Two prayers....

God's will be done and may He have mercy upon us all.

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A Catholic who follows Rome & the Magisterium. I'm against gay "marriage", abortion, embryonic stem cell research, euthanasia, human cloning. Altar girls, Communion in the hand, Eucharistic Ministers and "Protestant" music in the Church doesn't bother me at all. A proud American retired submarine sailor. Our borders should be secured with a 10 ft. high fence topped by concertina wire with minefields out to 20 yards on both sides and an additional 10 yards filled with warning signs outside of that Let's get energy independent NOW! Back Israel to the max, stop appeasing followers of the Pedophile Prophet. Pro 2nd Amendment, pro death penalty, Repeal all hate crime legislation. Back the police unless you'd rather call a hippie when everything hits the fan. Get government out of dealing with education, childhood obesity and the enviornment. Stop using the military for sociological experiments and if we're in a war don't micromanage their every move. Kill your television, limit time on the computer and pick up a book. God's will be done and may He have mercy upon us all.

Thursday, December 16, 2010

Television objectification of teen girls...

Found this via Drudge:
Prime Time TV 'Objectifies and Fetishizes' Underage Girls, Study Says
By Hollie McKay

Published December 16, 2010, FoxNews.com

Long gone are the days when Marcia Brady’s sweet smile and Winnie Cooper’s brains and beauty were how television represented teen-age girls.

According to a new study conducted by the Parents Television Council (PTC), Hollywood is shockingly obsessed with sexualizing teen girls, to the point where underage female characters are shown participating in an even higher percentage of sexual situations than their adult counterparts: 47 percent to 29 percent respectively.

PTC’s report, entitled “New Target: A Study of Teen Female Sexualization on Primetime TV” is based on a content analysis drawn from the 25 most popular shows in the 12-17 demographic throughout the 2009-2010 television season.

“The results from this report show Tinseltown’s eagerness to not only objectify and fetishize young girls, but to sexualize them in such a way that real teens are led to believe their sole value comes from their sexuality," said PTC President Tim Winter. "This report is less about the shocking numbers that detail the sickness of early sexualization in our entertainment culture and more about the generation of young girls who are being told how society expects them to behave."

Storylines on the most popular shows among teens are sending the message to our daughters that being sexualized isn’t just acceptable, it should be sought after,” Winter said. “It is outrageous that TV executives have made it their business to profit off of programs that depict teen girls blissfully being sexualized by casual partners.”

Examples used by the PTC to illustrate their findings, all taken from prime time broadcast television, included Taylor Momsen’s character in bed with Ed Westwick on “Gossip Girl,” Annalynne McCord taking a swig of alcohol while donning a bra and panties on “90210,” and a lesbian kiss between cheerleaders on “Glee.”

The data, based on factors ranging from the genre of the program to the gender of the initiator and the participant’s attitude toward the sexualizing incident, also revealed that 98 percent of the sexual incidents involving underage female characters occurred outside of any form of committed relationship, and that 73 percent of the underage sexualized incidents were presented in a humorous manner or as a punch line to a joke.

Winter also claims that TV networks can’t be trusted as 75 percent of the time they leave off the “S” descriptor to warn audiences about sexual content. However, Adam Temple, the Coalitions Director at the TV Watch Organization, a broad-based coalition that opposes government control of TV programming, said that examining the age appropriate rating is the most important factor to take into consideration.

“You have to look at the whole story. First and foremost shows are rated based on age, so before you even get to the point of those content descriptors (such as ‘S’ for sex, ‘L’ for language and ‘V’ for violence) parents have to decide what is appropriate,” Temple said. “As with other PTC studies, it is very subjective, so 'reader beware.’ It is important to remember that parents are the ultimate authority, and that this seemingly ‘scary’ study based on vague methodology is subjective.”

Nonetheless, the PTC and its supporters don’t simply just want networks to slap more warnings on programs – they’re calling on parents, actors, and advertisers to take action and demand that the trend to air content based on teen sexualization be reversed. However, Temple argued that end of the day it is up to parents to take control over what their children can and cannot view.

“Parents understand that all programming is not for all children and, according to polling conducted solely among parents, take seriously their efforts to ensure their children view what is appropriate based on their age, taste and values,” he said. “What is increasingly difficult to take seriously, is a patchwork of studies characterized by vagaries and omissions, apparently intended to raise money because the group has the word 'Parents' in its name."

But another expert not associated with these studies or organizations firmly believes that Hollywood is indeed sexualizing underage characters on its shows for profit.

