A concerned mother writes... :p
I think this Blog may become my ‘area of random musings about bringing up kids’, even though most of the things on my mind are quite a few years away.
The other day at the gym, there was a different music channel on from the usual MTV Dance or Base (the ‘urban music’ one) - Q music TV. So, lots of boring strum-strum la-la vaguely indie dadrock, but I was struck by two things. First, the videos were much more interesting, and second, how refreshing it was not to be bombarded by tits, arses and gussets. How depressingly refreshing, in fact.
Great, I’m bringing my daughter into a world where mainstream music is entirely visually represented by women in, at best, hotpants and a bra top, generally dancing in a way that pretty forthrightly simulates sex. Another few years and they’ll be wearing nothing but strategic coloured gaffa-tape.
Now, I imagine my daughter will have enough positive values in her life not to let this kind of thing turn her head too much, so I’ll not be losing any sleep over it. But I think I’m entitled not to like the fact that there is so much imagery, easily seen by young girls, depicting women like this and that girls, as they will do, will be copying this dance routine. Of course, they don’t know what the movements signify - I’m not one of those stupid people who has the horrors at children hearing double entendres or sexual jokes that will go right over their heads anyway. But there’s something deeply skanky about unaware little girls grinding their groins about blithely.
The other day at the gym, there was a different music channel on from the usual MTV Dance or Base (the ‘urban music’ one) - Q music TV. So, lots of boring strum-strum la-la vaguely indie dadrock, but I was struck by two things. First, the videos were much more interesting, and second, how refreshing it was not to be bombarded by tits, arses and gussets. How depressingly refreshing, in fact.
Great, I’m bringing my daughter into a world where mainstream music is entirely visually represented by women in, at best, hotpants and a bra top, generally dancing in a way that pretty forthrightly simulates sex. Another few years and they’ll be wearing nothing but strategic coloured gaffa-tape.
Now, I imagine my daughter will have enough positive values in her life not to let this kind of thing turn her head too much, so I’ll not be losing any sleep over it. But I think I’m entitled not to like the fact that there is so much imagery, easily seen by young girls, depicting women like this and that girls, as they will do, will be copying this dance routine. Of course, they don’t know what the movements signify - I’m not one of those stupid people who has the horrors at children hearing double entendres or sexual jokes that will go right over their heads anyway. But there’s something deeply skanky about unaware little girls grinding their groins about blithely.