Prints 4/4: 4-Color Process
11" x 17"
the recent “hook-up” with them, usually in mocking terms which suggest that promiscuous sex with total strangers is commonplace and nothing at all to be concerned about or ashamed of.
JULY 2015
Shame on Walk of Shame Shuttle! A N E W S L E T T E R F O R S U P P O RT E R S O F PA R E N T S T E L E V I S I O N C O U N C I L
PTC’s 4 Every Girl Urges Media Respect for Girls
A prime example of the way television sexualizes young people, especially girls (see page 1) is VH1’s new series Walk of Shame Shuttle. Airing Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT (only 8:30 Central/ Mountain), the program deliberately rewards bad decisions with fame and celebrity on TV. By so doing, it trivializes tragic mistakes, and makes a life of sexual promiscuity look attractive. The premise of the show is simple: a cab driver picks up and drives home young men and women (and the show’s victims are overwhelmingly young women) who have had a sexual encounter or “one-night stand,” thus sparing them the “walk of shame” of the title. During the ride, the victims are filmed, as the driver discusses
Dialogue on the program is filled with profanity and vivid references to sex: Blonde Woman: “It was my third Tinder date and I plucked and shaved and I, you know, I sprayed down there, so my...” Jordan: “You polished her up.” Blonde Woman: “I polished her up, she smells like mango, and so about five whiskey gingers in, we went back to his place and...he started like talking really dirty.” Jordan: “Well, did you talk dirty back? What were you saying to him?” Blonde Woman: “I panicked. I was just like, ‘Yeah, yeah, thank you, sir. Thank you very much.’” Woman: “Come here I want to pet your kitty.” Man with Glasses: “Blow on my cartridge, baby.” Balding Man: “Wow, you have, like, a much bigger [bleeped **ck] than I thought you were gonna have.”
For more information about Parents Television Council Mailing Address: 707 Wilshire Boulevard #2075 Los Angeles, CA 90017 www.parentstv.org Phone: (213) 403-1300 Toll-Free: (800) 882-6868 Fax: (213) 403-1301 w w w . pa r e n t s t v . o r g
Y152710-PTC15-JULY NWSLTR.indd 1
Every parent of a girl knows how strongly girls are affected by media portrayals of beauty. How many girls question their own self-worth, based on an unrealistic (and often unattainable) standard of beauty presented by the fashion industry or Hollywood? How many find their own lowered self-esteem makes it more difficult for them to face their dreams? And finally, how many girls feel pressured into sexual behavior because media portrays it as normal even for young teens?
Rafael: “So I go outside with him and then he tells me that he wants to hook up with me.” Michelle: “While this bitch is in the bathroom, he hits on you?” Rafael: “So Alfonso and I leave and we go to his hotel room.” Michelle: “Did you have sex with him?” Rafael: “I’m not that easy...and I’m like, ‘We have to get this done fast.’ It was like literally the fastest [bleeped] job I think I’ve ever given in my life.”
Walk of Shame Shuttle airs Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT (only 8:30 Central/Mountain) and is rated appropriate for 14-year-old children. The program appears on basic cable channel VH1, which is a part of the basic package paid for by every cable and satellite subscriber in America.
And media is complicit in creating this situation. Television sexualization of girls runs the gamut from the full-face of makeup of a five-year-old on TLC’s Toddlers and Tiaras, to its openly sexualizing portrayals on programs like Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, and other shows targeted at teenage girls. This is why there is such a crucial need for 4 Every Girl! PTC’s 4 Every Girl campaign calls on entertainment and media industry leaders to create an environment where young girls feel valued, and are defined by healthy media images of themselves – one where all forms of media, especially television, films, magazines and advertising, will honor the intrinsic value of every girl.
And the difficulties go even beyond these examples. One recent British study found that sexualized images of women in advertising and on social media lead to increased emotional problems in young girls.
We demand that media producers and distributors:
Researchers at University College, London, believe that a rise in girls suffering from emotional problems may be linked to seeing sexualized images of women on Facebook, Twitter, and other websites, with girls aged between 11 and 13 stating they are more likely to worry, lack confidence, or feel nervous than they were five years ago because they feel under more pressure to be “sexy.”
1) Reduce sexualized depictions of girls and young women on screen and in print. 2) Reduce sexualizing messages in advertising and in product merchandising. 3) Provide more visibility to non-sexualizing plots and storylines involving girls and young women. 4) Create more non-sexualized female role-models in advertising and entertainment programming.
The study – which compared the mental health of schoolchildren in 2014 with a sample from 2009 – found that the number of schoolgirls likely to suffer emotional problems also rose from 13% in 2009 to 20% in 2014. In addition, the survey found that, even though nine out of ten teenage girls think statements about girls and women on TV and in magazines focus too much on what they look like, instead of what they achieve, one in five girls of elementary school age has felt the need to go on a diet.
PAGE 1
PTC’s 4 Every Girl Urges Media Respect for Girls
Give us media images that respect, empower and promote the true value of Every Girl. Our girls – tomorrow’s women and mothers – deserve a media environment that honors and respects the true value of every girl. And that is what 4 Every Girl is fighting for.
PAGE 4
PAGES 2 & 3 20
TH
Anniversary PTC Milestones
PTC Mourns Chicago Chapter Director
Shame on Walk of Shame Shuttle!
Protecting Children for 20 Years!
