A woman and her two small daughters. On the ground. Hands bound. Tape covering their mouths. A man and a boy, behind them, smiling. Pleased with themselves. The man looks smug, the boy seems triumphant.
Sounds like an episode of Law & Order: SVU…at best. But it’s not. It’s a family portrait. A Christmas portrait.
That god-awful portrait. It elicited such a visceral reaction out of us. We were immediately disgusted and saddened and enraged. Over a family’s Christmas card! Are we being overly sensitive? Are we too “PC?” Are we agents in the “War on Christmas? ” Maybe. This photo made us want to yell things like, “THIS IS WHAT’S WRONG WITH SOCIETY!” We find it so disturbing. Aside from the obvious problem with women being bound & gagged WITH A STRING OF CHRISTMAS LIGHTS, it’s the joyous look that the little boy is giving that makes our skin crawl.
There’s a clear message from this image. Women should be seen and not heard. Silent women = “Peace on Earth.” Silence from female voices leaves men in a state of pure serenity. GROSS. The fact that the (presumed) mom was complicit in all this, and passing this damning message on to her children is sad.
The female photographer has come under fire and is completely unapologetic.
She wrote a missive on her facebook page (where the photo was initially featured) explaining, “This photo was taken with humor in mind, and was meant as a comical Christmas photo. I personally know this family and have known them for many years. They are not abusive to their children in any shape or form.” She ends it with, “So everyone have a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and MAY GOD BLESS you and yours!” That is the biggest Southern “FUCK YOU” we've ever heard.
May she also have a very Merry Christmas.
