This was a confronting session to sit through, and the advertising industry should hang its collective head in shame. Anyway, here are some notes from the two sessions.
Sexual world of the 21st century adolescent
Melinda Tankard-Reist (Collective Shout)
October 25 2013 2.00pm
The images that are shown here are not from the back blocks of a porn industry. Instead, they are from general advertising, music videos, and magazines.
The cultural landscape is continuing to change in a sexualised manner.
Girls get and believe the message that they need to be thin and sexy to be accepted.
We can and should get angry about this message.
This issue is backed by good research.
90% increase in older adolescents self harming in ten years
60% increase in younger girls in ten years
World studies link these outcomes to the messages given to girls about their bodies
Girls are visiting pro-anorexia websites (how do such things even exist!!)
Things that girls used to talk with Melinda about at school at 16-17, they are now asking at 12-13.
Sexting can result in boys being charged with sexual offences and ending up on the sex-offender register. Teenagers need to know this!
"Silence is the language of complicity. Speaking out is the language of change." Anon
There was so much to take in through this session that I wasn't able to take notes. So I add this with some reflection:
The sexualisation of advertising is producing nothing good
Looking at some advertising images in a setting like this makes me wonder how anyone thought they would be a good idea! I can only assume that there are no women involved in advertising apart from flaunting themselves in front of the camera.
Was there ever a woman's movement in our history? It seems to have failed.
Images that go online that are 'sexy' images are harvested by parasite websites and can end up on porn websites. A study showed that of over 12,000 images, well over 10,000 of them, 88% in fact, ended up on a porn website. Something for girls to keep in mind if they consider posting photos of themselves in bikinis etc.
One complaint can make a significant difference.
Over the road from a boys Grammar School, there was two large billboards for brothels. Standards in advertising, or self-regulation proving its limits.
Dolly magazine is giving sex advice to girls who are legally under age. If they follow through with the advice, the boys could end up in a world of legal trouble.
Girls who are drunk cannot give consent. Taking advantage of a girl who is drunk makes you guilty of an offence, not just of being a prick.
If a company requires its workers to wear a badge that says 'I love sex!', even if those workers are teenage casual workers, the workers unions should be taking action. And consumers who see this should be taking action.
The biggest users of online porn are 12-17 year olds. If this is where boys are learning about sex, the future is bleak.
Part 2 (this is the R18 session)
The session began with a poem from a lady who was locked in a basement by her father when she was ten, sold and a used by pedophiles until she was fifteen when she finally escaped.
One line stands out (although I may have paraphrased it)
Maybe it's time for men to teach boys
That girls are not toys
Your kids may not be looking for porn, but porn is looking for your children.
The average age of first exposure to porn is 11. This is the average. And often the first exposure is very hard core porn.
We are engaging in an unprecedented assault on the sexual development of our teenagers.
Myths
Porn is hard to find
-boys and girls are being exposed to porn
-girls are raised to think of themselves as sexual service stations
They say 'he seemed to enjoy it.'
porn is our most prominent sex educator
Porn is harmless
Dr Robi Sonderegger
Independent parliamentary inquiry into child protection (UK)
Australian medical association journal on Internet Pornography and Adolescent Health
Higher risk STI's and unplanned pregnancy
STI's have increased tenfold in the ten to fourteen age group in recent years
Porn is a good sex educator
It is a generic porn sexuality limited in creativity, lacking any sense of love, respect of connection
Girls aren't reporting what is sexual assault because they believe they are supposed to be enjoying it.
The Age Jan 14 2012 'Porn blamed for problems behaviours'
The Age Oct 23 2012 'Parasite' porn sites stealing images and videos posted by teens
Internet Watch Foundation
Porn enhances relationships and connections
Who needs the hassle of dating when I've got online porn? Quote from a anew York Biy
'Love and Sex in an age of pornography' was shown on SBS in Aug 2013
20% would prefer porn to sex with their partner
Girls are disempowered to say no
Porn isn't addictive
'The Brain that changes Itself' book
Porn is behind the counter
Just wander through the shops
Mainstreaming of Playboy brand means it has lost its connection to porn and is popular amongst girls!
Collective Shout
.Mossimo Peepshow competition
www.Melindatankardreist.com
Faking It magazine
Ruby Who book and Video
Book 'Men of Honour'
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