A Slap Back to Reality

In this episode, Chris and Jake attempt to dig into what matters most about Will Smith slapping Chris Rock during the 2022 Academy Award show. By interrogating what else was happening in that moment, they discuss how traditional responses to incidents of workplace violence often focus to narrowly on the behaviour and miss the broader context. Chris asks Jake what a restorative approach would look like in response to this incident and that has them paying attention to a whole bunch of related and connected topics like – hyper-masculinity, intersectionality, racialized violence, workplace conflict and bystander interventions. White Outrage: “Most people agree the slap shouldn’t have happened. But there’s something that feels precious at best, and downright racist at worst, about white people’s reaction to the now-infamous smack.” Toxic Masculinity: One study published in the Journal of School Psychology uses the following definition to explain the term, describing it as: "The constellation of socially regressive [masculine] traits that serve to foster domination, the devaluation of women, homophobia, and wanton violence." Damsel in Distress: “Although men defending a woman's dignity may appear as an appealing romantic concept, it also assumes certain weaknesses in women. Perceiving women as weaker and more vulnerable is a form of protective paternalism that leads to "benevolent" sexism.” A Trauma Response: “In 2021, Smith wrote in his self-titled memoir that, in his childhood, he felt guilty for not standing up for his mother when she was being abused by his father. To some extent, I guess his behavior at the Academy Awards can be seen as chivalrous; it’s an example of a Black man defending his Black wife from an insensitive joke about her hair. But I wouldn’t feel ‘rescued’ by Smith’s actions, and I don’t want my significant other to attack people who disrespect me.” Bystander Effect: “When I speak to them about violence, most understand their role in leading the change. Some of the young people have home lives riven with trauma and they, more than most, embrace the need to feel safe and violence-free and the tools to do so. There is a saying that the standard you walk by, is the standard you accept. Our young people give me hope of a world where violence is never acceptable.”