Mexican YouTuber Luisito Comunica sparked outrage after posting a controversial picture on social media. In the picture, the popular YouTuber holds a bottle of mezcal that reads “your little ass will be mine,” while his girlfriend poses in the background.
Social media users criticized Luisito Comunica and branded him a misogynist and sexist for sharing a degrading message against women. Many noted that Mexico has a high femicide rate and that dozens of women are sexually abused every day; therefore, his post reinforces rape culture and the idea of women as objects.
Others pointed out that the message behind the picture is that men can get women drunk and then abuse them.
Moreover, a disturbing video from four years ago has emerged. In the recording, the YouTuber tells a woman that his purpose “is to get you drunk so I can rape you later.”
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The woman then says “What makes you think you can rape me while I’m drunk?,” and Luisito Comunica responds: “It has happened before.”
After he received major backlash, the YouTuber took to social media to apologize for his disturbing post; however, he did not address his past behavior.
Luisito Comunica said the picture was a mistake and that he thought it was funny:
“I recognize that yesterday’s picture was inappropriate and want to thank you for using me as an example so that we understand what is NOT funny. Although I just found the mezcal brand funny and I didn’t think about its meaning, I’ve realized this has to stop.”
Luis Arturo Villar Sudek, better known as Luisito Comunica, also thanked his followers for pointing out his mistakes and promised to be more careful with his social media posts in the future.
However, many social media users did not accept his apology and emphasized the popular YouTuber has reinforced misogynist and violent attitudes towards women on different occasions.
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According to Marshall University, rape culture is “an environment in which rape is prevalent and in which sexual violence against women is normalized and excused in the media and popular culture. Rape culture is perpetuated through the use of misogynistic language, the objectification of women’s bodies, and the glamorization of sexual violence, thereby creating a society that disregards women’s rights and safety.
Rape Culture affects every woman. The rape of one woman is a degradation, terror, and limitation to all women. Most women and girls limit their behavior because of the existence of rape. Most women and girls live in fear of rape. Men, in general, do not. That’s how rape functions as a powerful means by which the whole female population is held in a subordinate position to the whole male population, even though many men don’t rape, and many women are never victims of rape. This cycle of fear is the legacy of Rape Culture.”
Moreover, society perpetuates rape culture by blaming the victim, dismissing sexual assault claims, normalizing sexually explicit jokes, and tolerating sexual harassment .
The only way to dismantle rape culture is by urging men to take accountability, avoid using language that objectifies women, and respect women.
In Mexico, Ciudad Juárez became an emblematic femicide case in Mexico and the world. Authorities registered a series of femicides in 1993. The heinous crime was perpetrated against female factory workers, which followed a serial pattern involved extreme violence against women of certain socio-economic characteristics. The cases were never solved and no criminal was ever prosecuted.
The tragic Ciudad Juárez case was followed by hundreds of victims, mainly in the state of Mexico.
On March 9, women in Mexico will go on a national strike to protest against femicide and gender violence after a series of brutal femicides sparked outrage in the country early this year.
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