then? Did he deserve to lose real work and real money as a victim of domestic violence that was being victim reversed by Heard? Doesn’t he deserve to be able to sue for people labeling him an aggressor when he is in fact a victim. Or do you really believe they are both victims. Do you really believe Heard should be the Ambassador of domestic violence for the me too movement and Depp should also be the ambassador for domestic violence against men, and bring that to light and to public conversation. If so why does Heard deserve the settlement she received in their divorce. Also, is it acceptable for them to both be portraying those rolls when they are both guilty of the accusations they make? How is acceptable to have such hypocrisy in a sociopolitical movement. It is not acceptable, in fact it completely undercuts the movement and destroys it’s legitimacy. Only Heard took up that Mantle, and only Heard is misrepresenting their mutually toxic relationship. By misrepresenting it, she truly is guilty of defamation.

The only other argument you could have then, is that there must be one victim. There must be one primary aggressor, and the other is only acting in self defense. In that case, then the testimony of their therapist that claims Heard admits to initiating physical confrontation, while she only assumes the same is true of Depp is enough to decide. There is not one shred of evidence that Depp has ever been the initiator, therefore he was acting in self defense, therefore he is the only victim. I don’t believe this; only the devil deals in absolutes (it’s just a saying, I’m not a Christian fundamentalist or anything).

So no matter how you look at it isn’t justifiable to say Depp is wrong. She either abused him, damaged his career, or both.

If this whole saga were about domestic violence, it should be only about how the abuse these two suffered from their parents messed them up, and when near each other they become toxic because of that abuse.

That said, it is truly sad here how unfairly Heard was treated before the me too movement by the media. She should have been able to sue TMZ, etc. for defemation. The two settled all of their problems out of court. It was done. Nobody could have known what actually happened behind closed doors at that point, and nobody should have cared. Heard’s career should have flourished while Depp’s slowly undramatically fizzled. TMZ and others should have stayed out of their business. Heard should have had nothing to do with Me Too or feminism. And Depp should not have been slandered. They are both truly victims of toxic media culture. It’s all a big shit show that never should have happened.

Lynds A

Lynds A

June 13, 2022

I’ve been reading the testimonies and it’s incredibly shocking the amount of lies that Depp told. If he was not Johnny Depp, there’s no way this would’ve happened. I can’t bear to read the comments because I know what they are already. This is men’s rights and misogyny telling women to step down. Women hate her and are walking with them, it’s sickening.

DeppWonGetOverIt

DeppWonGetOverIt

June 07, 2022

muh men bad women always good believe all women and bla bla bla. Depp won lying b*tch lost Here’s what you can do about it:
1- Cry
2- Seethe and Cope

Pandacat

Pandacat

June 07, 2022

Wow the amount of misogynistic replies here are disturbing. What’s worse is all the internalized misogyny of some of the women replying, especially those that call themselves feminists. You don’t know what feminism is ladies. Just because women can be abusers is irrelevant. So what? It doesn’t negate the pillorying, disgusting appalling treatment that has been meted out to Heard.
Depp is no victim here.
I’ve worked in the film and music industries and met so many men similar to him and a lot of them are drug fucked or alcoholics. In fact the alcoholics are the worst. Like Depp they wet themselves, shit their pants, get violent and obscene, but hey, they’re talented and people are invested in them so they get given pass after pass.

Depp is not the lovable cool guy he used to be in his younger years. He’s a washed up, screwed up, wannabe rock star whose ego couldn’t handle a young woman telling her truth. Yes, her truth which was believed by a very experienced judge in England who found it highly credible that she had been abused

The trial in the US in comparison was a circus, a freak show, a medieval ’ lets throw shit and rotten matter at the witch in the stocks’.
A freaking witch hunt. You don’t have to like Amber Heard to see that the trial and Depps thirst for revenge were very ugly moves by patriarchy to discredit and lampoon a woman who at the least deserved the normal civility accorded to anyone else in a public forum.
The trial was a travesty of justice and should never have been televised. It seems the judge herself was starstruck and instead of doing the civil thing allowed it all to become entertainment for Depps fans and his showboating lawyer.
The fact that Depp is now being celebrated as an anti- woke hero by the rabid anti feminist Trumpists, Republicans and Fox News says it all.
Thanks for writing this article, you’ve expressed what all my female friends and I feel about this whole despicable episode and our disappointment that society is moving backwards when it comes to women.
This is all part of a wider war on women: the overturning of Roe vs Wade the control over women’s bodies and fertility the increased femicide the world over.
Where will it all lead? It’s a worry.

