Elisabeth Perham
Racism and sexism are forms of discrimination that we hear about all the time, splashed across the media, littering our history books with sad stories of people whose lives have been ruined because society has failed to get over the colour of their skin or the level of different hormones their bodies are coded to produce. There is, however, another form of discrimination that, while still being very damaging, we don’t hear much about.
Have you ever felt like you’re being watched in a shop because it’s assumed that you’re “just a thieving teenager”? Ever felt hard done by because an older co-worker is being paid more money than you, to do the same job? If you’ve answered yes to either of these questions, then you have experienced ageism. Ageism can be defined as stereotypes or prejudice against people because of their age. It can manifest itself in a variety of ways and can apply whether you are young or old.
International Youth Day is celebrated on August 12 in countries all over the world, as an opportunity to draw attention to youth issues worldwide. In Aotearoa New Zealand we mark a whole WEEK in May, to celebrate the accomplishments of young people and the amazing contributions they make to our society. At the same time it is sad to note that in the media the same group is presented as a bunch of drunken, drug-crazed miscreants, arsonists and shoplifters, a group which society must protect itself from rather than embrace. Headlines such as Second cell break at Rimutaka youth unit’, “Concern about Youth Drinking Culture’ and Youth crime on the rise’ are common, and if this is the kind of journalism our parents and grandparents consume every day, then it is little wonder that a negative stereotype of youth has been established. Where are the stories about the vast majority of young people?! Those who go to school every day and work hard, take up part time jobs and participate in their communities.
Adolescence is a tough times in anyone’s life, whoever you are, wherever you live. Growing up is never easy and it has been made even more complex by the plethora of paths available for us. Drugs have never been so readily available, nor alcohol; violence has never been more mainstream, nor sex. Just as adults are exposed to bad press about the youth of today, so we are is exposed to this press about ourselves. Everyone is having sex so you should too. Drinking is cool’, right? Ditto smoking. And who cares if drugs are illegal. Remember the news? That’s just what teenagers do. And we are exposed to these ideas younger and younger. You may remember recent uproar over the use of dirty slogans on children’s underwear. Young children, especially boys, can be seen playing violent war games and hoon’-ie car games on gaming consoles. One might think we, today’s youth, are doomed to a life of unprotected sex, drugs and uncontrolled parties.
But consider this: never before have so many young people stayed in school, never have so many graduated from university. Never before have there been so many young people with part time jobs, working hard despite low wages. There is much to celebrate about our peers. You only need to look at the wonderful work of young people in JET magazine, to marvel at the awesome leadership of your head boys and girls, to appreciate the great contribution students participating in the Peer Support programme make to their schools, in order to see that young people have great value and that we are so much more than a bunch of P-crazed, STI-carrying thugs. The young people we read about in the papers are not all of us. And we know that. We just need society to realise that.
Being young doesn’t mean you’re useless. It doesn’t mean that a security guard should be following you any more closely in a store than any other shopper. It doesn’t mean old ladies should avoid you in the street. The best way to change negative stereotypes is to fight back, so it is our job to let society know how great we really are. Be proud to be young. Get involved in Youth Week this year and rubbish those bad impressions! In the words of a US teen-pride campaign: “Prove them wrong by doing something right.”
Five Facts:
- Nearly half the world’s people are under 25 years old. 87% live in the developing countries
- Tertiary participation of young people In Aotearoa New Zealand has increased by 50.3 percent since 1987
- Young people are ethnically more diverse than the rest of the Aotearoa New Zealand population
- Despite reports that say otherwise, data suggests that youth offending in Aotearoa New Zealand has in many areas decreased as a percentage of total offending over the last ten years
- A UK study undertaken in 2005 found that 81% of stories about young people were negative, yet only 8% actually quoted youth, suggesting a greatly skewed representation of youth by the media
What to know more?
- Check out the other articles on this website for some great articles about youth and prejudice
- Take a look around the youth media website for a European perspective.
- The McKnight Foundation website has a fantastic page of links about the demonising of youth in the media.
- Check out this great article about projecting the right messages in society in order to change a negative image.
Take Action:
- Visit the Youth Week website for info on how you can get involved in this year’s youth week, 21-27 May 2007. We are the youth, so the only people who can change stereotypes about us, are us!
- Learn to see beyond the negative press. Excel and shine despite the stereotyping, excel and shine because of the stereotyping! Show the world that you’re better than that!
- Keep an eye on the Ministry of Youth Development and Just Focus websites for opportunities to get involved with national and international youth events.
- Tell the world! If you do something awesome then let everyone know. Ring your local paper and get them to come and give you some coverage. They get a story, you get some media attention, the community can see what good young people are doing and your gran gets a clipping to paste in her scrapbook. Everyone’s a winner!
A version of this article was originally published in JET magazine.
Sexism manifests itself in our society in many different ways, from the accepted gender roles to the language we use. When you think of the word “master” and “mistress”, which meaning holds more power? They both mean the same thing, apart from the gender that is attached to it. What about bachelor or spinster? Which would you rather be? Almost anything can become an insult if you add like a girl’ to the end of it. “Ahhhh you throw like a girl.” Music videos, TV programmes and the mass media give women a variety of labels from ho’ to chick’ or doll’. There are also many words used to describe people who do not conform to socially accepted gender stereotypes, like poofter’ or tomboy’.
