Given the the reactionary, poorly-written views of Wendy Shalit, it is hard to extract a valid point amidst the debris of right-wing cultural myths. But Wendy Shalit indeed properly points to the hyper-sexualization of culture that injects sex into the lives of younger and younger audiences all the time. She deserves credit for correctly observing an obvious and disturbing trend.
But what seems to be missing from Wendy Shalit’s analysis–and more broadly, from the Right’s–is any comprehension that this force-feeding of sex into the minds of young kids is driven by the very capitalist machine they so deeply admire. Sexualization of children and their culture is inextricably linked to the growing corporatization of every nook and cranny (no crude puns intended) of our culture. This disturbing trend has institutional roots in the conduct of corporations that Shalit and Co. are so loathe to regulate.
Thus, Shalit’s strategy of promoting individual "modesty" is likely to be just as effective (that is, counter-productive) as Bush’s much-heralded abstinence programs, which studies have shown to be correlated with increased sexual behavior. All of Shalit’s hectoring will merely trigger a backlash among teens and pre-teens striving to assert their independence from adults seeming to curb their freedom. "Modesty" culture will be overwhelmed by the continuing torrent of sexualizing/commercializing messages flowing from Corporate America.
Instead, what is needed, in line with the media reform movement launched by the Left, is the assertion of democratic controls over our mass media so that TV and video programming for kids is age-appropriate. If this pressing concern for parents, teachers, and society is handled properly, we could develop a vast Left-Right coalition to begin to reclaim our popular culture. Roger Bybee, Milwaukee
I'm teaching in Labor Studies at Penn State and the University of Illinois in on-line classes. I've been continuing with my work as freelance writer, with my immediate aim to complete a book on corporate media coverage of globalization (tentatively titled The Giant Sucking Sound: How Corporate Media Swallowed the Myth of Free Trade.) I write frequently for Z, The Progressive Magazine's on-line site, The Progressive Populist, Madison's Isthmus alternative weekly, and a variety of publications including Yes!, The Progressive, Foreign Policy in Focus, and several websites.Ā I've been writing a blog on labor issues for workinginthesetimes.com, turning out over 300 pieces in the past four years.My work specializes in corporate globalization, labor, and healthcare reform... I've been a progressive activist since the age of about 17, when I became deeply affected by the anti-war and civil rights movements. I entered college at University of Wisconsin Milwaukee just days after watching the Chicago police brutalize anti-war demonstrators at the Democratic Convention of 1968. I was active in a variety of "student power" and anti-war activities, highlighted by the May, 1970 strike after the Nixon's invastion of Cambodia and the massacres at Kent State and Jackson State. My senior year was capped by Nixon's bombing of Haiphong Harbor and the occupation of a university building, all in the same week I needed to finish 5-6 term papers to graduate, which I managed somehow. My wife Carolyn Winter, whom I met in the Wisconsin Alliance, and I have been together since 1975, getting officially married 10/11/81. Carolyn, a native New Yorker, has also been active for social justice since her youth (she attended the famous 1963 Civil Rights march where Dr. King gave his "I have a dream speech"). We have two grown children, Lane (with wife Elaine and 11-year-old grandson Zachary, who introduced poker to his classmates during recess)Ā living in Chicago and Rachel (who with her husband Michael have the amazing Talia Ruth,5, who can define "surreptitious" for you) living in Asbury Park, NJ. My sister Francie lives down the block from me. I'm a native of the once-heavily unionized industrial city of Racine, Wis. (which right-wingers sneeringly labeled "Little Moscow" during the upheavals of the 1930's), and both my grandfathers were industrial workers and Socialists. On my father's side, my grandfather was fired three times for Socialist or union activity. His family lost their home at one point during the Depression. My mom's father was a long-time member of UAW Local 72 at American Motors, where he worked for more than 30 years. Coming from impoverished families, my parents met throughĀ a very low-cost form of recreation: Racine's Hiking Club.
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