Domestic Violence is never funny...

Today I cancelled my Netflix membership….

Domestic violence is never a joke... Matt Rife thinks his joke about abuse is funny, yet, thousands of people don't think it's funny at all. It's dangerous. Mr. Rife is a comedian who has a special, "called?Natural Selection, Rife’s special premiered on Netflix on Nov. 15 and opens with a joke about the comedian going to a restaurant with a friend and being greeted by a hostess who had a black eye. His friend wonders why the hostess was not working in the kitchen “so nobody has to see her face.” Rife’s punchline: “I feel like if she could cook, she wouldn’t have that black eye”, (Time Magazine).

In my opinion, Mr. Rife can make a joke like this, and think it's funny, because he doesn't have a clue what it's like to survive domestic violence. There are literally millions of women all around the world that fear getting punched in the face if they don't get dinner "right". It's only one of any reasons an abuser will use to use violence against the person they say they "love" to control that person. Fear is a very bad and scary source of control.

Mr. Rife is claiming the backlash is a mechanism for censorship but that is simply not true. His joke was in very poor taste, and crossed the line to shame, humiliate, and make life more dangerous for millions of women across the world. Much like the modus operandi of an abuser. His joke is misogynistic and sets the clock back on the years of hard work the community has done to end domestic violence in our communities and across the world.

He's not apologetic and it doesn't seem Netflix is as well; the show is still available to watch, unedited. As a result and in protest, I canceled my Netflix membership in hopes that there will be an apology and edit of the show, even if it's sales driven and not because it's the right thing to do. Women are worth it, and deserve to be cherished and protected.