Pavla B

Pavla B

June 03, 2022

Please, see every minute of the trial, hear voice recordings of Heard, analyze her behaviour and motives well. Then think – and either delete or rewrite your article. Because, I am sorry to say, you have no idea what you are talking about.

Tristan Benson

Tristan Benson

June 02, 2022

Stop blaming the victim. Men can be victims too! People like you make men afraid to speak up. I’m so disappointed in the feminist movement. I am so glad that she lost. This is a beautiful week for equality and the rights of people who have been victimised by women.

Cry me a river

Cry me a river

June 02, 2022

The verdict has freed an individual from the tyranny of a self promoting narcissistic individual who performed acts of domestic violence under the guise of being a survivor of sexual and physical abuse.
Your article demonstrates that there is still much work to address those who cannot put aside their bias to change the world for the better – irrespective of gender. Those who make false allegations, commit violence, and cry misogyny when found out deserve to have their burned corpses ##cked.

You are just as bad a the mainstream media

You are just as bad a the mainstream media

May 30, 2022

First off: be original. You have copy and pasted what you want to hear. Second: you are doing to Johnny depp what you believe the mainstream media is doing to amber heard. Only thing I agree with you is that abusive men see this as a win. That is understandable and angering to many. I don’t condone violence at all and what I take is a dysfunctional/manipulative couple.

I am not a feminist, but I wanted to see the feminist view. Unfortunately, most feminist are bias in their ways. Good luck.
Chase

Chase

May 30, 2022

Guys, come really?! People like this don’t even make me mad, it just makes me want to cry. Depp has obviously made some bad choices but honesty who hasn’t? People keep trying to make this a spin from Defamation to Feminism. Males can be just as likely to be abused as Women. Before anyone tries to argue, many males don’t say anything because of people like this, who say every male is evil or that Johnny deserved what happened to him. My friend fucking committed suicide because of DV with his Girlfriend. And you wanna know what happened? Nothing. This can happen to so many people, not everyone is the same and you people should realize that

Jo Latimer

Jo Latimer

May 27, 2022

I have been a feminist for the past 40+ years. I worked for a women’s crisis center for several years and assisted women in domestic violence situations get to safe places. I took calls from women who were afraid to report their abuse. The majority of those calls were from women in same sex partnerships. They feared reporting because nobody would believe them because women were not seen as capable of being abusive. The Johnny Depp/Amber Heard trial has been hugely important to me because I do think it is vital that we stop promoting the myth that women can not be abusers. I am sickened by my fellow feminists who have allowed Ms. Heard to co-opt the MeToo movement to promote herself as a victim when she, herself, has victimized others. She has admitted to hitting Mr. Depp. There is audio evidence to support that fact. That should have been the defining moment right there-her own admission of guilt. But women like you are still defending her even after her own sister put in writing to her boss/friend that she witnessed Amber hitting and abusing Mr. Depp and that when this sister (Whitney Heard) tried to stop Amber from hitting Johnny she was nearly pushed down the stairs by Amber. She wrote that she was afraid that Amber was going to kill Johnny. What will it take for my fellow feminists to drop Ms. Heard as a poster woman for domestic violence? The onus is on all of us to do the right thing and admit that women are, indeed, capable of violence. IMHO, we owe that to our sisters in same sex relationships who are being abused.

Kendall

Kendall

May 25, 2022

I am not surprised at this trashy column. I am a woman and I have always understood Feminitrash as the most ridiculous phenomenon. You just proved my point. Every reasonable person that has heard the evidence has been courageous enough to voice their honest view. This woman was an abuser. He who comes to equity must come with clean hands. Feminitrash and their toxic views are propelling a war on women and women that believe in mutual respect. I suspect you are like her if you don’t see anything wrong in what she did. And damn, she is a bad liar too. Feminism is toxic and so are you!

