What is the Media Telling Young Girls?

After watching a Dr. Phil show about teen girls having oral sex in school I was interested to find why there are no inhibitions about being sexually active.
According to the USA Today, "Kids who said they watched more sex-oriented programs at the beginning of the year were more likely than others their age to become sexually active during the next year." Rebecca Collins of RAND Corp , in a report on Pediatrics online journal, says the more sexually oriented scenes they saw, the more likely they were to become sexually active.
Why are TV programs starring teens, and about teens, so sexually charged? There are several TV shows that involve sexually active teens, here are a few: The Secret Life of the American Teenager, One Tree Hill, Degrasssi: The Next Generation, The O.C., and Gossip Girls. Very seldom does the media show the consequences of sexual activity like pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases in the vagina, the anal area, and the mouth.
Sharlene Azam has written a book and a documentary film titled Oral Sex is the New Goodnight Kiss. She appeared in an interview on Good Morning America in June 2009 and said the youngest girl she interviewed was 11! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yj8p94a81ZE

The NFL Will Support National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

All Nationhal Football League teams will support Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Pink coins will be used for the toss, the goal posts will be wrapped in pink padding, and coaches will wear pink caps and pink ribbon pins. Tanya Snyder, the wife of the owner of the Washington Redskins, will be the face of Breast Cancer Awareness Month for the NFL. Larry Fitzgerald of the Arizona Cardinals will be assisting her. Fitzgerald's mother died of breast cancer. Mrs. Snyder is presently battling breast cancer.

Chris Johnson of the Tennessee Titans will be wearing pink shoes and pink gloves. He is looking for a pink mouth gaurd to finish off his look. Johnson said, "Pink isn't the color most people think of in connection with football or the NFL." Johnson doesn't have a personal connection to the disease. He said it doesn't matter if pink isn't a "manly" football color. To him it's all about breast cancer. He wants to support the women going through the illness and remind all women ages 40 and up to have their mamograms. (http://www.heraldtribune,com/article/20091001/APS/910011918)

Mrs. Snyder said one of the players actually came up with the idea about wearing pink. She did not release the name of the player.

I am impressed that the NFL would show that "real men" can wear pink! It's refreshing to see that women are sometimes taken seriously.

Mom's Killing Their Babies

According to the American Anthropological Association more than 200 women kill their children in the US each year. Three to five children a day are killed by their parents. Homicide is one of the leading causes of death of children under the age of four. Charles Montaldo -http://crime.about.com/od/female_offender_offenders/a/mother.
Women in jail report that no one believes them when they say they wanted to kill their children. Of the 49 women on death row, 11 killed children. Prior to the homicide, people notice that the mother is having problems parenting. .
Nancy-Scheper-Hughes, a medical anthropologist, cited that women sometimes kill their sickly or weak children in situations of extreme poverty. These women do this in response to impossibly difficult situations. Children are sometimes seriously neglected, “sacrificed”, so that older children can live . Why Mothers Kill Their Children. 25 Mar 2002. http://www.aaanet.org/pres/motherskillingchildren.htm.
Women also tend to kill unwanted children. Gender-selection is practiced through the world.
Susan Smith murdered her 2 sons, aged 3 and 14 months, on October 25, 1994 by drowning them. She will be up for parole on November 4, 2024 after serving a minimum sentence of 30 years.
She reported to police that she had been carjacked by a black man who drove away with her sons in the car. Susan gave tearful interviews on TV. Nine days later she confessed to letting her car roll into a lake drowning the children inside.
The motive for the murders were that she wanted to get rid of her children so that she could have a relationship with a wealthy local man who didn’t want children.
While she has been in prison, 2 guards have been punished for having sex with her. It is thought that she may have Borderline Personality Disorder (Susan Smith).
It is sad to think that women are crying out for help, but no one believes them when they say they are struggling. Instead of glamorizing the murders, we should be promoting where women can go to find help.

Sexual Harassment in the Military

According to women veterans survey by the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center and University of Iowa, fifty percent of women at the Air Force, Army, and Naval Academies report being sexually harassed and “hostile attitudes and inappropriate actions toward women” continues “to hinder the establishment of a safe and professional environment”. Seventy-nine percent of women veterans surveyed reported experiences of sexual harassment during their military service; thirty percent of the women reported an attempted or completed rape (http://www.medianmouse.org/recruiting/facts.php).
Of the cases that were fully investigated in 2005, nearly 1,400, or sixty-eight percent, were completed by the end of the year. No action was taken against more than 800 alleged offenders because the incident was unfounded. Among the remaining, 79 people received court martial, 91 were given no judicial punishments, and 104 were discharged or otherwise reprimanded (http://www.famedetroit.org/sexassaultreport.htm).
What does this say about the treatment of women? Results of surveys concluded that women where sexual harassment is permitted are four times more likely to be raped. We need to stop turning a deaf ear to women being verbally abused. It is not acceptable to harass women. It is most typical with lower ranked women, which is an example of men abusing their position and power over women. Men, no matter what their position, need to be held accountable for their actions, and leaders need to be better trained in understanding sexual discrimination and how to handle it!

September 11

Let us never forget those that lost their lives on this tragic day 8 years ago. Also, let us not forget the men and women who have fought and who are fighting at present for the safety of America.
God bless America!

South African Runner Casater Semenya May Lose Medal

Caster Semenya, a South African runner, won the 800-meter race at the World Championships, but a controversy has arisen that may result in her giving back her medal.
“She was not accused of trying to cheat, but of perhaps unknowingly having a medical condition that blurs her gender and gives her an unfair advantage” (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090825/ap_on_sp_ot/af_south_africa_semenya_s_return). Questions arose about her muscular build and deep voice.
Tests were done which showed she has male and female sexual organs. She has no ovaries and has internal male testes, which produce large amounts of testosterone. She underwent blood and chromosome tests as well as a gynecological examination.
The IAAF said she probably would not lose her medal because it was not related to doping (http://www.comcast.net/articles/sports-general/20090911/Semenya-Gender.Test).
Semenya’s supporters say the allegations against her are motivated by jealousy and show racial discrimination against Africans (http://news.yahoo.com).
I believe it is disgraceful the way this young woman has been publicly humiliated. Sensitive matters like this should be handled delicately and privately. If her medal is not taken back, it wouldn’t have been necessary to publish these results.
Would an American or a man be treated this way? I think not.

Tatoo Barbie Causes Controversery

The new "Totally Stylin Tattoos Barbie", released in March 2009, comes with body art stickers (tattoos) and a set of tattoos for children.

Jenn Alcayago says, "It's attracting kids too young to want to expose parts of their body to show off tattoos" http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/World-News/Tatoo-Barbie-Parents-In-US-Voice-Concern-Over-Message-of-Doll-Featuring-Body-Art/Article/20090311523033 Sales of Tattoo Barbie are greater than they expected and Mattel says it has no plans to discontinue the doll.

Barbie has had several controversial themes in the past. Slumber Party Barbie comes with a book titled How to Lose Weight, which advised "Don't Eat". It also comes with a bathroom scale reading 110 pounds, which would be 35 pounds underweight for a woman 5 feet 9 inches tall.

Has Mattel gone too far? Have we taken away the innocence of childhood? Why can't little girls just be little girls? Why rush them to be teenagers?