In many instances throughout the video he looks almost confused, not knowing why he is there or what he is rapping about. “Booty Pop” exemplifies the problem with our society we at iOppose are fighting to stop. Sexuality in itself is normal and healthy, but the way many people view it is not. Whether it has been because of the media, or simply because of people in our society deifying celebrities who have twisted notions about it, sexuality in pop culture has become something artificial and hollow.

Surrounded by various forms of media which associate sexuality with happiness, money, power, drugs, violence, or even the ability to rhyme words in a specific fashion, many people are losing track of what is natural and what is healthy. Maybe Albert Raintree, Jr. is more than just a victim of our sexual culture; he could very well represent the confusion many, even adults, face day to day. Maybe men and women who are thirty, fifty, twenty, or seventy years old find themselves surrounded by hyper sexuality and, somewhere inside are just as confused as Albert.

Submitted by Andrew Banchich

Following on with that theme, and a story you are likely familiar with, is the violence that happened in India last December. A woman, accompanied by her boyfriend, was viciously beaten and raped on a public form of transportation, and then died 13 days later.  The officials blamed the victim for provoking her attackers. Her fault in essence was the fact that she was a woman. The Buffalo News took a deeper look and we would like to hear your comments on the situation.

http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130217/OPINION/130219574/1122

“This thrill-seeking and risk-taking and fact it’s illegal increases the thrill of it,” she said.

Read the rest of the article here.

Let’s all hope this catches on. Good job, Vogue!

Vogue magazine, perhaps the world’s top arbiter of style, is making a statement about its own models: Too young and too thin is no longer in.

Source: WIVB News

Want to help iOppose fight sexual abuse and exploitation? Do you think you’ll be buying something off Amazon.com in the future? If you click the link below and make a purchase off Amazon, they will make a donation to us FOR you. You don’t spend a penny extra than you would if you bought the item(s) normally. If you’d like, you can even bookmark the link and any time you order through Amazon by clicking it, it will be like making a donation to iOppose. We’d love it if you did!

Shop on Amazon.com to donate to iOppose

Alternatively, the link will also be available under the “Donate” link in the navigation bar at the top of iOppose.org, so you can find it at any time.

iOppose

We have a lot more in store for you in the coming weeks, and throughout 2012. If you would like to support us and help prevent sexual abuse and exploitation, please feel free to donate by clicking here. Any amount helps us, whether it’s $5 or $500. We have gotten a significant number of donations this year, and it is thrilling to see our community support us and what we do so fervently.

Donations to iOppose, Inc. will be used to educate adults about the steps they can take to prevent, recognize, and react responsibly to child sexual abuse. We will also use it to conduct workshops to equip girls with self-esteem building and critical thinking skills related to media influence on sexual attitudes and behaviors. We also strive to educate the public about healthy sexuality, and will petition the government to fund prevention and early intervention efforts.

Thank you for all your support, and we hope to hear from you in the comments with anything you’d like to add or ask. We’re always open to new ideas and love hearing from anyone about what we can and should be doing.

Happy Holidays!
The iOppose Team

“…Conklin holds up a recent issue of People magazine in front of the group members gathered at Marie and Bill’s dining-room table. On the cover is a glossy image of a 5-year-old beauty queen. The headline asks: “Gone Too Far?” and points out that children are wearing skimpy costumes in beauty pageants.”

• Children now spend 45 hours per week with media, while only spending 30 hours per week in school and 17 hours with their parents.
• Research has shown a strong link between media exposure and childhood obesity, smoking and sexual activity.
• Some researchers estimate that 25% of girls and 16% of boys will experience childhood sexual abuse by the time they are 18 years old.
• Such abuse impacts health care costs across one’s lifespan. Woman who were sexually abused as girls have 16% higher health care costs, and that becomes 36% when they experience physical abuse as well.

• If the U.S. spent a fraction of post-sex offense dollars on equipping the public with child abuse prevention strategies, this country would keep hundreds of thousands of potential victims from the consequences—emotional, mental and fiscal—of sexual exploitation and abuse.
• If the U.S. spent a fraction of post-sex offense dollars on early intervention strategies for individuals at risk of illegal sexual behaviors, this country would save billions of dollars in post-sex offense expenses, and deter ordinary people from becoming perpetrators, ruining their lives and the lives of their families.
This is why Ms. Conklin created iOppose. This is why iOppose is hosting its kick-off party and first fundraiser on 11.11.11. This is why iOppose needs your support. Join us.
Visit www.ioppose.org for details.

Often we may look to the media to blame on the early sexualization of girls. In many cases, It can be appropriate to do because the overexposure of some media can impact what our society chooses to focus on.
It seems that television is captivating audiences mainly through reality tv shows of all kinds. A huge hit across the nation is the TLC show Toddlers & Tiaras. It is a controversial reality show showcasing families taking their children, most often young girls, to compete in beauty pageants. Often these parents, referred to as “Stage Moms”, or “Stage Dads”, can be seen sparing no expense to make their child the one to beat from highlights, spray tans, to fake teeth. to. The actual pageantry is overblown. Most times these girls are seen in tiny swimsuits with fake teeth and large hair pieces. These pagents are essentially focusing on fake beauty because these girls are not physically mature enough.
Although it is always healthy to be a competitive it seems these pageants take it to an extreme where it’s not very productive or conducive to the child’s overall self-esteem, especially because the pageant is purely based on appearance and not much else. It is important to remember to maintain normalcy in child live and to keep that childhood innocence alive through activities that allow them to thrive in their natural state.
Click here to see the astonishing video of a child from the show getting her eyebrows waxed in preparation for the pageant.