Chester Fields

Chester Fields

May 25, 2022

WHY do the majority of feminist columnists always warp this trial to once again cast the manosphere as some homogenous group that all thinks the same and share the same views, and that those views are ALWAYS misogynistic. FEMINISM is the most sexist group around, and we have 50 year track record of it. I have yet to hear ANY feminist mention male domestic violence victims, let alone the fact that there are maybe 1… maybe 2 domestic violence shelters for men (one being in Australia, but only AFTER they set one up for PETS that are victims on domestic violence).

Coyi

Coyi

May 24, 2022

Let me start with some self identification-I am a 60-year-old man, who is married with grown up three kids.

The amount of media led hatred towards Amber Heard is really disturbing. I simply don’t understand why there is this desire to paint her at some kind of villainous manipulator. I can only put it down to the fact that she is a beautiful and successful woman. For some people, this is totally unacceptable and they want to bring her down.

I think it’s really important to remember that this case is already been examined in a British court. Out of the 14 allegations examined, 12 were found to be likely to be true. Depp tried to appeal. The British legal system threw the case out because there was no realistic possibility of a reversal on appeal.

I like your quote-men must stop defending abusive men. This is so true. Depp is an abuser. Amber Heard exposed him, and he is raging. This legal effort, to my mind, is a continuation of his abusive state of mind.

It’s really important for all of us that he loses. Is Amber Heard proved her case once in London, and it said that she has to do the same thing in Virginia.

Lauren

Lauren

May 24, 2022

I do not agree with the comments shitting on you at all. I have my own issues with Depp, and I hear you. I also, as a feminist, do not condone Heard’s abuse. Gender equality is a key virtue of intersectional feminism. Though this is a defamation case, his strongest testimony was tied to being Heard’s victim of abuse. I am wondering if he is using this case for both fronts, since the statute of limitations did not allow him to sue for his injuries, psychological, emotional, and physical. He has also stated, and I believe the statement, that he was advised to keep his mouth shut about the abuse toward him from his legal team. Patriarchy is pretty insidious in blaming men for being victims. Insidious in the fact that misogynists use the tired trope that feminism is the problem instead of patriarchy using gender roles to assume men are weak for being victims of abuse. And I do not “believe all women” or all of anyone. I do think that we should listen to all, and investigate all claims instead of shelving claims or making people afraid to come forward with sincere allegations.
There are women who also defend Polanski, Allen, and others. I’m wondering why this is. My issues with Depp are about cultural appropriation and his acceptance of an award from the Serbian president, since the man is against journalists, especially as Depp just made an independent film about an innovative editorial journalist documenting injustice.
Depp and Heard are both ‘imperfect victims’. It’s interesting to me that Depp has held himself accountable to specific mistakes and poor choices and Heard can do no wrong. Through my research, I hypothesize that Depp will be more open to therapy/ or counseling to correct his cognition and subsequent behavior- because he does seem to show more empathy and accountability in general and in the vast audio made available.
I have no opinions as of yet to Brian Warner. And if he is guilty, I hope Depp holds him accountable despite their friendship.

Zach Dygard

Zach Dygard

May 23, 2022

The reason DV reports are so rare from men are because of articles like this. Even when a man is obviously framed. When men report DV, people like you doubt them. Amber was right when she said no one will believe Depp could be a victim of DV. And you are doing exactly what she secretly said. As long as women like you doing male DV evidence, men will continue to not report DV. Please, believe ALL genders of victims of DV. You believe most women right? Do you realize how hard it is for a man to admit DV? And then we see articles like this, it just makes use think there’s no use in reporting it. Even with evidence, male DV victims are doubted, and in fact victim blamed. He deserved it you say, he was a “bad man”. Well I’m happy women everywhere are sticking up for this victim. Depp needs support otherwise men will continue to not report DV. Please, believe make victims of DV

normal person

normal person

May 23, 2022

My god you are disgusting. Every single line in this steaming pile of horseshit you wrote here makes me sick. Defending what she did because you see your precious world view endangered by it. You are a sick person.

