Mike Tyson – Boxing, Bitches and Lawsuits

Stop Demand, which works to stop sexual violence, is urging Maori leaders Willie Jackson and John Tamihere to withdraw support for a man it calls “an odious misogynist”.

Stop Demand’s founder, Denise Ritchie, says that a “redemptive” approach to transformed criminals is commendable – as are qualities of remorse, contrition, humility, anger management and developing respect for women.

However, a review of Tyson’s one-man show “Undisputed Truth”, which he’s still pushing to bring to New Zealand, “reveals relentless misogyny and trivialisation of rape and domestic violence”.

At his US Broadway debut two months ago, Tyson reportedly told the audience that he had wanted to call the show “Boxing, Bitches and Lawsuits” but was overruled (1). This did not deter him from reportedly ranting through a list of women – or rather “whores, bitches and tramps” including the teenager he was convicted of raping - who he claims have victimised him. He jokes about a former wife’s accusations of domestic violence and not knowing the difference between menstrual blood, miscarriage blood and blood from a rape (2).

Tyson’s misogyny is entrenched. A self-confessed “prostitute hunter” (3), for him women appear to have one purpose – sex, hardcore. Last year, he said of Sarah Palin, “She could always get boned out by a black person — a vote to bang her... You want [Palin] to be with somebody like [X] getting up in there. Pushing her guts up in the back of her head! ...— yeah baby! Imagine Palin with a big old black stallion ripping — yeehaw!” (4)

Tyson’s promoter claims that in the last five years Tyson has “reinvented himself; he’s a different man”. “As a sober vegan, Tyson may have changed his attitudes towards booze and animals,” says Ritchie. “But as regards women, he hasn’t even made it off first base.”

Last week, Tyson’s public comments revealed a man who is angry and lacks personal control (“I didn’t do that f***ing crime”), arrogant and scoffing of authority (“I’m coming to New Zealand and there's nothing they can do about it”). He is completely unsuited as a role model for youth (“I'm not a motivational speaker, that's not what I do. I'm an entertainer'').

Stop Demand urges New Zealand to call Tyson out on his ongoing, denigrating attitude towards women. It believes the Associate Immigration Minister Kate Wilkinson might have done so at the outset, if her office had undertaken even the most cursory level of research.

(1) http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/theatre/theatre-reviews/9445864/Mike-Tyson-Undisputed-Truth-New-York-review.html
(2) http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/us-news-blog/2012/aug/03/mike-tyson-broadway-debut
(3) http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10814464
(4) http://withleather.uproxx.com/2011/09/mike-tyson-weighed-in-on-sarah-palins-sex

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