“When the former porn star Christy Mack publicly released graphic images of herself in a hospital bed Sunday night following a brutal beating by her ex-boyfriend, a mixed-martial artist known as War Machine, people took to social media in droves to lay blame and point fingers. And not everyone was pointing at War Machine. (here)

By now, maybe you’ve heard about this?

If not, what we have is a case of sustained abuse perpetrated by a man against a woman. It came to an ultra-graphic head this most recent time, prompting the woman to come forward. (here’s more)

That is all. Those are all the factors that are relevant, and the entire thing is absolutely horrific. But, of course, as we know: people came out in droves to point fingers, and not everyone was pointing at War Machine.

People have blamed MMA, calling it a violent sport (it is) and community (it may be) that somehow can be held responsible for inciting or causing a man to assault a woman. No.

People have blamed porn, both as a space that dehumanizes women and as a comment on Christy’s character – she’s a total porn whore, and whores aren’t human so it’s ok to beat them. No.

[As an aside, I do maintain that Christy’s “former porn star” status has contributed to the media handling of this situation. Were she a public personality of comparable caliber who had not worked in porn, it would have NEVER taken the media three days to pick up this story. And she would have never been forced to subject herself to further abuse by releasing the images herself.]

[And, incidentally, where is all the commentary about War Machine’s sex work history?!! Because he’s done porn too – here]

People have said Christy should have known better, and maybe she should’ve. This guy has a history of extreme violence (that has nothing to do with MMA) and has even assaulted other porn performers. Except no.

Regardless of what she *should have* known, regardless of their respective occupations, and regardless of passion, hate, heat, or the greater space time continuum, the only – absolutely only – relevant factor here is that an individual assaulted and nearly killed another. Our continued need to discuss this situation as anything else speaks to the victim-blaming, slut-shaming, and gender inequalities that are still so pervasive in our society.

Things that are all still so pervasive in each one of us.

A fund has been set up to help defray Christy’s medical expenses –> here

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Read more on AskMen.com (8/12/14):

According to Dr. Tibbals, each of these cases reflects a tacit acceptance of domestic violence toward women in our society, as well as our reluctance to recognize the responsibility each of us has to change it. (here)

Also, thoughts on CraveOnline.com: “Christy Mack, War Machine, and Why the Internet Blames Women for Domestic Violence” (here, 8/13/14).

(pictured: Christy Mack, via the interwebs)

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