Andrea Fernandez

Andrea Fernandez

May 20, 2022

To ‘Everyone Knows’,

I did not say that ‘everyone knows’ the UK courts are biased in favour of women. That was stated as an opinion, and I am definitely not alone in that belief. Look it up.

In cases relating to domestic abuse, most juries will presumptively, even if they do not declare it outright, look for evidence of the female party being abused, regardless of any claims made in reverse. And most of time, they turn out to be right, because DV against women is more common than DV against men. In this case, however, the bias worked against the factfinder.

I said that ‘everyone knows’ the UK trial was a joke. And I stand by that. But perhaps I should have clarified – everyone aware of this case, and who is not automatically blinded by their gendered presuppositions, realises that the proceedings of the UK trial were extremely flawed, and the conclusion was laughably, horrifically biased.

No, of course your five-year-old would not know. That should have been obvious. Respectfully, your argument is irrelevant and ridiculous.

I do find it telling that you ignored the entirety of the rest of my comment, and chose to nitpick at the usage of one single phrase – ‘everyone knows’, the meaning of which should have been clear to any clear-thinking individual. Come to think of it, this is exactly the method that Amber Heard’s lawyers are trying – and failing – to use to build a case for her.

If you have a response to the actual content of what I said, I’ll be happy to discuss.

Sincerely,
A feminist.

Maria

Maria

May 18, 2022

This a lame attempt made by the author to help feminazis escape from the hypocrisy of believing all female “survivors”.

It’s women like you and Heard that are killing feminism. Shame on you.

Hoppy Bunny

Hoppy Bunny

May 16, 2022

Someone referred me to this blog, and the moment Feminist or feminism was the identifier, I remarked, I don’t really need to read this because the perspective feminists is a foregone conclusion. There’s nothing I would read that doesn’t stray from the common evil men, saintly woman narrative. And sure enough the predictable commentary by the writer once again confirmed the presupposition. Unfortunately feminist don’t bother attempting to understand men as complex and nuanced, but rather only through the lens of simplistic reductionist caricature. Ever wonder why feminists limit their main characterization of men to abuser, rapist and oppressor, and literally every analysis of men is only through negative associations. Yes some men abuse women, yet no feminist will ever mention most men save women’s lives than women saving men. You will never hear a feminist speak of the millions of contributions men make to society of which most women are the beneficiaries, often at the sacrifice of men. Concepts like due process mean nothing when a man is a cussed and for several decades feminists have successfully eliminated any pushback from men who are destroyed by a system accepting the feminist ideology of inherent male guilt that now Depp’s experiences have lain bare what so many men futility attempted to express for decades, as usual feminists retreat into the same misandric presuppositions that rely on their demonizing narrative. It’s 7nlikely a feminist has the capacity to empathize with the horrors Depp has endured. But feminists have long documented histories of tacit encouragement of female empowerment expressed mainly through abusing and destroying men like Depp. As many men observe the trial, so many, even men I know who suffered in silence for years tell me, “yes that’s exactly how it was done to me” “Yes, I know exactly what Johnny is going through.” Feminists have already rendered a guilty verdict against men the moment an accusation is made. Unfortunately for every Alice Sebold and Amber Heard there are countless other male victims who will continue to silently be ruined in the name of feminism. Maybe Depp will be a turning point as more men step forward and stand up to the misandry advocated by feminist that produce the Alice Sebolds and Amber Heards of this world.

Carmen

Carmen

May 15, 2022

Thank you for this. I searched Google for this exact article and had to try 3x before finding yours, and even then I had scroll down before finally finding you. I can’t even begin to tell you how much your article echoed how I’ve been feeling about the trial. Just this slow sickening feeling creeping up. I have shared your article and will continue to share with whoever wishes to read this for perspective.

