Historical Beef: Famous Slaps and More

The Smith-on-Rock face slap – broadcast to a global TV audience – kept much of the world glued to their news feeds in subsequent days. Smith was counter-slapped with a ten-year ban on attending any of the film academy’s events, while Rock refused to speak about the incident. The fallout has everybody divided and confused, and speculation remains as to the feelings of Jada Pinkett Smith, the person who was really at the center of this public spectacle.

Prior to Smith vs. Rock, we had Bieber vs. Bloom. In 2014, Orlando Bloom, who played elven-warrior Legolas in “Lord of the Rings,” seemingly had to defend his ex-wife Miranda Kerr’s honor. Justin Bieber provoked Bloom by saying things to him about Kerr in a restaurant in Ibiza, Spain. Bieber also reportedly shouted, “What’s up, b**ch?” Bloom then responded with a punch. Little damage was done, though, as their bodyguards quickly intervened. But Bieber took the matter to Instagram, where he shared a provocative image of Kerr and another image of Bloom crying. As one commentator suggested, the three great losers in this affair were Bloom, Bieber and humanity.

These two South American literary Nobel laureates were once best friends. However, at a film preview in 1976, Vargas Llosa unleashed a right hook as his friend came up to greet him. The punch connected with Marquez’s eye. Vargas Llosa also reportedly yelled, “For what you tried to do to my wife!” Marquez was thought to have comforted Vargas Llossa’s wife while he was off having a love affair. Marquez’s own wife, Mercedes, added a verbal sucker-punch, calling out to Vargas Llosa: “What you’re saying can’t be true because my husband likes only very good-looking women.” This encounter shows how even those in the loftiest literary set are merely human, like the rest of us.

South African Roy Campbell was considered one of the most talented poets of his generation. But he also struggled with alcoholism and mental health issues, and was known to have abusive relationships with both women and men. In April of 1947 he climbed onto a London stage and punched fellow poet Stephen Spender in the nose, accusing him, bizarrely, of being “a lesbian.” The two loathed each other personally and politically. Campbell’s wife, Mary, dragged her husband from the stage. Spender, meanwhile, refused to call the police, stating, “He is a great poet. We must try to understand.”

Ernest Hemingway is known in many circles today for toxic masculinity – which included occasional bouts of violence. In 1936, while both he and poet Wallace Stevens were in Key West, Stevens loudly “impugned” Hemingway’s “manhood” within earshot of the novelist’s sister. She is said to have rushed home to tell her brother, who then headed out to confront Stevens. In the ensuing fight, Stevens broke his hand on Hemingway’s jaw. Hemingway himself suffered no injuries. Both agreed to explain Stevens’ various bruises by claiming he fell down the stairs – a rather banal cover story for such esteemed writers.

Art historian Kenneth Clark traces the notion of men protecting a woman’s honor back to chivalry and courtly love. The doctrine of chivalry asserted that women – who were seen as naturally pure and chaste – were incapable of self-protection in an offensive and violent world. As Professor Pieter Spierenburg argues, such beliefs were fundamental to Europe’s violent medieval patriarchal life. “An important part of men’s honor was precisely to keep up the honor of women,” writes Spierenburg. “Men performed this task by attacking and taking revenge on other men whose actions had compromised their wife’s, daughter’s or mother’s honor.” That is, the theory of female weakness led directly to male violence.

The notion of a damsel in distress needing a swashbuckling hero is older than Greek mythology. And if there’s one entity that has glorified this storyline for the purpose of making big coin, it’s Hollywood. Many actors, directors and producers have profited from placing strong male heroes alongside supposedly weak – yet always beautiful – female leads. And long before his chivalrous antics at the 94th Academy Awards, Will Smith had famously rapped, “Any damsel that’s in distress / Be out of that dress when she meet Jim West.”

on The Carlos Watson Show, season 4!

In the 1990s, Princeton Professor Susan Fiske, along with Peter Glick, defined “benevolent sexism” as the societal belief that men have a duty to protect women because of their supposed helplessness. Although this thinking might seem benevolent, Fiske contends it restricts gender equity and damages women’s rights. Importantly, Fiske testified in Hopkins v. Price Waterhouse, a landmark U.S. Supreme Court case involving sexual discrimination in the workplace.

Michal Chmiel – a senior lecturer in psychology at Royal Holloway, University of London – decided to ask his students what they thought of Smith hitting Rock. The survey revealed 58% believed Smith’s behavior was justified. Chmiel believes that portrayals of gender in film and television helped shape these responses. He also points out that research indicates “some women are so attracted to the idea of being cherished and protected that they don’t see men exhibiting such brash behavior as sexists at all.” Chmiel’s own perspective was that Smith should view his wife as capable of defending herself.

Are acts of masculine chivalry appropriate in this day and age?

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