Why I’m against openly declaring my love for a convicted felon
*Closer’s deputy editor Kayleigh Dray says that 'Meeks Madness' has to stop
It was just another day at the office, when one of the girls asked me if I'd seen "the hot felon" and his mugshot online. I had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, and she had to repeat the word 'felon' several times before I was able to grasp what was going on.
Just hours later, the mugshot of Jeremy Meeks was everywhere. his blue eyes followed my every move, staring up at me from discarded newspapers on the train, from websites, from Twitter and from my Facebook newsfeed. He was everywhere. And women, everywhere, were fawning over him.
"But he's got a teardrop tattoo!" I persisted. "That means he's in a gang and he's murdered someone, doesn't it?"
Fiona, our freelance writer, just stared at me dreamily and replied: "He probably did it for the right reasons. There's sorrow behind those eyes."
Seriously ladies, this is ridiculous.
Firstly, feminism is not about creating an accepted social narrative where men can be judged on their looks alone, but by eliminating the one that suggests women should be. After all, "once we see someone’s appearance as more valuable or important than their character, it’s time to re-evaluate."
But you know what? I can (sort of) get on board with the fact you find this guy attractive. Because he is attractive, I suppose - in a sort of grim, murderous kind of way.
What's worse is the fact that all of you Jeremy Meeks fans are busy making excuses for him.
"Not everything is black and white," one person told me crossly. "You can't judge a man based on one criminal act."
Just like you can't judge a man based on a single photograph? No, you're right; I suppose I really am the unreasonable one here.
Do Jeremy's high cheekbones and piercing blue eyes cancel out the fact that he was arrested on five weapons charges and one gang charge? Are his full lips and 'edgy' tattoo more important than the fact police have insisted Jeremy - with his CRIPS gang tattoo - is "one of the most violent criminals in the Stockton area"?
Or what about the fact that Jezzer was charged in 2002 with robbery and corporal injury to a child. Mmhmm, yes. This guy allegedly jumped a 16-year-old and beat him to a pulp - scoring himself 2 years in a California prison.
Such a dreamboat. No wonder women everywhere have clubbed together to raise money to Free Jeremy Meeks from prison. Fingers crossed it doesn't go to his (sexy) head.
Can we just take a second to understand the gravity of this situation? Less than one week after Jeremy's arrest, two people lost their lives during a gang-related mass shooting in Miami.
I'm all for giving people a second chance - and I've got nothing against women finding men hot. But I find it terrifying that people are so enamoured with appearance and attractiveness that they are willing to totally disregard the fact that they’re talking about somebody who is a criminal, someone who has a long rap sheet and a history of convictions.
In short? Ladies - be cool.
Why I’m all for telling the world I fancy a felon
*Closer’s writer Fiona Day says that there's more to felon fangirling than 'Meeks' the eye
As a society we judge others based in their looks - probably more now than ever before.
When we want to hire someone for a job, we look at their LinkdIn profile to see if they look like a good guy. When we want to date someone we spend virtually 2 seconds looking at their picture on Tinder before deciding if their worth our time or not. Attraction, like most things in our day-and-age, is instantaneous.
In the case of Jeremy Meeks, his sexiness was what caught the eye of millions of women. Ladies (and men) across the world did not stop scrolling through their newsfeed to swoon over his back catalogue of criminal charges, they paused to peer into those sultry blue eyes and cast their gaze over his chiselled cheekbones.
I can totally see why women fell at the feet of Jeremy Meeks. He is insanely attractive. Of course, I probably wouldn’t rush to go on a date with him, but I reserve the right admire his good looks, despite the way his picture entered the public forum.
I think the world’s fascination with him is relatively harmless. He will be punished for his crimes regardless of how he looks (I would like to think anyway), so why don’t we just go ahead and enjoy those ethereal blue eyes?