Robert

Robert

May 15, 2022

Your article is a sad reminder of how bias can blind even those who claim they want justice for all. Depp is the victim, Heard is the abuser who sought to hurt him even more by ruining his life with false claims and accusations. Men get abused by women, and so far they get treated very poorly and are rarely if ever believed. They deserve justice just like all victims of DV. That’s why this case is getting so much attention, it’s not just about assholes going “all women are liars”. Most of it is because this couod be an important mile stone towards make victims finding hope in their situation. Because a lot of they’re abusers say what Amber Heard is on tape saying after she hit Johnny “go ahead, tell people. See who believes you”. Being on that despicable woman’s side is further disservice to female victims. Because the assholes point to people like you as support for their henoius and ridiculous claims about all women lying. You backian obvious liar like Amber Heard hurts all women.

Everyone Knows

Everyone Knows

May 15, 2022

To Andrea Fernandez who wrote – Everyone knows UK Courts are biased in favour of women – where do you get your facts? Really, please do tell?

I was trying to take you seriously or at least suspend my disbelief until you said “everyone knows” .

Btw if you actually said “everyone knows” to anyone ever in person, and I do mean anyone ever, including my 5 year old, as a rationale to back up any argument you might choose to make, you would lose.

Do everyone who reads your post the favour of a argument that doesn’t waste our time. Thanks
Sincerely
Everyone

Gina Schostok

Gina Schostok

May 15, 2022

YES, YES, I have seen nothing but gaslighting and the concept of “women and madness” portrayed throughout this trial. A text to burn and fuck her dead corpse? I’m sorry, how would you feel if a man said that about your daughter? This is typical DV behavior, he is typical. I am so angry and outraged by the amount of women who are defending him, you try and live with him then! This is a microcosm of society, this trial, it is showing us what we need to change. However, blaming women for their abuse and trauma is easy. Let us not forget that these claims were made against Depp when she filed for divorce AND received a restraining order, where was he then? Now, now he wants to defend himself? After the emotional and physical wounds are no longer fresh, interestingly ironic.

Semicon

Semicon

May 11, 2022

You are right, this is not about domestic abuse. This is about defamation.

So, who has lost their career over this?

I DO NOT have a dog in this fight. However, I will say….some women are just as manipulative, just as malicious, and just as deceitful as ANY man. To deny that is to pander to abusers.

If YOU think, in your tiny mind, that this is all bullshit, because women are pure and innocent…well, YOU are the problem.

Andrea Fernandez

Andrea Fernandez

May 10, 2022

[The problem with your argument is that there is absolutely no evidence of Depp ever being abusive towards Heard, or towards anybody at all, period. And so many who have been closely following this trial from the beginning will concur. Videos, text messages, recordings- all of them contain evidence of her being abusive to him, but none of him being violent in return or ever instigating or participating in DV.

Over the course of the trial, Heard and her team have tried numerous times to scrounge up evidence to support her extremely serious claims of DV, and have not been successful in the slightest. And if you actually follow the trial, her claims get more grandiose every day, with no testimonies or evidence to prove them right.

This is not a case of an abused woman not being believed. As true feminists, she does not deserve our support.

Even Amber Heard’s own, SELF-SUBMITTED recordings of their interactions show a violent, unstable female perpetrator and a male victim who only ever tried to diffuse violent situations and avoid being physically and verbally abused by walking away.

You’re right in saying that this case is not about her violence against him- it’s about how her false claims of him being abusive towards her have ruined his life. And as long she has no witnesses, no testimonies and no evidence to support her her lies, Johnny will be in the right.

Amber Heard is a disgrace to all the real female victims of domestic violence out there, who will now find it much harder to be believed in court because of the way she’s been caught in her web of lies. It’s immeasurably sad, and I say everything that I say as a feminist. For the sake of her own, personal gain, Heard has done an unspeakable disservice to real victims of DV, and hurt all their future chances of being
believed.]

I made this comment in your IG post for the same, and after reading your article here, I absolutely stand by my comment. I was such a happy supporter of your platform until I saw this careless post, and it broke my heart.

