Whenever I have a paper or project due, my room suddenly looks very dirty. Or my kitchen urgently needs to be cleaned all of a sudden. The closer and closer my deadline creeps, the more and more pressing things seem. Your cat died? We need to have a full tilt funeral and I will bring chocolate cake (because chocolate makes everything better), some pumpkin cookies (for the weird people who don't love chocolate like I do), and a number of other dishes (because college students cannot go hungry and goodness, it isn't like you have a bunch of places to eat on campus).
I justify my procrastination by saying that I am "prioritizing" and "investing in the one thing that really matters: people." While this may be true, I do have a responsibility to complete my work and complete it to the best of my ability. That being said, I am going to post one more time before the last of my work is in for the Fall 2010 semester!
One of my favorite ways to procrastinate is to open up Yahoo news, the New York Times [Global Edition please], and Time Magazine. So, what did I find on Yahoo news? A link to this article: Sexualized Teen Girls Are Tinseltown's New Target.
This subject has been of interest to me lately as I read my college friend's blog. (Going off on a relevant tangent!) This friend, Jennie, is incredible. She is someone I would like to be like because she adores God. When you meet Jennie it is like you are meeting God. She is human, but she is warm and loving. She is so ready to be sincere and to listen. For the last two years Jennie has been working in Sudan with another even more incredible woman, Michelle Perry. I read Jennie's blog in awe of what God is doing through her and in her life. One of Jennie's passions is to rescue girls from sex slavery. This article was linked from her blog. What do you know about the US sex slave trade?
To summarize: there is a sex slave trade in the United States. And no, it is not just young immigrant girls from Southeast Asia. You might be surprised at who is involved. Read the article. The average age of a female entering the sex slave trade is 12-14 years old. These are not women; they are girls. They are victims. What thirteen-year-old child do you know who is mature enough to decide to enter into commercial sex? The biggest at-risk population to be victimized by the sex trade is American runaways. There are documented cases of sex slavery in all fifty states - your state and very possibly your city. Lastly, you can do something. You now know something about this issue. I've told you. You read it. You can and should read the article. You are responsible for the knowledge you've just learned. Act. Do something. The world doesn't change because someone else will do something. The world changes because you did something.
Going back to the first article I linked for you to read...
The Parents Television Council (PTC)found that when underage female characters appear on screen: more sexual content is depicted; the teen girls show next to no negative response to being sexualized; more sexual incidents occur outside of any form of a committed relationship; and there is less accuracy in the TV content rating.
• Underage female characters are shown participating in a higher percentage of sexual depictions compared to adults (47% and 29% respectively).
• Only 5% of the underage female characters communicated any form of dislike for being sexualized (excluding scenes depicting healthy sexuality).
• Out of all the sexualized female characters depicted in the underage and young adult category for the entire database, 86% were presented as only being of high school age.
• Seventy-five percent of shows that included sexualized underage female characters were shows that did not have an “S” descriptor to warn parents about the sexual content.
• Based upon a definition established by the American Psychological Association of “healthy” vs. “unhealthy” sexuality, the study findings show that 93% of the sexual incidents involving underage female characters occurred within a context that qualified as “unhealthy.”
• The data revealed that 98% of the sexual incidents involving underage female characters occurred outside of any form of a committed relationship.
• The data show that 73% of the underage sexualized incidents were presented in a humorous manner or as a punch line to a joke.
Can anyone else see a connection here? Is it possible that we are desensitized to sexuality? Do you remember my last post about people being important? The young girl with WAY too much make-up on her face who must surely have no parents because what parent would let her way a skirt that short out of the house - yeah, she's important. It may be a little creepy to go up and talk to her, but could you pray for her as you walk by? Maybe we should all watch what we put into our minds because sooner or later those ideas and thoughts are going to come out of us in actions and words. Are the TV characters we watch really worth emulating? Isn't there a better example somewhere else?
I almost feel like apologizing to you my reader and saying that TV isn't a bad thing at all. The actual television set itself isn't, but why choose to watch something that is only "okay" on a consistent basis when there is something "good" you could be doing instead? Is your pleasure the most important thing? We only have time dear readers; time is the only resource we have and it is up to us to choose how to spend each minute. I am spending several minutes today blogging instead of doing my homework. Will you spend sixty minutes watching a show instead of playing with your kids (love your kids - they are less likely to runaway and you will be making the world a better place...sorry, "duh" statement) or volunteering your time at a local charity (I recommend Feed My Starving Children).
Thank you for listening to me as I stand on my soapbox. Writing a paper on magic realism is important (because then I'll pass the class), but I don't think I can begin to affect people's thoughts and opinions and behaviors through that paper like I could through my blog. I don't know for certain how much time God has given me on this Earth and I want to use my time wisely. I want to make you think. I want to make you reflect on your beliefs and values; I don't want to force mine down your throat, but please, be wise. Make good choices. Love other people.
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