If you have been on YouTube lately, you have probably been getting bombarded with ads from a channel called "Classically Abby." I still see these ads even after having blocked them numerous times, and many people online have had the same complaint. The reason why I attempted to block those ads was that the videos were titled awful things that I found to be disgusting and harmful, but if YouTube and Abby are determined to get me to watch these videos, then I'm going to turn on my Ad Blocker and watch them so I can give my two cents on why they are horrible.
The first video of Abby's that I came across was "Why I Came Out As A Conservative." For context, Abby is the sister of conservative political commentator, Ben Shapiro.
It is both ridiculous and incredibly offensive to the LGBTQ+ community for Abby to label her statement of her political affiliation as a "coming out." In her video, she describes this decision as something that required an immense amount of strength and bravery, which isn't the case. Coming out about your sexuality or gender identity is not the same thing as "coming out" about your political party. People in the LGBTQ+ community face discrimination when looking for housing, healthcare, at the workplace, at school, and have their lives threatened on top of it all. It is disgusting for Abby to suggest that the "struggles" she would deal with after stating that she is conservative would be on the same level as the actual struggles that LGBTQ+ people face after coming out.
Another video of Abby's that bothered me was titled "Why YOU Should Dress Modestly." I obviously do not have a problem if a woman decides she wants to dress modestly, but there is a problem if they cannot respect that some women like wearing revealing clothing. Abby stated, "Women like J-Lo and Shakira dancing in sparkly leotards and being praised for their bodies doesn't really help either because at 50 years old, do you want to be praised for your body or praised for your family? For your body or for your wisdom?"
Since when can a woman not be praised for her body, family, and wisdom? Why can they only be praised for one of the above? And why does a woman have to have a family in order to be respected? J-Lo and Shakira's ages are irrelevant. If they feel beautiful being 50 years old and wearing a sparkly leotard, then they should be allowed to wear them. And if people are incapable of recognizing a woman's intellect because she chooses to dress in a more revealing way, then that's their problem - not the woman's.
This entire video was just Abby shifting the blame and holding women responsible for our society's misogynistic belief that a sexual woman is not worthy of respect. She tells women that they should not expect to find a man that is attracted to their personality if they do not dress modestly while in his presence. Abby claims that all men are "visual creatures, not emotional ones" and that the second they see any cleavage or leg showing, all they will want from you is sex. If this is the case, then how is that our fault? If a man cannot recognize that there is more to a woman than her body without her covering up, then he needs to reflect and fix himself. We should not be forced into dressing modestly so that it's easier for men to notice our personalities. Women should be encouraged to dress in whatever way makes them feel beautiful, and if that happens to be wearing something revealing, then it should not be used against them as a way to justify men seeing us as sexual objects.
After watching that video of Abby's, I was not surprised when I found another video on her channel titled "Why We Should NOT Just #BelieveAllWomen." When speaking about this hashtag, she referenced the Brett Kavanaugh case and how she believes that many women lied about him sexually assaulting them because they did not want him on the Supreme Court. She sees this movement as solely a tactic being used by liberals to get a political advantage, and that makes me feel sick to my stomach. The women that were brave enough to share their experiences were not doing so because they had some hidden agenda. They simply wanted their stories to be heard and for justice to be served. Abby should be ashamed for having seen it any other way.
She also said that those of us that support #BelieveAllWomen think that there should not be due process and that once a man is accused of sexually assaulting a woman, they are guilty no matter what the evidence says. This is not the point of #BelieveAllWomen and Abby is purposefully misunderstanding it so that she can form her ill-conceived argument. The hashtag was created because our society always defaults to defending men accused of sexual assault and punishing women that try to share their stories. Critics of this hashtag, including Abby, think that the movement should be abandoned because of the women that lie about being sexually assaulted, despite false allegations only making up 2-10% of all allegations.
I hope I never come across another one of Abby's ads on YouTube because I am sick of seeing her harmful content in my feed.
