Are Selfies The Next Sexual Socializer?

While we are all familiar with the #selfie song by the Chainsmokers another song by Nina Nesbitt titled “selfies” takes a different approach to the phenomenon of Selfies. 

Here are some of the lyrics from Nina’s song:

Since you walked out my life again

Yeah

So I strike a pose and tilt my chin

And hold the light to suit my skin

Your favorite t-shirt on again

Throughout the song, she explains that the reason she takes “selfies” is so that her ex boyfriend can see her.  She sings that since he left her she adds “selfies” to her profiles looking her best and wearing the shirt that he liked most on her in hopes of him seeing it.  Some of the later lyrics go like this:

Guess I'm reaching out to be assured

All I wanted was to be adored

This shows that Nina is saying that the only reason she is posting pictures is for her to get attention and is basically a cry for help.  In the music video she even goes far enough to write “Selfies…the life we want to show you” as one of her last captions to her photo.  She does this to show that selfies are not real and are a cover up of her actual life.   

We learned in class from the guest speakers that “selfies” can be taken for a majority of different reasons.  One particular finding she discussed was that “selfies” are not usually added for the self-loving reasons that we think they are.  In this song we see that Nina is taking selfies not because she is happy and vain and wants everyone to see, but instead because she wants to appear that way for a man.

While her song seems to be outing herself for missing her ex boyfriend and wanting to impress him, she does not out the sexual script.  She is showing that she has to look good in selfies to get his attention, has to use passive and alluring strategies such as seflies to gain his affection, and show herself off.  She succeeds in showing some of the stigmas regarding selfies but fails to break the stereotypes of the sexual script. 

While selfies are such a new form of social media they are already providing unhealthy sexual messages about what they mean.  As we discussed in class media is moving so fast that research needs to be able to catch up.  We have to learn to solve the issues of sexual information in the media before it continues to move on to newer media forms. 

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

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

Should Jim's dad be every dad?

The clip above is from the first American Pie movie.  American Pie is centered around high school boys and their quest to lose their virginity’s before they go off to college.  In the scene below we see Jim Levenstein (Jason Biggs) and Jim’s dad (Eugene Levy) having a talk about the female physique.   By using explicit magazines, Jim’s dad is using a form of parental mediation called active mediation. 

In this seen, Jim’s dad keeps a positive attitude about all of the images he is showing to his son.  He is taking the approach of validation mediation by not only showing Jim the types of media that are out there for him but also supporting what they are looking at. The conversation is beyond uncomfortable for both Jim and his dad and the scene ends with Jim’s dad finding out that Jim had been doing some “learning” on his own already.  

While I think that this scene was intended for comic relief, it provides a really good example for parents and children to experiment with how they want to approach one another.  In the movie it seems Jim’s dad has taken the wrong approach, however throughout the American Pie movies, it is clear that Jim and his dad have a really strong father son bond.  While this talk is awkward for all of 5 minutes, this scene might show parents that using active mediation instead of restrictive mediation might create a more open relationship with their children.   

What is negative about this scene is how accurate the information truly is depicted. It is important to note that throughout the films Jim is seen as the “good” guy with the right morals.  The reading by Guo and Nathanson states that validation mediation such as what is depicted in the clip can sometimes lead to more negative effects such as men seeing women as sexual objects.  If the scene went along with how the study’s results do than Jim would have much more negative views on sexual activities and women than he actually does.

I chose to do more research on this topic because I find that the effects of parental mediation are often very different than one would expect.  I am interested to find the most successful approach to parental mediation that researchers have found thus far.

Guo, W., & Nathanson, A. I. (2011).  The effects of parental mediation of sexual          content on the sexual knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors of adolescents in            the US.  Journal of Children and Media, 5(4), 358-378.

This Gendered Scandal

During my fall study break instead of trying to prepare for my midterms I instead turned to Netflix and watch 2 full seasons of Scandal. Scandal is a show that takes a deeper look into the lives of the Republican Party running the U.S. government.  Throughout the show we learn about the lives of each of the main players and the secrets that each of them is keeping.  After starting this show, besides realizing that I want to be Olivia Pope, I have paid particular attention to the relationship between Cyrus and James, the main gay couple on the show.  While Scandal does their best to portray a non-gendered couple, they fall victim to some of the gendered stereotypes.  

