By Kieran
McCartan, PhD., and David S. Prescott, LICSW.
In the last few days, a story has emerged about actress Megan Fox and
her sexualization in the movie Bad Boys 2. In her words,
"I
had just turned 15 and I was an extra in Bad Boys II. They were shooting this
club scene and they brought me in, and I was wearing a stars and stripes bikini
and a red cowboy hat and six-inch heels. [Director Michael Bay] approved it and
they said 'Michael, she's 15 so you can't sit her at the bar and she can't have
a drink in her hand', so, his solution to that problem was to then have me
dancing underneath a waterfall getting soaking wet."
While
describing this to talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel, his audience apparently laughs
and he makes jokes, including stating that these actions were “perfectly
wholesome.” While Megan Fox has since said that she did not feel that she was “assaulted
or preyed upon in what I felt was a sexual manner”, what the story does
is reveal some uncomfortable truths about the way that we sexualize you girls
and women.
Bay and
Kimmel’s actions have been discussed and debated across social media, with
blame being laid at everyone’s door for her sexualization. No one has accepted responsibility
for what happened, and no account is forthcoming on why it happened. People
have blamed her for “consenting”, her parents for not being responsible,
Michael Bay for sexualizing her, and the movie industry for just “being that
way”. Even Fox herself has stated that the media and society have “mishandled”
this situation, describing these experiences as “inconsequential … I have
endured some genuinely harrowing experiences in a ruthlessly misogynistic
industry.” Of course, just because Fox did not consider the Michael Bay
situation to be sexualization does not mean that it was acceptable.
The
real issue, in our opinion, is that so many adults sexualize youth and are comfortable
adults in doing so, particularly in the name of entertainment. Former porn
actress Mia Khalifa recently addressed some of the issues involved in an
interview for the BBC’s Hardtalk, when
she described many of the people and processes she had experienced at the age
of 21. This is something that we have talked about on previous blogs about
pornography; however, it is also important to focus on the social nuances of
sexualization.
The major question that arises in this situation raises involves informed consent. One of
the main responses to the Megan Fox is that “she consented” or” she took the
money, therefore she can’t complain”. Each of these is loaded and challenging
statements. The first issue is that given her age Megan could not consent; her parents would have to have
consented to her appearing in films. We wonder if there is not more to consent
in these circumstances. Even if she could have consented, could she have fully
understood the implications? If she could not provide meaningful consent, who
was responsible for providing consent on her behalf? Who is the responsible
authority the parents, the studio, the director? In addition, it is important to
keep in mind that under these circumstances, consent is loaded at best. What is
this person consenting to? Why are they consenting to it? What pressures exist
to consent, and who is looking out for this person’s long-term self-interest?
This
story also reinforces the complexity and paradoxical nature of our relationship
with sex, sexualization, and youth. Megan’s story reinforces that while we as a
society has no problem consuming sexualized images of youth (as demonstrated
by our recent blog about Pornhub),
people don’t want others to know about it because it would reflect poorly on them.
Jimmy Kimmel's reaction to Megan’s story clearly demonstrates this as he joked,
brushed it off, said that everyone does it and that some are better at not
mentioning it in public. Therefore, for many, it is acceptable to view, think,
and do it, but not to mention it. Kimmel’s response, while reflecting the
beliefs of many, is not helpful. It was, and is an opportunity, for us to
collectively think about how we experience and portray sex, sexuality, and how
we can best work with people around this.
The
reality of Megan’s story is that it highlights the social construction of
sexuality and sex. Our society has created a narrative that the sexualization
of youth is acceptable, allowed the processes that enable this narrative, and
has become quietly comfortable with the results. The authors feel it is time to
discuss these challenges so that our communities can better understand why we
accept this and how we can change the narrative. Some points for consideration
include:
- challenging
the societal norms around the sexualization of youth.
- accept our
responsibility and role in the creation, maintenance, and consumption of this material.
- recognizing
that sexualized behavior, especially problematic sexual behavior, exists on a continuum.
- understanding
the impact of sexualization on the person experiencing it, particularly where the sexualization is not a direct contact offense.
- the need to
confront sexualization at the boundaries or at blurred boundaries as well as how much we are willing to push back.
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