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COMMENT: Why do people feel so threatened by Heartbreak?

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It was the 7 minute-long video that captured the nation's attention when it was released late yesterday evening.

And how painfully inevitable that Heartbreak, which was written and performed by Emmet Kirwan, quickly became a target of wholly misguided condemnation. 

The summation? Oh, just that the powerful production amounted to little more than predictable clickbait, created by a "self-promoting spoofer to get more funding."

The barrage of scathing remarks would be laughable – ridiculous, even – if they weren't deeply offensive to every woman who has been degraded, violated or dismissed in this country.

The turning point in the short film, directed by Dave Tynan, came at the moment a young mother turns on three men who objectified her on a Dublin street in the presence of her young son.

"I’m not defined by the fact I am some man’s daughter, sister cousin, mother. I am a woman and I have agency just because I’m breathing air, mother*cker. And I’m standing here, mother*cker," she told them.

Having navigated teenage pregnancy, been dismissed by those purporting to support, and reduced to little more than another statistic in modern Ireland, she finds herself right back where she started – the subject of a catcall.

Except this time, she has a child by her side.

“The boy sees this treatment in the street and from the State all his life so he decides to regulate, but young one now fully grown tries to sate this rage and build this young man, this young boy.”

“He will be the best elements of femininity wrapped in a rebellious feminine but benign masculinity,” the viewer is told.

And while thousands have heaped praise upon the short Irish film which began circulating online yesterday, some observers have gone on the defence – appalled that their gender be accused of objectifying women.

“Sexist vile crap that tries to demonise men,” wrote one YouTube commentator. “What the hell was that bit about "standing in awe" of women about? F*ck right off with your sjw bs.”

“This is the trend now in Lefty Ireland. It’s open season on Men and Masculinity,” whinged another.

“His "poetry" is about as subtle as a sledgehammer to the face,” opined yet another. “The white male is public enemy number one.”

And yet, for the vast majority of women watching, countless elements of this young mother’s story were all too familiar.

From the catcalls and the thinly veiled judgement to the deep-seated anger and desire to be heard, Emmet Kirwan tapped into the lived experience of thousands of women in Ireland.

But for some people, it was just a little too close to the bone.

“I’m not like that.” “Why am I the enemy?” “I’m being demonised”, and so on and so forth went the comments on YouTube, Reddit and Facebook in the wake of the film’s release.

And herein lies the issue.

By failing to look further than their own treatment of women, these people are ultimately blinding themselves to the conduct of their peers.

By insisting they’re innocent of certain attitudes and behaviours, they are extricating themselves from the real issue.

Have women been objectified by men the length and breadth of this country? Yes.

Do women face more judgement than their male counterparts over certain issues in Ireland? Undoubtedly.

Does the weight of family planning, pregnancy and abortion weigh more heavily on women’s shoulders? Obviously.

And are women still waiting to be granted bodily autonomy in this State? Regrettably, yes.

Claims that Emmet Kirwan’s production is little more than clickbait is offensive to every woman who has fended off unwanted attention, endured public or private degradation, and still fights for bodily autonomy in this country.

Just because you don’t do it doesn’t mean it isn't being done.

 

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