Live Blogging - Tyra Banks on the Today Show
O.
14 November 2008
I am watching the Tyra Banks interview with Matt Lauer concerning Teen girls and sex. She says that her passion is to raise the self esteem of teen girls. I do like Tyra very much, but it is amazing to me that she is so surprised that teen girls are having sex, that teen girls have STDs, and that teen girls have had multiple sex partners. Do people really not know?
Don’t get me wrong, I am glad that she is raising awareness. As a mother of a teen girl who is a Tyra fan, I know how important it is for women like her to be talking about and helping bring awareness to topics like this. I also know how it is important for mothers to talk to our daughters, be candid with them, and educate them.
But one thing I wish Tyra would focus on aside from the sensationalism of teen girls having sex and contracting STD’s and how shocking it is, I want her to understand that if 40% of the girls she surveyed said that they lost their virginity for the first time because they felt they were ready, that means that 60% of girls lost their virginity for other reasons.
How many of the girls have and are being raped or molested? How many of these girls are being exposed to sexual activity at really early ages? Yes I know there are going to be many who do it because of peer pressure or because they believe it is what the boys want but others are doing it because they have been taught at a very young age that it is normal. Some have been exposed while still in elementary school. Some don’t know anything else.
I know first hand what it is like to be a teen having sex. I had my first sexual experience at the age of 7. Molested by someone who shall remain nameless, and I was repeatedly molested until the age of 13. Although I did not nearly have sex with the number of partners that some of the teen girls seem to have today, sex was a very normal part of my life at a very early and impressionable age and the affects are still present in my life today. I didn’t know that I had low self esteem. I thought that the behavior was normal because that was the way it had always been for me. It can be very difficult for a woman to separate her sexuality from who she is as a person because of this.
One other aspect of the survey was the question of how many of the girls wanted to be teen mothers. One in four answered that they actually wanted to be teen mothers. Tyra is alarmed by the figure and stated that there must be something wrong with the girl’s self esteem if they want to be mothers at such a young age. Newsflash, not every girl can be a supermodel. For that matter not every girl believes she can be a lawyer. But for a young girl who is suffering from low self esteem, she knows that there are some things that all girls can do. They can have sex, they can have babies.
None of it makes sense, but it is not a new phenomenon. and it amazes me when grown people act as if they didn’t know it was happening. I commend Tyra for focusing attention on the problem and for using her celebrity to turn this problem around. I just hope that she can get past the deer in the headlights reaction and the sensationalism of it all, and actually get the message out there to these girls that they are worth so much more than they think they are.
Talking about it is one thing. Calling attention to it may increase ratings, but no one is helped if that is all that we do. In addition, let’s stop focusing on just the girls. These girls have to be having sex with somebody. It is important that we educate all of the children, girls and boys alike.
| 3.2 |
If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!
Add New Comment
Viewing 5 Comments
Thanks. Your comment is awaiting approval by a moderator.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Do you already have an account? Log in and claim this comment.
Add New Comment