Firstly, your idea that Heard’s 2018 op-ed is merely a way for her to share her experiences, and is justified because she never mentioned Johnny Depp or their marriage, is misguided. As soon as the op-ed was published, fingers were pointed at him, and she did nothing to stop him from being painted as an abuser. Even now, not even Heard herself, or her legal team, are refuting that the op-ed was aimed at him. She was making an allegation against him through that article, and she’s admitted that herself.

Secondly, the UK trial was a sad joke, and everyone knows it. Courts there are biased in favour of women, and this is usually not a problem because, as we know, there is a massively disproportionate amount of violence against women versus violence against men. So in general, the bias works for the greater good. In that instance, however, especially since the UK trial was not publicised, the bias worked against the true victim: Johnny Depp. If you can provide your sources for the ‘12 of the 14 cases that she brought forward’ that were proven, the way you’ve given your sources for all of Johnny Depp’s sins, I’ll be willing to listen. (As an aside, it’s very telling that your sources against Johnny are from The Sun, the very publication that was in a lawsuit with him. How can you expect unbiased, truthful facts about him from them?)

The thing is that you won’t be able to find any data or evidence for those 12 claims, because none exists. If they did, Heard’s legal team would have brought them forward during this highly public US trial and vindicated her. They haven’t.

Which brings me to my third point. Much like Heard’s legal team, all you’ve done in this article is bring up a bunch of Johnny’s misdemeanours and struggles as ‘evidence’ to work against him, none of which have any relevance to the case in question.

His prior struggle with addiction has no bearing on the case, and he’s been very transparent about it. Addiction is something that millions of people struggle with. And he’s come out on top.

His ‘stupidly expensive demands’ have no bearing on the case; he’s allowed to spend his money how he likes.

Him wanting someone to read lines to him is laughably irrelevant, and not a sin in the slightest.

If you want to cite relevant information, turn instead to his history- his prior partners and relationships. His exes, many of whom you conveniently brought up for their age, but disregarded for their opinions, have spoken out wholeheartedly in his favour. Sherilyn Fenn, Winona Ryder, Kate Moss and Vanessa Paradis have all given their testimonies in full support of Johnny. He has no history of being abusive. If you’re so concerned with believing Amber Heard, aren’t these women’s testimonies to be believed, too? A feminist would not disregard them out of hand.

Once again, Johnny Depp is not an to be called an abuser, because there is no evidence to show that he is. He is innocent until proven guilty, which he has not been. Until Heard can provide evidence or witnesses to support the claims of violence she made in the op-ed and in all her testimonies, Johnny’s claims of defamation remain very valid. There is simply no evidence of him being abusive towards her, and all submitted evidence proves the opposite: that he was her victim.

If you’ll only take the time to watch the actual trial, Amber Heard has proven herself to be a pathological liar, a disgrace to women, a disgrace to feminism, and a curse on all real victims of domestic abuse who will find it so much harder to be believed because of what she’s done. Women are not always victims, and men are not always perpetrators. Women can do anything that men can. Women can be violent just as soon as men can. If you’re truly a feminist, you’ll check your mind, check your facts, and work harder to give an unbiased opinion before you publish articles like this one.

Sincerely,
A feminist.

Jason

Jason

May 10, 2022

Hi,

I have no idea what you saw, but my, how can an obvious trial be mistaken so bad…….Amber is lying all around and you choose to believe her blindly just like her psychologist who didn’t even meet Johnny Depp and made her diagnosis. Isn’t it sad to protect yourself under feminism when you are simply misandria?

You are correct that this is not about domestic abuse. This is defamation. The reason why this is not domestic abuse case is solely because the actual victim in this case did not file lawsuit. Obviously women does not need men to protect, especially when you can have so many feminist supporting you regardless what you did.

Ally Trull

Ally Trull

May 10, 2022

Thank you for sharing your thoughts and concerns about this situation. I have been trying to avoid weighing in and even paying much attention to it- and this post confirms some of my biggest fears about what was happening. Thank you for calling it out for the misogyny that it is. We need to call it out so it doesn’t continue to get worse and so we don’t allow people to continue to drag survivors through the mud.

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