by Grace Tobin
Originally posted on F to the Third Power

Grace Tobin is a junior at Elisabeth Irwin High School. Outside of school, she enjoys painting and drawing. She also loves to run competitively. Getting involved with the SPARK team is personally important for Grace as it has helped her exercise her skills in leadership and express her ideas on the sexualization and harassment of girls.

The first workshop I attended at the SPARK Summit this past Friday was the Flipcam Workshop. Led by Shelby Knox, she explained how the Flipcam is an excellent method with which you can get across real girls’ stories, while promoting your activism,in a quick and easy way.

(Flipcams are only around $100, connected through a USB, and battery-powered. For the effectiveness such a piece of technology can have – it’s certainly worth investing in!)

In the workshop, we split up into groups of three and interviewed each on Flipcams provided. My group members and I discussed many things over the camera, answering such questions as:

  • Why is it important to you to end sexual objectification of girls in the media?
  • What traits/hobbies make you a real girl that is different from the image the media portrays of girls?
  • What are you being for Halloween, and how will it counteract the sexualization of girls through the marketing of  “sexy” Halloween costumes for girls and women?
  • What was a defining moment in which you realized the negative effects the media has on how you were personally viewed by the world around you?

Answering the questions confidently, one of my partners answers shocked me. She shared the first point at which she realized how the boys in her class in her viewed her due to how girls and women were depicted in the media. And I do mean boys; she was in the 4th grade. I cannot image how it would feel to be sexualized at such a young age. I am 16 and it is hard to come to grips with the fact that to many men, I am just an object, and nothing more to their brainwashed selves. Hitting puberty early, my group member talked about the comments she’d get from her male classmates. Her reaction was confused, as she was “there to learn,” she said, not to be hit on by prepubescent, media filled ideals.

After finishing our interviews of each other, Knox came over and we discussed how sexual images played into our lives as high school students. The same group partner also mentioned how her school had uniforms and how some girls rolled up their skirts to be short as possible, yet were offended when boys called out to them. She blamed it partly on the girls, playing into the need to shorten their skits for their male classmates’ attention, but then also felt it was the boys’ fault, for falling victim to what the media has defined as ‘hot.’ Knox also mentioned how it is odd that the hyper-sexuality of pornographic images of the ‘school-girl look’ is so influential to how men perceive actual uniformed girls. It is gross to think, she said, the “they know that if you’re wearing a uniform you are obviously 18 or younger, yet they still,” call out and make disgusting, low, comments.

We then discussed how media affects us all personally. One 12-year old girl mentioned that although the media’s ideals for girls and women seem to affect her friends, in terms of their constantly complaining how they wish they were skinnier. She then said, she didn’t feel the same way, as school and family were what was important. Knox then pointed out that this may get harder as they get older. I agreed, it was harder, regardless if you want the media to play a big role in your life or not, it will affect you in many ways. As you grow up and become more independent, you are naturally less sheltered from the media world surrounding you.

Having the strong ideals of school, family, and friends, is important, but we also have to accept that media does play a big role, regardless of if we like it or not. Being able to independently stand up and acknowledge the faults of the sexist media is what will make us powerful women.