ɱ€Ɍ¢ħªŋŧ$ 0§ ©00ƪ: Stupid or Sexual?

            The media has its difficulties. Many difficulties. For one, they seem to be over representing some, and under representing others, otherwise known as misrepresenting everyone.

             Teens, a beast that some brave advertisers decided to tackle, have remained in the cross-hairs of the media for quite some time now. Why? It is abundantly clear by now that the media's in it for the money. But let's look at the how, and what follows.

            In the documentary film, Merchants of Cool, Frontline attempts to understand advertising towards teens. Doug Rushkoff, the exceptional narrator, identified two commonly used television characters (on MTV specifically, but you can find them in other places): the Mook and the Midriff. The Mook is an idiot who runs around doing obnoxious, inane things, and leaves anyone in his path with a throbbing headache. He's supposed to appeal to teenage boys. We'll get into how in a moment. But wait, the Midriff! Well, she's a teenage sex object who apparently has no brain, only a pair of breasts and a vagina. She's supposed to appeal to teenage girls.

            Why? Why does the Mook even exist? He's like an overgrown 4th grader. Is the media trying to propagate the idea that all teenage boys are morons? Not necessarily. This character gets its appeal because of a simple fact of biology: boys begin the maturation process much later and progress slower than girls do. That's why we get the height swap in children from 6th grade to about 8th grade. The Mook is a way of suspending a male in time: he looks like a man, sounds like a man, but acts like a little boy. Even while he begins to grow and change on the outside, he remains childish and silly. In a way, this does appeal to teen boys, because the Mook is a representation of their situation, not necessarily their personality.

            Hoo boy, the Midriff is a pile of whacko. Why has the media created such a sick image of teenage girls as sex toys? As mentioned previously, females mature faster-- they enter puberty earlier than boys do. Breasts can start developing as early as the third grade… and many teenage females are, in the biological sense, already provided with physical means to have sex. Often, they are not truly mentally or emotionally developed and ready for such things. But that doesn't mean they don't think they're ready or desire sex. Just today, a female classmate of mine walked into the class materials storage area where some other students were meandering around after class, and announced, "I need some (insert foul word for male genitalia)". …What? She is quite childish in most ways, but she has already began to have sex. That's why the Midriff exists. Girls are physically prepared for sex, so that's what the icon targets. It also notifies them of the male views of their sexuality and what their worth is. In this way, they are encouraged to be like the picture-- hypersexual and body-perfect, even though these things are less than necessary.

            We see the representation, but how does each stereotype make money for the media men? The Midriff plays off of teen female insecurities, presenting an "ideal" woman, in the sense as created by men. The Mook reinforces typical teen male behavior: It is ok to act like a little kid, boys will be boys. This creates confidence in their impunity and actions. If you create insecure females, they will buy your products to make themselves feel confident. If you create confident males, they will buy your products to feel validated and reassure themselves.

            This grand plan of the media masterminds is little more than a ploy to make cash money and enforce gender roles. But it affects the teens who drink it in negatively. Marian Wright Edelman once said, "You can't be what you can't see." She is definitely correct. If no role model is present in the media for the youth, how can one expect them to understand or know how to act? They begin to believe that these flat icons are their idols, or that they at least represent them mildly, even though they can amount to much more than a babbling numbskull or a brainless pair of breasts. Stupid or sexual? I guess the media will help us figure that out.