Violent Hedonism

There is a tidal wave of intemperance in our culture, and it goes beyond bling, cars, homes and appetites. The trickledown effect? A well-laid out path for pleasure-seekers and unassuming kids.

Last year I did an OP Ed about the surge of media violence in our culture and how often kids are the victims of its assault. Not surprisingly it caught the attention of some very angry people. One group was parents who were on board with me. The other group was enraged that the Parents Television Council was trying to suppress their First Amendment ‘rights’. (I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Violent, scripted TV is not what the First Amendment protects.) They’re nervous that their favorite gore-fests will disappear, and heaven forbid they miss out on mutilated bodies and crude pedophile humor after a hard day at the office.

Hedonism at its worst.

This is what I tell nay-sayers: Unless you have a bedtime of 8 PM most nights, is it too much for you to wait until a later hour when (hopefully) most kids are already in bed? And please, stop complaining that broadcast TV should carry the same content as cable television. If that were true, cable providers would be in a lot of trouble. But if you still think I’m way off base, find the most violent and objectionable show on broadcast TV (Law & Order: SVU or any crime drama will do) and sit down with young kids-under 10 years old-and watch with them while a woman’s severed head is given a close-up. Or witness someone being raped and murdered, or a dead child shown as the result of a botched exorcism. Unless you’ve no conscious whatsoever, I highly doubt there won’t be some squirming on your end.

A couple of weeks ago I appeared on a NJ college radio station and had a rather interesting ‘debate’ with a professor of Communications. I use the word ‘debate’ liberally; the good professor spent most of the time speaking over me and getting upset when I wouldn’t agree with him. Simply said, he had a bone to pick with the PTC. Publicly in favor of unfiltered violence and against child-predator restrictions on the internet, he slammed all of our studies, comparing them to inept lab findings. I reminded him we’re not a lab nor are we scientists, but due to “technical issues” on his end nothing I said during the debate was heard clearly. What bothered me most about the debate was not his views (they are upsettingly common and nothing I haven’t heard before), but where he was coming from. Sitting on a pulpit of education and in a position of some authority, there are no doubt students who look to him for popular opinion, and a lot of those students will one day grow up to be parents. Hopefully they will have learned to dismiss his rather left-field thinking and enforce guidelines instead of hedonism in their homes, but we can’t be sure. At one point he said he’d have no problem watching a violent show with his 4-year old niece. Yuk, yuk.

It’s an interesting paradigm of our societal values: As soon as there is a whisper of a threat of anything dangerous in our food, water or synthetic products, they are yanked from store shelves faster than you can say “mass-tort lawsuit”. But anything violent (including sex crimes) is not only allowed to remain attainable to all, but is enforced and marketed to minors. What has to happen before this rear-facing anatomy stops?

Crystal Madison, Chapter Director
New Jersey Parents Television Council
800-257-9358
njc@parentstv.org

Where Did it Go?

I cannot find it, no matter how hard I look. It’s not in the schools, and it’s definitely not in the media. It’s even disappearing from college campuses. What is it? It’s feminism and I’ve lost complete sight of it. 20 years ago, women were fighting to gain entry into the same elite boys-only clubs. They were straining to smash through the glass ceilings of corporate America. They were climbing the ladders of journalism, teaching, professorship, and the medical community. They were proudly staying home and raising their kids, their girls to grow up and do anything. Today? They are a disappearing breed. Since when did feminism become a second translation for “liberal sex”?
Why is it pop culture and TV now glorifies the epitome of slutty behavior and virtual prostitution? Yes, it is a form of prostitution. These so-called ‘actresses’ and ‘musicians’ are making a lot of money off being skanks, and the guys are laughing their heads off. Ever see a Pussycats Dolls video? Give me a break. These are not girls you take home to mom. And if you do, mom’s got some explaining to do. Every other reality show (and if you think these shows are ‘real’ I’ve got a bridge I’d like to sell you) depicts girls competing for the affection of mimbo (male bimbo) rock stars, trying to win stripping contests, boob job contestants (didn’t they used to want to hide this type of surgery, claim superior genetics?) vie for the affection of a bi-sexual MySpace girl…let me stop before I get sick.
Merriam-Webster’s describes feminism as:
1 : Noun, “The theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes”
2 : “Organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests.
These girls/women I’m talking about have absolutely no interest in political or economic equality! Maybe they make more than some men, but only because they have bigger chests and longer hair extensions that their male counterparts. And women’s rights…what rights are they promoting? The right to bare all? The right to provide lewd content for young boy’s fantasies? When I think of the efforts of Alice Paul and Rosa Parks, I want to gag. Original feminists were pro-life, not pro-sedentary existence. They were pro-woman, pro-sophistication, pro-intelligence. They used education and tailored speeches to get noticed. They lobbied for equal rights with dignity and in full dress. They protested the surge of prostitution and suffrage. They didn’t do it by flashing their crotches and using the F-bomob as an adverbial substitution.
I know I’m going to get some backlash from this column; I usually do on all my writings. And as usual, I’m going to bet that the vast majority of those who write angry letters are not fathers of young girls, or not mothers of girls who’ve lost their lives to pornography and HIV. No, I’m assuming the ones who will write in are single men, or attached men with some very questionable viewing habits their partners may not be approving of.
If there are any girls or young women out there who ascribe to be Brett Michaels; new love interest, the new Pussycat Doll, or a next Top Model…please. Finish school. Volunteer at an AIDS clinic. Work with special needs kids. Do something that will count as a contribution towards society. Showing the world your fake tans and drunken naked exploits on basic cable is embarrassing. Think a little higher of yourselves and show these bottom-grubbing advertisers and producers they’re going to have to go somewhere else for an idiot. You are worth far more than 15 seconds of forgettable fame. Whatever happened in life to make you believe you are not, trust me, it’s a lie. You are totally worth more. We are all God’s children, and He wants so much for you than this.