Abstinence and Pop Culture
Relevant to our discussions, there's a great post up at Feministing about mentions of abstinence in pop culture.
As someone who has read all of the Twilight books, it is the one thing that really freaked me out about them. Like the Feministing post states, the messages about sex in the books are incredibly confusing. The worst part, however, is when Bella and Edward do have sex, it is very similar to rape, i.e. she wakes up, has no clue what happens, and is covered in bruises because he can't "control" himself.
With regards to Taylor Swift, I know that she is often pitted against Miley Cyrus to further perpetuate the virgin/whore dichotomy we see repeated in society. In her popular song "Fifteen" it's written from the perspective of a girl who watches her friend fall in love with a boy, lose her virginity, and then get dumped. The lyrics in question are: "Abigail gave everything she had to a boy who changed his mind, and we cried." (Everything she had, indicating her virginity?) There are a lot of things to love about Taylor Swift (she's young, talented, writes her own music, plays an instrument, and seems to really enjoy what she does and interacts with her fans), but this song is definitely sending the wrong message to young girls. I know the overall message is that boys come and go and that the majority of girls think they are in love with their first boyfriends but it's rare that those relationships last. But it also places a lot of stock in how relationships can ruin you, and doesn't speak a lot about girls having independence outsive of romantic relationships.
And yet, parents seem to think these things are okay for their children despite the messages they send. It begs the question of: is anything in pop culture really "safe" for girls?
As someone who has read all of the Twilight books, it is the one thing that really freaked me out about them. Like the Feministing post states, the messages about sex in the books are incredibly confusing. The worst part, however, is when Bella and Edward do have sex, it is very similar to rape, i.e. she wakes up, has no clue what happens, and is covered in bruises because he can't "control" himself.
With regards to Taylor Swift, I know that she is often pitted against Miley Cyrus to further perpetuate the virgin/whore dichotomy we see repeated in society. In her popular song "Fifteen" it's written from the perspective of a girl who watches her friend fall in love with a boy, lose her virginity, and then get dumped. The lyrics in question are: "Abigail gave everything she had to a boy who changed his mind, and we cried." (Everything she had, indicating her virginity?) There are a lot of things to love about Taylor Swift (she's young, talented, writes her own music, plays an instrument, and seems to really enjoy what she does and interacts with her fans), but this song is definitely sending the wrong message to young girls. I know the overall message is that boys come and go and that the majority of girls think they are in love with their first boyfriends but it's rare that those relationships last. But it also places a lot of stock in how relationships can ruin you, and doesn't speak a lot about girls having independence outsive of romantic relationships.
And yet, parents seem to think these things are okay for their children despite the messages they send. It begs the question of: is anything in pop culture really "safe" for girls?
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