Schumer takes on Sexting

We learned in Julia’s reading “Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't...If You're a Girl: Relational and Normative Contexts of Adolescent Sexting in the United States” that sexting is common among both females and males, however the nature in which they sext is different.  According to her study that focused on open-ended answers from teenagers regarding sexting, women are more likely to be pressured into sending sexual messages than men.

In Amy Schumer’s skit below we see her making fun of how sexting occurs in this generation.  While Amy is poking fun at how disrespectful men can be this is a prime example of how some women may be pressured into sexting.  In the skit Amy explains to her best friend that this is someone she is really interested in and wants to make a good impression.  We learned in the reading that many girls often send pictures or sexual messages to guys because they feel that this is something they have to do in order to catch the attention of a boy.

            Another aspect highlighted in this clip is when Amy responds to a sexual message with non-sexual context the male continues to text her question marks until she responds.  While Amy’s responses are meant to be funny and make fun of sexting, the pressure that the male figure puts on Amy is not out of the norm according to the reading.  Many girls find it hard to say no to sexual messages as the pressure to send them takes over the potential consequences that could result from sending them.  
            This clip also shows the how the sexual double standard is incorporated when it comes to sexting.  At the way beginning of the clip we see Amy discussing with random people on the street asking what kinds of pictures that “guys” ask for.  She does not ask any men what females ask for.  This shows that men are categorized as the ones who are usually asking for the images and get away with it.  If women were to ask for the images than it is more likely that they would be judged for being “slutty.” 
            Schumer takes a strong stance to show how sexting can be so ridiculous, however lacks showing any consequences.  If her skit showed the negative sides of sexting instead of the comical ones, she may have the ability to show young girls that they do not need to be pressured by sexting. 

Julia R. Lippman & Scott W. Campbell (2014) Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don't...If You're a Girl: Relational and Normative Contexts of Adolescent Sexting in the United States, Journal of Children and Media, 8:4, 371-386, DOI: 10.1080/17482798.2014.923009



Kim, J. L., Sorsoli, C. L., Collins, K., Zylbergold, B. A., Schooler, D., & Tolman, D. L. (2007). From sex to sexuality: Exposing the heterosexual script on primetime network television. Journal of Sex Research, 44(2), 145-157. doi: 10.1080/00224490701263660