“Certain shows, advertisers, etc. sexualize underage people, which does double damage: it sends a message to youth that their self-worth depends on their sexuality, and provokes inappropriate sexual responses from adults. This is irresponsible programming and is disrespectful to youth,” Los Angeles-based psychologist Dr. Nancy Irwin said. “This (PTC) study is not being blown out of proportion.”

(Story ends here. My commentary follows.)

For some reason I thought of a portion of "The Godfather" (the book, not the movie) where Tom Hagen is leaving a Hollywood mogul's office and he sights a mother & young preteen daughter he'd seen earlier. The daughter had just come from an interview with a studio head, the interview evidently taking place on his casting couch. Hagen was disgusted.

Mario Puzo supposedly incorporated a lot of fact into that novel. I've no doubt that part of it wasn't strictly his imagination at work.

IMO the article posted above details a sign of our culture in general. TV programs only provide a glimpse of the iceberg's tip, tightening broadcast standards treats the symptom and not the disease.

In our present society younger women are completely objectified as desirable sex toys for boys of all ages. (Disclaimer note: my wife is 22 years younger than I. As God is my witness, when we first made contact the idea of hooking up with someone young enough to be my daughter was the L-A-S-T thing on my mind!)

The idea of young hotties willing to strap on older "studs" at the drop of a hat is so much the norm these days that it raises nobody's eyebrows. FWIW, a few decades ago that idea would have been regarded as vulgar and disgusting.

But not today. Not anymore.

It's more proof that we've lost our cultural bearings, that following the religion of "I'm Okay, You're Okay" and it's implied ban on any moral judgements of one another has been the wrong path to take.

As the article states, parents ARE the ones in charge. Too damned many don't acknowledge that fact. It's time for those of us with Judeo-Christian values to speak up in all venues. That includes the schools, the workplace, the sports bar, every possible area.

Time to speak out against "adult sex workers" and their ilk who may work in the neighborhoods. Time to speak to the manager of the local food store who routinely places magazines with scantily clad women in the racks near checkout stands. Time to be heard. Time to write the editors of various "women's magazines" and castigate them for making their lead stories all about staying sexy longer in life, instead of holding up genuinely intelligent and accomplished women as examples to follow.

Because our daughters don't need to be taught that the size of their boobs and tightness of their butt are whats important in life. They don't need to learn to "show their goods" for all to see as they walk down a school hallway. They shouldn't feel weird if they keep their virginity past high school. They should be encouraged to be smart, competent and independent. They should be taught to expect their men to treat them like ladies, with courtesy and respect. They should have the confidence to enforce that mindset.

When you get right down to it, women are the ones who civilize a nation. Leave it to us men and we're all happily back in the Stone Age, scratching our asses for fleas and wondering whats for dinner.

It's way past time to realize we've gone too far down the wrong road. Time to turn back.

6 comments:

Adrienne said...

When you get right down to it, women are the ones who civilize a nation. Leave it to us men and we're all happily back in the Stone Age, scratching our asses for fleas and wondering whats for dinner.

That's exactly what my Mom taught me. She used to say it was the woman who set the standards in the home and in society.

I think the stuff on TV is shocking in it's depravity. And I'm not easily shocked. Why would any parent let their kids watch that cr*p?

ignorant redneck said...

Whoa! We're either both nuts, or should get together for some BBQ and French fries! I've booked marked this same piece, and will be using it in a post for this weekend!

If we make all women into sex objects, we end up being like that Ivy League prof, if not in our beds, then in our minds as week look at the young women we should wish to protect, whether related or not.

If we decide all females are for porkin' and none for protecting, then the family dies a filthy death. This is Satan's strategy!

From the first boobs in movies, and the allowance of contraceptives, we've been moving towards this predicament.

Kyrie Eleison!

Mary Ellen/Nunly said...

All you have to do is watch the Disney channel on TV and you'll see young pre-teens and teens being made into sex objects for their fans to emulate. Look at Miley Cyrus for instance. She started her show, Hanna Montana, when she was just a pre-teen, now you can see her pole dancing for her young fans. It's really disgusting and sad.

This is why I would never go to Disney World or buy anything affiliated with Disney. It's not all about Mickey Mouse any more.

Subvet said...

Adrienne, your mom was dead on the money. As for why any parent would let their kids watch the crap on TV, you might be surprised what passes for "parent" these days.

Subvet said...

IR, we're probably both off the deep end. But the BBQ & french fries still sound good.

And yes, there is definetly a Satanic element to it.

Subvet said...

Mary Ellen/Nunly, I lost all faith in Disney about the time they caved in to the gay activists wanting their own special day at Disneyland. Walt must be spinning like a top in his grave.

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