In Defence of Our Bodily Fluids

Courtesy of @AnthonyChisolm

I’m glad to hear that there is still a political party whose members are willing to talk about the REAL issues, the Queensland LNP.

I wonder if the honourable member became aware of this during the physical act of love?

The Art of Sext

Perhaps the most controversial scene in the awfully titled movie “Crazy, Stupid, Love” concerns the plight of seventeen year old Jessica. In love with an older man, whose family she babysits for, she cannot get him to view her as anything more than a virginal employee. To counter this, she decides to take nude photos of herself and give them to him. Comedy, predictably, intervenes and instead of arriving to the object of her affections they end up in the hands of her parents. A farcical chase scene ensues.

The scene touches upon what has become one of the great parental anxieties of our time, sexting. It is the newest collision of technology and hormones that is the awkward topic of conversation in households around Australia. Seizing the initiative of Kim Kardashian, Vanessa Hudgens and their ilk, teenagers are sending nude photos of themselves with an enthusiasm that baffles middle Australia. And as we do with all movements that baffle us, we panic.

Anti-sexting postcards have been distributed to students in Ballarat. In New South Wales police are calling for bans on mobile phone use in school hours. In Mackay a teenager was spared prosecution from child pornography offenses. Post-Henson Australia has moved the search for prospective pedophiles from the
beaches and the art galleries to the inboxes of their children’s mobiles.

The most outrageous response, in my opinion, is this advertisement from the Federal Government. It presents the archetypal nightmare scenario for the young sexter. A girl (male victims are noticeably absent in such awareness campaigns) arrives in class fresh from an episode in self-portraiture to find to her horror that the aforementioned photos have spread throughout the class before the teacher has even reached ‘H’ in the roll call. What feminist worth their salt is not offended by this ad? There absolutely no attention paid to the original recipient of the message, or any questioning of the actions of her peers. Instead the blame is laid with outright misogyny at the feet of Meghan herself. The message of the ad is simple; “Don’t Sext, You Will Be Judged”.

A more comprehensive response to sexting has to lie in understanding both what drives teenagers to sext and the responsibilities of someone who receive a sext are. Presenting sexters as irresponsible sluts does not achieve this. Presenting recipients of sexts as exploitative douchebags does not achieve this.

What would achieve this is better sex education in our schools. Our curriculum is still based on the biological need-to-knows: the specifics of anatomy, the process of reproduction, the prevention of STI’s, the value and application of various contraceptives. But sexuality has changed dramatically since this early seventies approach. Social networking has changed the way teenagers interact immeasurably. Teenage boys can watch extraordinary amounts of depraved pornography in the comfort of their bedrooms. And anyone, anywhere, can broadcast pictures and videos of their genitalia to anyone, anywhere.

A new sex education curriculum would better prepare children for such a hyper- sexualized world.

I will not reveal the fate of the nude self-portraits in “Crazy, Stupid Love” suffice to say that their eventual transferral to a far more appropriate recipient turns into an empowering and oddly moving gesture on the part of Jessica. Ultimately, we need to accept young people’s sexuality, not repress it.