I don't need much of an excuse to bash Collingwood, but Dane Swan and Travis Cloke didn't really give me much to work with. I was pretty unequivocal in my disagreement with men’s rights activists recently, but I also said that it was important there was a level of consistency and thought used when discussing gender-related issues. Consequently I wasn’t surprised by the backlash towards the media coverage of the Collingwood sexting story. I actually couldn’t really disagree with it. It was revealed in the media recently that several Collingwood players, including Travis Cloke and Dane Swan had texted a number of explicit photos and videos to women, who then sold them on to a trashy women’s magazine to publish. When the story broke, the entire focus appeared to be on the perceived wrongdoing of the players, not in the women who sold the photos on without consent, not in the magazine that published them without consent, and not in the consumers that allow these types of gutter publications to thrive.
Whatever I think of it personally. This behaviour of the Collingwood players, when done between consenting adults (I am yet to see any suggestion this wasn’t consenting either) is legal. Certainly it would not surprise me to hear that both players have received photos of a similar form from women, but I have to agree with those saying the reaction of the media would be very different if these were photos women sent to men that subsequently ended up in a men’s magazine. Should the players be sanctioned by their club? Quite rightly, Eddie Maguire (can’t believe I just used the last four words like that) was dismissive of the affair, saying it was not a football club matter.
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