It’s 2022 and MAFS contestants just slut-shamed a bride for a nude photo and then tried to gaslight her into thinking there was nothing wrong with their behaviour. I am genuinely baffled at the sheer high school bullying and misogynistic gossip that was displayed in Wednesday night’s episode. It has left me boiling with rage.
In case you missed it, Olivia found a nude photo of Domenica and circulated it among the MAFS couples. Totally safe, healthy and normal behaviour, right?
She told producers she found the pic when she was Googling Domenica’s name to find dirt on her. Dom runs an Only Fans account so it’s likely that pic was leaked from her channel if Olivia did find it on Google. But what Olivia did on Wednesday was more than just campaign for Dom to be mass slut-shamed. It was revenge porn and an all-time low.
https://twitter.com/mariekehardy/status/1504039504495398916
let me be clear – even if the images of domenica were uploaded on a public platform, what olivia has done still classifies as revenge porn. #MAFS #MAFSAU
— alysha is playing totk (@venomhaven) March 16, 2022
Every principal (or casting agent) in the country should be made aware that Olivia participated and revelled in revenge-porn. #MAFSAustralia #MAFS #MAFSAU pic.twitter.com/wQMsmIOjhK
— Lou 🎧 (@theKoala_Man) March 16, 2022
At a time when society has tirelessly strived for women’s autonomy, Olivia’s revenge porn act serves to undo all that hard work. A tool of control, it signals sexual abuse is a serious issue. We should be standing in solidarity with women’s choices, not denigrating them. #MAFSAU
— Sahar Adatia (@sahar_adatia) March 16, 2022
I’m sorry, I have friends that do Only Fans and I can tell you when I’m pissed off at them I don’t decide to leak their photos for revenge porn, this group is awful and them trying to defend Olivia is fucking disgraceful #mafs #MAFSAustralia #mafsau
— Jimoeji (@jimoeji) March 16, 2022
Sex work is a legitimate profession. There’s nothing funny about a nude female body. The other contestants gawked and gossiped about the photo. But they were not entitled to share or comment on it just because one of them found it on Google.
Olivia told the group before Dom and Jack arrived at the dinner party she wasn’t going to make a big deal about the photo. But the fact she circulated it among Dom’s so-called friends was manipulative. They treated it like a “controversy” and completely blindsided Dom. Olivia lied about how she found it. Straight. To. Domenica’s. Face.
It was a classic high school bully move and the definition of gaslight, gatekeep and girlboss. But it was particularly fucking unbelieavable to see the group turn on Dom like a medieval mob and then defend their actions.
Captain Batman Sheets Cody painted Jack a victim because he wasn’t sure if Jack knew about the photo. Jack knew and he didn’t care because he’s a mature and decent human being. But it’s worth calling out the narrative of a man being a victim because his girlfriend does sex work. It’s rooted in misogyny, the discrimination of sex work and the public shaming of female-presenting bodies.
Evil Barbie Doll Tamara tried to defend the group for sharing the photo around. She claimed that there was nothing malicious about showing the photo to each other because they apparently didn’t say anything negative about Dom behind her back. But sorry, that’s just not true. The fact they all talked about it was malicious. It was internalised misogyny. And they were acting immensely out-of-pocket.
It sure seems like Olivia did it to fuck with Dom. That much was clear throughout the episode but particularly in how she responded to Dom calling her out.
Jack defended Dom when she sat in silence for a majority of the dinner. Then she finally spoke.
“I’ve got no issue with people knowing I do that and I told Jack day one,” Domenica told the group.
“The issue is I don’t know why you felt that was something that you needed to share around.”
Olivia goaded Dom to get angry when she finally called Olivia out for trying to slut-shame her. Dom asked her a question. Olivia sat there refusing to answer. So Dom left.
Then Olivia told the group it was classic Dom behaviour to flee a conversation. She said Dom could dish it but couldn’t cop it. But Dom had never brought up Olivia’s personal life in their previous arguments.
Olivia and Tamara said they didn’t have nude pics online. They used that fact to justify their behaviour. But that defence is rooted in a gotcha type of archaic misogyny. It’s the exact same argument as saying a woman was asking to be catcalled for wearing a mini skirt in public. It was un-fucking-believable and absolutely not fucking on.
Honestly after this episode, the only couple I’m rooting for is Jack and Dom. They’re the real main characters this season.
