“The dirty little secret at MTV is that their demo is not 22-year-old college students. Their demo is 12, 13-year-old kids, 14-year-old boys and girls who are often home alone and unsupervised.” -- Rachel Campos-Duffy, a cast member on MTV’s
The Real World: San Francisco (CNN’s
Anderson Cooper 360, January 21,2011)
The crass, disgusting, and downright dangerous “advice” MTV gave to 14-year-old girls on the May 21
st episode of
Girl Code (Tuesdays, 6:30 p.m. ET) explains why the program is the
Worst Cable TV Show of the Week.
The first subject examined on this episode was ex-boyfriends. Starting the episode off with a burst of misandry,
Playboy contributor Jessimae Peluso tells girl viewers there are only three kinds of ex-boyfriends: “the lying slob, the lazy slob, and worst of all, the slobby slob. You can’t even look at him without vomiting a little in your mouth.”
But what about the embarrassment of running into a former boyfriend? In the shallow, vapid world of MTV, the MOST important thing is how women LOOK, not their feelings (unless those feelings can be used to manipulate others). Here are
Girl Code‘s women contributors telling teenage girls that it is incumbent upon them to be concerned about nothing than their looks, and to be beautiful every second:
Maxim “Hometown Hottie” Champion Melanie Iglesias: “Once you’ve broken up with somebody, there’s always the chance you’ll run into them…God forbid they see you without your makeup on.”
Carly Aquilino: “That’s why you have to always make sure you look your best all the time. Make it look like you’re going to a party. That way, if you bump into him, you’ll look great.”
Nessa: “Hell yeah. Get extra ready. Put the fake lashes on. Wear a water bra
to pump it up. Just act like nothing is wrong.”
“Charlamagne tha God”: If you’re doin’ it right – if you’re lookin’ the way you’re supposed ta look – your ex is gonna highlight you whether he’s in a committed relationship or married.”
Naturally, there is nothing inadvisable whatsoever in having meaningless sex with someone with whom you broke up, and whom you no longer love. In fact, having sex with an ex you no longer plan to see is a GREAT idea
– as
Girl Code tells its 14-year-old audience:
Melanie Iglesias: “I know that I like keeping my number really low. So I’ll hook up with an ex…until I have a next boyfriend.” (Because it’s not how much sex you have with people you don’t love that matters – it’s how many DIFFERENT people you have sex with that counts against your “number.” It’s much better to exploit someone you no longer care about, if it keeps your “number” low!)
“Charlamagne tha God”: “Yes, it’s ALWAYS okay to hook up with an ex! Why not? First of all, man, especially a guy like me, I’ma creature of habit. So if I have a habit of (bleeped f***ing) your vagina, then guess what? I’m gonna always have that habit.” (And women exist only to service men’s sex “habits” -- even those of their former boyfriends.)
Nicole Byer: “Don’t (bleeped f***) if you still have feelings! ‘Cuz then you’ll just get caught up in it and hurt yourself.” (But if you don’t have feelings, why NOT have random sex with someone you broke up with?)
“[MTV] has plenty of sex. And weird sex, at that…The idea is to reach out to the 12-34-year-old demo.” – former MTV Executive Vice President David Janollari
Naturally, rather than drawing from this the lesson that perhaps it’s not the best idea to have sex with people you don’t care about and may never see again, instead MTV tells girls the REAL lesson: have all the meaningless, promiscuous sex you want, so long as you use a condom.
Jessimae Peluso: “It’s important to talk about STDs, because you don’t want the clap to ruin your vacation.”
Nessa (who doesn’t use her last name – and no wonder): “If you’re makin’ out with a guy and you feel something bumpy, STOP! I mean, pay close attention. Lift it up, check side to side. He might think you’re getting ready to do some creative trick. Just have a sex face.”
Nicole Byers: “You should get tested as soon as a (bleeped dick) touches you. Your (bleeped p**sy). Not your face. That’s fine.”
And proving there is no subject surrounding sex so serious that it can’t be turned into a joke, Carly Aquilino opines, “The best way to avoid getting an STD is to always use protection. And also, probably drink a lot of orange juice. I’m not a doctor, but I think that can’t hurt.” Accompanying this is a graphic of a condom filled with orange juice and the caption, “Brought to you by the Citrus Farmers of America.”
While there is some brief, unconvincing waffling about girls “making” their boyfriend(s) get tested, the message of
Girl Code is clear: it is the GIRL’s responsibility to make certain neither partner contracts an STD (after making themselves available for promiscuous sex, of course).
Nowhere does the program mention the possibility that it might be a good idea not to have promiscuous sex to begin with. Because on MTV – a network entirely dedicated to glorifying teenage sex – refraining from promiscuity is not only impossible, it is undesirable.
We sell 12-34, but our real core demo is really 12-24; that’s who lives and breathes all of our shows.” – former MTV Executive Vice President David Janollari (
Hollywood Reporter, June 1, 2011)
MTV is staging a sustained and deliberate assault on the minds of young people – particularly girls. It is endeavoring to indoctrinate them with the notion that their appearance is all that matters about them, and that having meaningless, promiscuous sex is desirable. One has to wonder whether the middle-aged males who own and run MTV are trying to engineer a generation of girls who, rather than respecting themselves, instead view their purpose in life as living down to sexist stereotypes and satisfying men’s sexual desires.
Also notable is the hypocrisy of one of the show’s major sponsors. Unilever, which owns the Dove brand of beauty care products, operates a “self-esteem fund” for girls. What lessons in “self-esteem” are girls learning from watching
Girl Code?
Unbelievably, in addition to rating this program TV-14 (appropriate for 14-year-olds), MTV aired this episode at
6:30 p.m. Eastern. Clearly, MTV wants as many girls as possible exposed to its misogynistic, girls-as-sex-objects propaganda. That alone is sufficient reason for naming MTV’s
Girl Code the
Worst Cable TV Show of the Week.
_______________________
Unilever – which owns Dove and it’s “self-esteem fund” for girls -- sponsored this program. To contact them with your concerns,
click here.
