5/10/13

The Problem With MTV's "Girl Code"



     Although I do not watch TV that often, my go to channel is usually MTV. Infamously known for their 20 minute long commercials, music video marathons at unruly hours of the night, and keeping us up to date with the music and entertainment scene, I automatically tuned in to the channel without a second thought. As if MTV's coverage of "Guy Code" did not give men a stereotypical enough image, the third episode of "Girl Code" was airing while I simultaneously sent emails, wrote papers, and pretended to look at
the TV screen. As I listened to the banter of random, "celebrity" women, my ears perked up at their categories of the day: makeup, being gassy, driving, and being a slut. Yes, grown women actually sat in front of a camera and spoke about what it means to be a slut, their slutty friends, and why they aspire to be sluts...
     While this show intends to be comedic, I did not find myself laughing at the joking manner in which these ladies spoke about being a slut. One commentator on the show defined the word in Girl Code terms. Apparently, slut is a word that stands for Slutty Loose Uterus Tramp... Wow, I never knew that was the societal definition of such a demeaning term. I once read somewhere that slut is a word used to describe a woman with the morals of a man- not much better, but still not defiling the biology of  a woman who expresses her sexuality. Horrifyingly, these women addressed the concept of being a slut, and more or less accepted the idea that either themselves, or their friends, will be a slut at some point or another in their lives. As Lindy West from Jezebel puts it, "the sexualization of women is only appealing if its nonconsensual. Otherwise, it's "sluttiness," and sluttiness is agency and agency is threatening and so, therefore, sluttiness must equal disposability."And so, the women of Girl Code go on to talk about this disposable trait of women...
      Perhaps the most disturbing segment of the episode was when one of the actresses spoke about being called a slut. In a nonchalant way, she addressed that the word has become so normalized, that it is no longer offensive to some women. Thats great. Not only are women "slut shamed" for acting upon their sexual drives, but it is now acceptable for us to be called sluts, because there are far worse terms that can be used to describe a woman who fulfills her biological needs. This idea brought me back to a concept that I have recently learned in one of my classes. In Freud's "Theories of Sexuality," he spoke about sexual aberrations, in which people develop objectives and aims onto which they express their sexuality. Deviation from the societal norms of what an aim and objective should be (subjective to the gender binary), labels a person with "inversion." In applying this theory to women and the culture of slut shaming, it seems as though women who sleep with multiple men, or women, are sexual deviants and sluts, because they are not fulfilling the societal expectation of monogamy.
    While on the topic of "being a slut," another comment was made by an African American man. I suppose he is some sort of comedian or actor, but in any event, he effectively brought the issue of race into the picture. It was quite bold of him, I have to admit, since he clearly was not making light of the slut shaming that was occurring on the show. He said, "Slut. They can say it, but we cant...I can think of another word like that." He was referring to the fact that women call eachother "sluts," but it becomes offensive once spoken by someone of the opposite gender. His allusion to derogatory terms used to identify blacks, was an admirable move, and probably the only, worthwhile moment of the show.


    Another segment of the show spoke about women and driving. Apparently women are terrible drivers, a stereotype that I was not familiar with. Personally, I can attest to being a better driver than the men in my life. My 18 year old sister has driving skills that my father, who has been driving for over 50 years, cannot compete with. So it became troublesome when the women of Girl Code supported this claim, and further told stories to proliferate the stereotype. One of the lines that really got my attention was this: "Girls will stop lying about being good drivers when guys stop lying about what 8 inches is." What does driving have to do with the male anatomy in any way, shape, or form? While in a skewed way, the actress was somewhat defending women drivers, (I guess it was more of an attempt) she did so at the expense of men. Not only was she offensive towards male/trans biology, but she also, unknowingly, proliferated the image of men as liars.
     It is rather alarming to turn on the television and witness the transformation of the entertainment industry. MTV, once dedicated solely to the music, is now promoting slut shaming and gender policing, which is offensive to those within and outside of the gender binary. How is it that MTV, and the men and women that they employ for "Girl Code" and "Guy Code," have the power to define what it means to be a woman or a man in today's society?








