The Forbidden Island...

 

A very hot topic in pop culture and media right now is “The Epstein Files,” a very gruesome but important subject to talk about. It features toxic masculinity, classism, racism, and so much more, but I want to focus on a couple of things that have really caught my eye.

Whether or not you want to believe that your favorite celebrity is in the files, or even the actual President of the United States, there are more important aspects that need to be discussed. I saw somewhere on TikTok a guy asking the question of “Why is it that the files are being given to us, yet it’s being made to feel like it’s not an actual issue anymore?” In other words, the files are a huge deal, and yet many of the people who were on that island doing horrific things to children are still in positions of power. I feel that if an ordinary person did even half of those things, they would have been sentenced to the electric chair. But because most of these people have power and money, it’s as if they are protected from the consequences of the terrible things they have done.

Kids and women (and probably other people) are traumatized by what they had to endure on that island. For them to walk around or hear that what happened to them isn’t being taken seriously especially when the main right-hand man is in office, telling people that he had no part in what went on is a slap in the face to all of the women who were too scared to speak up because of this man’s influence. Their voices are now being silenced out of fear or the belief that no one will trust or believe them. And maybe that doubt could exist if there were no paper trail, but the fact that there are millions of files, pictures, and videos of what went on is absolutely disgusting and people still aren’t taking it seriously.

To bring this full circle, the way the files reveal toxic masculinity, classism, and racism is extremely clear. First, most of the people benefiting from the island were men (though there were disturbing women involved as well). The island was set up for the richest men to do whatever they pleased with children among their peers. They benefited from exploiting children mostly underage girls who didn’t have much in their lives, whether that be family support or financial stability, so it wouldn’t be as suspicious if they disappeared. 

The toxic masculinity aspect comes from older, wealthy men trying to live out their most disturbing fantasies without facing backlash. 90% of the time, these children were not treated as children at all; they were degraded and made to feel lesser so the perpetrators could feel powerful. Lastly, racism also plays a role. From most of the pictures that have surfaced, there were very few people of color on the island unless they were powerful themselves. I’ve heard claims that they didn’t want Black people on the island not to quote directly but even if that “protected” some underage children of color, it still shows how deeply rooted racism is in society, whether we want to acknowledge it or not. With all of this being said, this is a topic that should be at the forefront of our minds. People need to be held accountable for their roles in this sex trafficking ring. We have the proof, yet our government is letting us down. And it makes you wonder what else they would be willing to sweep under the rug for the most powerful person or people.