Corporation:FAIL! Teens, Sex & Violence
I am not an avid TV watcher, but I keep up to date with what’s going on in pop culture through the status updates on my Facebook news feed. After MTV aired the episode of Jersey Shore where Snooki, one of the guidettes, gets punched by a guy at the bar, I read Facebook statuses of friends like “damn that bitch got smacked” and “that’s so crazy, pumped for next week’s episode”. I was interested in how MTV would deal with the violence, so I sat at home and caught a re-run of that episode. After the show, MTV stated they did not condone violence and if you are in a situation where you are being abused, please contact a hotline and seek help. It felt like they were clearing their name, airing a 60-second PSA on dating violence, after glorifying violence against women. I doubt the millions of viewers who drank in Jersey Shore sat around afterward discussing gender violence, or how fucked up it was on MTV’s part to promote the episode using that clip. Most people were excited to catch next week’s episode and hoped it was as juicy.
February is Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month, and I’ve been watching an influx of shows, PSAs and segments created by the mainstream media in order to combat this “rising epidemic” of teen dating violence and “sexting”. MTV has launched their own campaign against ‘digital drama’ and ‘sexting’, A Thin Line, with a website full of expensive-looking videos, quizzes and stories targeted towards teens. As a young womyn of color and a product of this generation, I couldn’t help but notice how much money MTV executives were spending to create a website for teens with hired teen actors and a $10k challenge. Is this what MTV is presenting to my peer group? A handful of badly-written scripts, supposedly “for us” with some edgy graphics?
Katie Couric’s featured video was on teen dating violence, and was basically “A Thin Line” for mothers. The video did offer heartfelt stories, alarming statistics and voices of real victims of violence, but what I got out of the thirty-minute segment is terror that clueless mothers across America are jotting down mental notes listening to Couric & Co.’s advice. Couric suggests that parents should ban their child from using his/her phone at night and keep the computers outside the bedrooms. If my mother banned me from my phone after 9 p.m. to keep me safe from violence, I would have told her to stop paying attention to novelas! Follow Couric’s advice if you want your daughter/son hating you; adolescence is hectic as it is, no need for more tension in the household.
As a young feminist-activista growing up in Bushwick, I was aware of violence; I would hear couples arguing in the streets at night, witnessed husbands raising their hands at wives, and know girls who think when a guy gets crazy jealous its because he loves her. Going to high school in the Lower East Side, I became more involved with the activist scene and declared myself a feminist. After the murder of a seventeen year-old Tina Negron at a local supermarket by her boyfriend, a neighborhood coalition formed called The Power of Peace. POP wants to put an end to violence and promote peace through organizing marches, events and community projects. Through empowering young people to make change, we can create environments and give them the knowledge to make smarter decisions. I doubt my friends have seen the Couric special or heard of “A Thin Line”, and they probably wouldn’t show much interest in it, since we’re not represented. Corporate media, we’re smarter than you think we are, so give us respect and show an interest in what we actually have to say!
Tags: activism, assault, celebrity, consent, men, power, respect, sex, sexting, women
Hey, Ingrid! Thanks for your thoughtful blog! I’d love to hear more from you about what an appropriate role for parents could be, because I think a lot of folks struggle with that.
Hey Ingrid, thanks for your post and the passion/energy/thought you put into it. Just one point of clarification – the “actors” in the spots on the campaign website aren’t actually actors, but young people we gathered from across the tri-state area — representative of young people we’ve been talking with around the country for nearly a year now about this issue — who agreed to have a discussion on camera about issues in/around digital abuse. That said, i’d like to take you up on your offer and hear more about what you have to say. We’re really committed to listening to youth and having them power our campaigns (ergo the $10K challenge, with the $75K development budget). Please drop me a note and let’s find a time to talk.
