Ever hear someone say, “Well she shouldn’t have gotten drunk?” or “Well it makes sense considering what she was wearing.” Pretty much no matter what bad thing happens to you, there’s always going to be someone that tells you that, in someway, it’s your own fault. This terrible tendency is called Victim Blaming and it happens a lot, especially to victims of sexual assault. And while there are real psychological reasons why people like to blame victims, there’s new research that suggests that there is a way to greatly reduce the tendency to victim blame. And it’s actually pretty simple. What is it? Watch the episode to find out!
aired 6/28/17When you hear the phrase “real man” there’s a certain image that pops into your mind. Maybe it’s Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson or LeBron James or Ryan Gosling and it’s most likely not, a small, quiet, reserved man who plays classical trumpet. So does that mean all those other guys are “fake men?” Well no. It’s that the question of “who’s a real man” fundamentally doesn’t make any sense. Why not? Well watch the episode to find out!
aired 6/21/17With the rise of shows like Transparent, Orange is the New Black and personalities like Janet Mock, it’s a great time for transgender visibility in media. But there’s still a lot ways that’s not so great. In fact there are a couple of Hollywood tropes and stereotype that a alarmingly common. What are they? Watch the episode to find out.
aired 6/14/17While it may seem like no big deal, being a short man in our society has some serious downsides. From relationship discrimination to making less money, short men face a range of real issues due to our society’s obsession with big tall dudes. Watch the episode to find out more.
aired 6/07/17This past week a group of armed anti-government militiamen took over a national wildlife refuge in Oregon. But when the cops showed up...things got interesting. Because nothing happened! No tanks. No tear gas. No combat gear. And we've yet to hear any major news outlet or tv commentator call these men thugs or terrorists. This is of course in stark contrast to how police and media responded to protests in Ferguson and Baltimore following the deaths of Mike Brown and Freddie Grey. So what's the deal here?
When Christmas comes around you can usually expect to see Santa, his reindeer and helpful elves everywhere. But Dutch Santa doesn’t have elves...he has “Black Pete” or “Zwarte Pete.” Pete first showed up in the 1850 Dutch book “Saint Nicholas and his servant.” The story claims “Black Pete” is black because of the chimney soot, but that doesn’t explain his afro textured hair, or large bright red lips….all familiar racist black caricatures. Today, Black Pete is still a huge tradition in the Netherlands. So what'sthe deal? Why is this racist character still celebrated?
“The Donald” has been bombarded with criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike after his recent comments about Muslims entering the U.S. Many have begun to compare Trump’s positions against “outsiders” to Hitler’s views during WWII. While he certainly isn’t a genocidal mass murderer, he does give off some fascist vibes. What are your thoughts on the issue? Are Hitler comparisons justified, or are they taking it too far?
On Decoded, we’re always trying to explain aspects of inequality in America and across the world. Since society is prettyyyy unequal, we tend to not celebrate the positive steps-forward as often as we criticize the negative steps-back. But this Thanksgiving, let’s talk about some good things that happened this year. Here are 6 Things Franchesca is thankful for in 2015! What are you thankful for?