Beauty
Globally Aotearoa New Zealand has led the way in promoting women’s equality, being the first in the world to give women the vote and first in the world to simultaneously have a woman governor general, woman mayor and elected female prime minister. Although many improvements on the position of women have been made, sexism still exists in this country in many forms. Women are still associated with passivity, weakness, submissiveness and being emotional. They’re often seen or treated like sexual objects. Men are stereotyped to be aggressive, powerful, strong and rational. Particularly in New Zealand culture, men are expected to be tough and rugged and not show emotion. These stereotypes are blatant sexism, but are usually accepted- subconsciously or not.
Regardless of what many people may think, feminism is not a dirty word. The dictionary [1] defines feminism as the belief in the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. Not all feminists are lesbians, (though there’s nothing wrong if they are) female Nazis, bitter or man-hating.
Naomi Wolf, author of The Beauty Myth, suggested a cultural backlash against feminism used images of “beauty” to keep women “in their place”. How many people have believed (or still do) the idea that women are feminists only because they’re too ugly or undesirable to get a man? That popular concept originally showed up on the scene to describe the feminists who appeared in the 19th century. These were women who were lobbying for the right to vote. Since then society has attempted to punish women who seek more control over their lives.
One suggested issue was the perception of women in the media. “There is still an expectation in the media and advertising that women must be physically and sexually attractive in order to be valued,” said one male.
When asked what feminism meant to her, one female I talked to imagined the feminists of the 70s— “burning bras, a shift in the status quo with regards to women and their place in the workforce, some of the most amazing art of the last few decades, and the original Suffragettes of the early 20th Century.” For her, feminism was about standing up for womanhood and all it entails without being over the top. “Embracing what sets us apart from men, but still having the right to do more ‘manly’ things.”
Many who support masculism (men’s rights) argue that because of both traditional gender roles and sexism infused into society by feminists, males are and have been oppressed. Men and Family rights groups oppose feminists such as Robin Morgan, the openly lesbian editor of Ms. Magazine, who advocated ‘man-hating’ as an honourable and viable political act and said the inequities between men and women cannot be resolved until marriage is destroyed. These groups are also critical of feminist encouragement of Lesbian agendas, undermining the traditional role of men in the family. Sheila Cronan controversially said to National NOW Times in 1988 that every woman must be willing to be identified as a lesbian to be fully feminist. [4]
Mmmm. A sugar rush. You can’t beat it eh? But how much sugar do we consume? A lot more than just what we add to our tea or cereal. What about all those fizzy drinks, lollies and cakes? And it doesn’t end there - sugar is a staple ingredient in most processed foods including savoury ready-made meals. Globally, sugar consumption increases by about 2% per year, and is currently around 150 million tons!
As well as being terrible for our bodies, and almost addictive, sugar also widens the gap between the world’s rich and poor.
It is a Sunday and I am inside my first ever mosque. Today is a learning day where all the young people gather to learn about their faith. Happy laughing kids run around the corridors and burqa wearing women cook up a mean sausage sizzle. I am greeted by a pākehā woman (also in a burqa) who leads me to a group of teens willing to talk about growing up as Muslims in NZ. Where are all the terrorists, I wonder slightly disappointed by the obvious joy in the mosque. Clearly they are not all into blowing themselves up and abusing women. But I had to find out for sure. What is this thing called Islam?
Hand in hand with celebrity worship and the “dumb is cute” motto for women (see my article 
That logo is also the emblem of a man (founder Hugh Hefner) who said in 1967: “I do not look for equality between man and woman … I like innocent, affectionate, faithful girls - and plenty of them.” Hefner is now in his 80s and has three official girlfriends, they range in age from 21 to 32 and all are platinum blonde and stick-thin. And these are the women who are going to teach us about liberation?
“Little girls like pretty things but do they need bras with padding? And should they learn so early that their bodies are for flaunting? More than just another nail in the coffin of childhood, these underwear trends contribute to the premature sexualizing of children with cynical disregard for the consequences,” says Angela Conway Victorian vice president for the Australian Family Association. [2]
Recently a “sexy” pole-dancing kit was been pulled from the toys and games section of a website run by Tesco, Britain’s biggest retailer, after protests from outraged parents. The Peekaboo kit, which includes a “sexy garter”, was sold in the supermarket’s toys and games section. “Unleash the sex kitten inside… simply extend the Peekaboo pole inside the tube, slip on the sexy tunes and away you go!” the blurb reads. [3]
In this age of information (or is it the year of the Rabbit? I forget which) we are inundated with junk. A vast sea of messages and sub-messages. Contrary to Rupert Murdoch’s vision though, our media is not completely conformist. Popping up in the most unexpected places all around the world are little hubs of activism, where a voice outside the mainstream can be found. Mexico, Scotland, Germany, New Zealand… a great many regions of our lovely planet are home to what some like to call these “infoshops”.
Apathy and acting stupid in order to be cute has become a full-time occupation for celebrities, and stories about these women have overtaken real news. Even real news shows and publications regularly feature celebrity gossip in their headlines (recent examples include the divorce proceedings of former Beatle Paul McCartney and model Heather Mills, and the arrest of singer George Michael on drug possession). The ad for a new show on C4 - Meaty (Media Entertainment Around Town) - features host Shavaugn Ruakere talking about some of the planets big problems like unrest in the Middle East and dwindling oil supplies, then she suddenly stops and says - “Who cares?!” and beings to ramble on about the excitement of “real” celebrity gossip.
