Grow Up Already!
Today's post is dedicated to Brent, Karen, and Pua. You've got a huge battle ahead of you.
Monday, while at the mall, I made a few observations. First of all, it's been nearly 3 years since I bought any clothing, so when the hell did vertical stripes come back? That and it looks like green is the new black. Add that to the list of things I want when I get the next job: New Clothes.
In case you didn't already know. Gay men shop at Banana Republic (duh...the name?) and lebians shop at J Crew. I didn't know Cleveland had so many disel dykes.
What most interested me were the kids who are in that pre-teen state. Not teenagers, but over age 9, these kids are the new marketing target called "Tweens". Heading into the mall, these kids (specifically the girls) wonder the hallways in miniskirts that make me notice. A note to parents...If your daughter wears clothing provocative enough that I notice her ass...you need to change her clothes. Seriously...one girl was wearing a skirt so short I could see her underwear.
Walking into the kids jewelry store, I watched stunned as how these girls talked. "Oh my Gawd...Jenny...I just found the greatest purse", as munchkin #1 pointed at the Hello Kitty purse. The rest of their conversation was about how "hot and sexy" the purse made this pubic hair challenged child look. I left when the store owner started giving me the potential child abductor stare.
Continuing on my quest, I headed to the Disney store, wondering where these kids fully got these ideas of sex appeal and desire. Now I'm not innocent, and I haven't been for a very long time, so maybe sometimes I look at the world with too much of rose colored glasses. Walking into the store, I see the video playing in the background. One of the bands playing a video is featuring 4 college kids, who might as well be simulating sex the way they are dancing. In fact, the one blonde man singing could very likely be bottoming for me while singing the chorus.
I glanced at and remarked to the sales clerk, a fellow gay man (duh...the Disney Store?) that the blond singer is a little hottie. The sales clerk looks at me and cracks a smile.
"He's twelve." He says.
I'm sitting here aghast. With makeup and clothing, Disney made that child attractive and appealing enough that I would want to fuck him! What the hell is wrong here? I'm not saying it's me (although I did stop at the Catholic church on the way home to wash my eyes). I hate people that blame television for the moral decay of society, but it's pretty obvious where the push to be "sexy" is coming from. The only fundamentalist in my neighborhood (I do live in the gay ghetto) tells me that she only lets her daughter watch the Disney Channel and Nickelodian (which I know is spelled incorrectly). Does she realize that Disney has the two girls in that same video wearing thong underwear?
When I spoke with her, I found out she does. I summarize when she says that she decided to let her watch the station as she needed time to do things in the home. I get it. The TV is her baby sitter when she needs to do something around the house. She exposes her child to something she finds harmeful beause she wants to clean. Today, I gave the woman my old art set. "Tell your kid to draw instead of watching TV."
I watch 1 television show a week (one I was called back to play in). I find the rest of what is on TV pure crap. When I was in that "Tween" stage, I wasn't allowed to watch TV at all. Disney is at the mercy of its advertisers. If they aren't getting the ratings, the advertisers leave for other networks. Until viewers stop watching, nothing is going to change.
Adult television is just as bad. Last night's Entertainment Tonight's Red Carpet Makeover Secrets was nothing more than a 1 hour informercial for Crest White Strips, Miss. Clairol hair dye, and some makeup products. Let's break a person's self image a bit by showing you how you aren't good enough.
I'm in the entertainment industry and I have to say it. Turn the TV off. Talk with your family. Read a book. Play a board game (but not Risk...that's to violent), and you'll be surprised at how much more productive you can be and how intellectually stimulated your kids will be. And before you put on the television, ask yourself this: Do I want my daughter to be the next Britney Spears?
The following link I'm placing in here will only be up for a few days. This file is huge, and been uploading on my dialup connection for over an hour. I find it hilarious, but with some sad connotations.
Truth