When I first began the show I found it very impressive that they would make Cyrus, the President’s chief of staff, a gay character.  It was a bold and impressive move considering they are representing the Republican Party.  James, Cyrus’s husband, works as one of the major news reporters stationed in the White House.  While at first I was amazed that a modern show was taking such big steps to portray a strong gay couple, it was not too long before you start to notice how the couple is portrayed as gendered.  

In the clip below we see James and Cyrus have an argument about having a baby.  It is clear that James is supposed to be more of the “wife” stereotype in this relationship as he begs for a baby.  He claims how he quit his job so that he could stay home and take care of his husband.  Cyrus however, plays more of the “husband” stereotype in this relationship by claiming his job is too much to handle (taking care of the president) and he has no time for a baby.  At the end of the clip James yells “I can’t believe I fell in love with a Republican.” This line is supposed to make the audience laugh thinking that Cyrus won’t have a baby because he’s part of a particular party but the real reason is because he is gendered to act like the more dominant partner in the relationship.

This type of portrayal could have a negative impact on gay teens who are interacting with the media.  These types of gendered stereotype relationships could give young boys who are struggling to come out a false representation of what it means to be gay when they turn to the media for answers.  While there are many positive aspects to having a gay relationship on Scandal it is important to go about portraying these characters as realistic as possible.

references

Bond, Bradley J., Hefner, Veronica, Drogos, Kristin L. (2008) Information-Seeking Practices during the Sexual Development of Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Individuals: The Influence and Effects of Coming Out in a Mediated Environment. Sexuality and Culture,13, pp. 32-50. doi:10.1007/s12119-008-9041-y

Ivory, Adrienne Holz, Ivory, James D., Gibson, Rhonda. Gendered Relationships on Television: Portrayals of Same Sex and Heterosexual Couples. Mass Communication and Society, 12, 170-192. Doi:10.1080/15205430802169607

Finding the "Man" in Manipulation

As we briefly mentioned in class there are particular characters in the media that many teen girls seem to swarm to.  One of them being Edward Cullen.  I’m choosing Edward Cullen because I too had the obsession with him along with many of my friends.  Whether it was hanging pictures of him on my wall, reading the books two times through, or watching the movie too many times than I’d like to repeat, I know what it feels like to have a celebrity crush.

 Rachel Karinol’s reading focuses on the idea that these celebrity crushes provide a safe outlet for young girls to explore their sexuality. I agree that these crushes are harmless (even though I’m pretty sure I still have mine), however I think that the media is manipulating us to have the crushes more than they develop naturally.  Karinol believes that these types of crushes allow for girls to connect with their friends over a common crush, and a way to express feelings of love and sex but she never discusses how these particular crushes are chosen, and I personally believe that they are not chosen but handed to these girls for consumer gain.  For example here were 3 out of plenty of magazines covers in the year that Twilight was first in theatres. 

Even if you had never read the book you were thinking about these characters.  You wanted to see Twilight to see what all the hype was about.  The media made you want to know more about Edward Cullen.  Once you bought these magazines, what was in them allowed girls to admire this new found love.  Endless pictures and quizzes that allowed girls to share with their friends and admire throughout their teen years.  Here is a real life example of a friends bedroom growing up. 

While I definitely support Karinol’s beliefs about celebrity crushes and them being a safe outlet for teen girls, I have to disagree that this only has an effect on teen girls.  Many people have said that 50 Shades of Grey is the Twilight for young adults, however there are many similar behaviors however just in a more adult manner.  Whether that be reading the books multiple times, waiting in line to be the first at the movie, or stalking all of their social media accounts.  I think that celebrity crushes would not be as prevalent without the media manipulating our curiosity and gaining from it as well. 

references

Karniol, R. (2001). Adolescent females’ idolization of male media stars as transition into sexuality. Sex Roles, 44(1/2), 61-77.