11 comments:

  1. I agree with you, promoting slut-shaming is outrageous and ridiculous, however I'm inclined to think that there is some purpose to this episode. The part in your post that really got my attention was when you mentioned that you had read somewhere that slut is a word used to describe a women with the morals of a man. So when a man has a lot of sex with numerous partners then those are his morals, but when women do it they are now acting like men. Im not advocating having a lot of sexual partners, even though I personally think there is nothing wrong with that as long as you are careful. The deeper question, however, is why is it okay for men to enjoy sexuality much more than women? Only today I saw this movie where two high school kids are in a party about to have sex. The young girl changed her mind and ran out of the room half naked. The boy came running after her and everybody at the party saw them in the height of the stairs. The boy raised her panties in the air and yelled "I hit that!" and everybody cheered. After that, the crowd automatically looked at the girl and called her a slut! What? Really? It takes two to mingle!
    Anyways, my point is that I believe this episode is shining some light into the sexism of women where it is acceptable for a man to have lots of sex but not a woman, even if it wasn't in the best way possible.

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  2. Yeah, I dont know how much purpose this show can be praised for. It definitely was not in the best interest of MTV to publicize women calling other women, sluts. I truly believe that its giving women, men, and younger girls, a poor image of what it is to be a woman. I agree with you completely- there is nothing wrong with expressing your sexuality, as long as its consensual and safe. There is no reason for the double standard, or the standard at all! A guy should not be praised for his sexual endeavors, and a woman should not be belittled because of hers.

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  3. MTV has completely changed. It is not the same as before. I totally agree with you on this topic.Like you I watched just few parts of last week's episode of Girl Code and didn't like it all. However, for me, the word "slut" is degrading. I have never watched Guy Code either, but I guess it might be the same context.

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  5. I really liked your post. I completely agree with you. I believe that the women in this show reinforce many negative stereotypes. Even though, it is set to be some kind of comedy, I don't think that reinforcing the use of degrading terms towards women has the slightest humor. I really liked how you pointed out the common belief that men drive better than women. I have the same experience as you do , I am a far better driver than my dad and boyfriend. So why do people still believe these stereotypes?

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  6. MTV has certainly come a long way since its glorious music focused days. It is quite bizarre how shows like these and other previous shows on this network like "Sweet 16", which highlighted and promoted indulgence and excess to a young demographic, have actually been made. I feel it does partially reflect a society which now finds no shame in the lack of respect for other people and the use of words despite the negative connotations these words have had in the past to people. It was not okay to call anyone a slut in the past. Why would it be fine now?

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  7. This is such a true post, I see the "slut" concept re-enforced in so many sitcoms, reality shows and movies. One show in particular that comes to mind is a show about gypsy's in which the girls love to dress up "slutty" and go out partying and drinking. It is seen as norm almost for girls to go through a period in their lives as sluts. I think it's demeaning that others look at women that way and that women themselves label others sluts.

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  8. I agree with most of these comments. MTV has changed a lot these days going from music videos to degrading tv shows that put women in the spotlight as "sluts" that just sleep around with men. It is funny because they also have a guy code and in that show it rewards men as the supreme beings for getting with a girl. Your post is really interesting and truly shows the misconceptions of women through tv shows like this.

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  9. I think it's kind of sad that you can't appreciate humor. this show is not to be taken seriously. it's just light-hearted and funny. if you can't handle it, no one is forcing you to watch.

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  10. I hope you guys know that this show, like guy code, is not suppose to be taken seriously. They're making jokes about stereotypical guy and girl things. That being said, I think on this episode, they were just saying that the word 'Slut' isn't a bad word anymore because there is nothing wrong with women having libidos. They just used the wrong wording. Guy code had a similar episode about ' man whores'. Again, it's not meant to be taken seriously. It's just suppose to make us laugh about stereotypes.

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  11. Just to clear things up, this show is NOT promoting so-called "slut shaming", rather it's encouraging girls to act in that sort of vile and derogatory manner. Which doesn't make it any better.

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