Thanks,
-Jason
Ingrid,
Your post is so interesting. As someone who works with teens (specifically teaching them about sexuality, sexual health, relationships, media critique, etc.), there is no question that we continue to see the same images and stories (about dating violence) repeated in an effort to get parents talking about relationship health. I propose that we actually start talking about how girls and boys learn about sex differently, how the double standard creates guilt and shame, and how this inequality with respect to feeling pride in our sexuality contributes to unequal partnerships. There are many parents who (in an effort to protect their daughters) talk about boys only wanting “one thing,” and suggest that girls should “protect themselves from boys.” This creates a huge divide between the genders, completely ignores a girl and woman’s innate sexuality (and sexual feelings), fosters distrust, and creates a dynamic where dating violence exists because girls often feel so guilty about their sexual behaviors and choices that they engage in (emotionally and/or physically) unhealthy relationships. As a society, we cannot talk about dating violence without talking about sexuality and in particular, female sexuality.
Logan Levkoff, Ph.D.
Sexologist & Author
http://www.loganlevkoff.com
Twitter: @LoganLevkoff
Thanks Phred, Jason and Logan, for taking the time to really listen and respond.
This post triggered in me a lot of questions: what is authentic? how can we communicate to young people across the age-gap? how can we “successfully” parent a teenager? how do we define safety when it collides with sexuality and technology?
Thanks for joining the discussion, and I know Ingrid is going to hop back on when she’s done unpacking for her Spring semester!
Hey Phred, Jason and Logan! Thank you so much for your feedback and taking time out to check my post out because I really appreciate and loved reading the comments.
Phred: I have put a lot of thought into what sort of role a parent should play in their children’s sex life. However, I tend to conjure a longer list of what not to do instead of what to do as a parent. I mean, a parent should definitely be open and accepting of their child, and educate them on the reality of certain consequences; no more of those stork tales! My friend Cece’s dad taught her how a baby was made by demonstrating with his fingers that daddy’s penis ejaculated into mommy’s vagina. That friend Cece and I created a feminist project (Breasts Not Bombs!) two years ago, and organized events and created a zine about sex. While researching for our zine, Cece passed on an article about Denmark and their low pregnancy rates; this is due to their children knowing about sex in elementary school. I feel like there should be coalitions of parents who are devoted to keeping it real about sex to their kids.
Jason: Sorry about the misconception; when I first saw the shorts, I felt like they were reading off a script. Regardless, big ups to the young people who gave their time and energy to discussing digital abuse, we need to encourage more campaigns on the subject matter. I would love to talk more, and it’s awesome that you’re team is committed to listening to us. As a young activist, I was involved with a lot projects and organizations and sometimes felt I was there for the “photo-op moments”; it’s discouraging, but it happens a lot. I’ll be updating the “where is your line?” blog each week, and I would love to hear back from you.
One thing about “a thin line” website quiz, there are only two buttons on the gender question: are you male? or are you female? What about transgender youth?
Logan: I was pleased reading your comment; it was shocking to see a professional (especially a sexologist) respond to my blog. It’s awesome that you work with teens and I would love to know more about it. Your proposition is very interesting; a few months ago, I was in an unhealthy relationship and I feel that it was mainly because I felt guilty about my sexual behavior. I felt that his jealousy was because he really cared about me, and a lot of other girls who I have spoken to have thought the same thing. As a society, we definitely need to talk more about sexuality, and especially female sexuality. I think it would progress us towards a rape-free society, which is an ideal of mine (and many others).
-Keep the conversations flowing! I love reading what everyone has to say, and stay posted for my updates!
Con amor,
Ingrid
Ingrid,
This is a beautiful and well thought out articulation of the feelings I have been desperate to express. I love this. You are freakin’ awesome girl.
Love, Peace and Grease.
[...] realistic, what felt scripted, what related to her demographic, and what fell flat. She posted Corporation: FAIL! Teens, Sex & Violence. I tweeted to @a_thin_line that they were featured on the blog and -Internet magic!- they [...]
[...] realistic, what felt scripted, what related to her demographic, and what fell flat. She posted Corporation: FAIL! Teens, Sex & Violence. I tweeted to @a_thin_line that they were featured on the blog and -Internet magic!- they [...]