Y152710
b e c a u s e o u r c h i l d r e n a r e watc h i n g® 7/2/15 12:03 PM
Prints 4/4: 4-Color Process
11" x 17"
the recent “hook-up” with them, usually in mocking terms which suggest that promiscuous sex with total strangers is commonplace and nothing at all to be concerned about or ashamed of.
JULY 2015
Shame on Walk of Shame Shuttle! A N E W S L E T T E R F O R S U P P O RT E R S O F PA R E N T S T E L E V I S I O N C O U N C I L
PTC’s 4 Every Girl Urges Media Respect for Girls
A prime example of the way television sexualizes young people, especially girls (see page 1) is VH1’s new series Walk of Shame Shuttle. Airing Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT (only 8:30 Central/ Mountain), the program deliberately rewards bad decisions with fame and celebrity on TV. By so doing, it trivializes tragic mistakes, and makes a life of sexual promiscuity look attractive. The premise of the show is simple: a cab driver picks up and drives home young men and women (and the show’s victims are overwhelmingly young women) who have had a sexual encounter or “one-night stand,” thus sparing them the “walk of shame” of the title. During the ride, the victims are filmed, as the driver discusses
Dialogue on the program is filled with profanity and vivid references to sex: Blonde Woman: “It was my third Tinder date and I plucked and shaved and I, you know, I sprayed down there, so my...” Jordan: “You polished her up.” Blonde Woman: “I polished her up, she smells like mango, and so about five whiskey gingers in, we went back to his place and...he started like talking really dirty.” Jordan: “Well, did you talk dirty back? What were you saying to him?” Blonde Woman: “I panicked. I was just like, ‘Yeah, yeah, thank you, sir. Thank you very much.’” Woman: “Come here I want to pet your kitty.” Man with Glasses: “Blow on my cartridge, baby.” Balding Man: “Wow, you have, like, a much bigger [bleeped **ck] than I thought you were gonna have.”
For more information about Parents Television Council Mailing Address: 707 Wilshire Boulevard #2075 Los Angeles, CA 90017 www.parentstv.org Phone: (213) 403-1300 Toll-Free: (800) 882-6868 Fax: (213) 403-1301 w w w . pa r e n t s t v . o r g
Y152710-PTC15-JULY NWSLTR.indd 1
Every parent of a girl knows how strongly girls are affected by media portrayals of beauty. How many girls question their own self-worth, based on an unrealistic (and often unattainable) standard of beauty presented by the fashion industry or Hollywood? How many find their own lowered self-esteem makes it more difficult for them to face their dreams? And finally, how many girls feel pressured into sexual behavior because media portrays it as normal even for young teens?
Rafael: “So I go outside with him and then he tells me that he wants to hook up with me.” Michelle: “While this bitch is in the bathroom, he hits on you?” Rafael: “So Alfonso and I leave and we go to his hotel room.” Michelle: “Did you have sex with him?” Rafael: “I’m not that easy...and I’m like, ‘We have to get this done fast.’ It was like literally the fastest [bleeped] job I think I’ve ever given in my life.”
Walk of Shame Shuttle airs Wednesdays at 9:30 p.m. ET/PT (only 8:30 Central/Mountain) and is rated appropriate for 14-year-old children. The program appears on basic cable channel VH1, which is a part of the basic package paid for by every cable and satellite subscriber in America.
And media is complicit in creating this situation. Television sexualization of girls runs the gamut from the full-face of makeup of a five-year-old on TLC’s Toddlers and Tiaras, to its openly sexualizing portrayals on programs like Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, and other shows targeted at teenage girls. This is why there is such a crucial need for 4 Every Girl! PTC’s 4 Every Girl campaign calls on entertainment and media industry leaders to create an environment where young girls feel valued, and are defined by healthy media images of themselves – one where all forms of media, especially television, films, magazines and advertising, will honor the intrinsic value of every girl.
And the difficulties go even beyond these examples. One recent British study found that sexualized images of women in advertising and on social media lead to increased emotional problems in young girls.
We demand that media producers and distributors:
Researchers at University College, London, believe that a rise in girls suffering from emotional problems may be linked to seeing sexualized images of women on Facebook, Twitter, and other websites, with girls aged between 11 and 13 stating they are more likely to worry, lack confidence, or feel nervous than they were five years ago because they feel under more pressure to be “sexy.”
1) Reduce sexualized depictions of girls and young women on screen and in print. 2) Reduce sexualizing messages in advertising and in product merchandising. 3) Provide more visibility to non-sexualizing plots and storylines involving girls and young women. 4) Create more non-sexualized female role-models in advertising and entertainment programming.
The study – which compared the mental health of schoolchildren in 2014 with a sample from 2009 – found that the number of schoolgirls likely to suffer emotional problems also rose from 13% in 2009 to 20% in 2014. In addition, the survey found that, even though nine out of ten teenage girls think statements about girls and women on TV and in magazines focus too much on what they look like, instead of what they achieve, one in five girls of elementary school age has felt the need to go on a diet.
PAGE 1
PTC’s 4 Every Girl Urges Media Respect for Girls
Give us media images that respect, empower and promote the true value of Every Girl. Our girls – tomorrow’s women and mothers – deserve a media environment that honors and respects the true value of every girl. And that is what 4 Every Girl is fighting for.
PAGE 4
PAGES 2 & 3 20
TH
Anniversary PTC Milestones
PTC Mourns Chicago Chapter Director
Shame on Walk of Shame Shuttle!
Protecting Children for 20 Years!
Y152710
b e c a u s e o u r c h i l d r e n a r e watc h i n g® 7/2/15 12:03 PM