A few weeks ago at a get together, a friend was telling us about catching a female student performing fellatio on a male student. At the end of the act, the male student told the young lady that he has the number and went on his way (I'm paraphrasing). Now one would think that that meant he would be calling her at a later date to perhaps hang out or even perform another sexual act, the truth is he was going to top up her phone.
Now for those who don't know what "top up" means,
Top Up: adding call credit to one's prepaid cellular phone plan.
e.g. he topped up her phone; She got a top up on her phone
I wish I could tell you that this is an isolated occurrence, that this rarely happens, but this is a common practice of young women in our society and I would also say in our region. And this is where I think society have failed them and when I say society, I mean everyone, their parents, the government, the churches, the media and even these young women. They really don't know the value of themselves and their bodies.
The Female Body
Throughout history, the female form had been heralded, from the Venus De Milo to the Mona Lisa to fertility idols, but somewhere along the lines, the female form has been used to sell products and to tell women that they are not enough. If they would use this product or that gizmo or that magic pill, they will be just like this woman who is the epitome of female beauty. But she's not.
In fact, female beauty exists in every woman, it's not found in the perfect symmetrical face or the pouting lips or rounded ass. In fact, all those qualities are but trends in the beauty industry. You never know, in the next decade or two, the ideal woman is not going to look like Kim Kardashian (yeah, I went there), she may end of being pale skinned, blue eyed and rail thin. Female beauty is all about loving what you possess physically and being confident.
Confidence
How can we be confident when everywhere we turn there are heavily made up women, some of which have been digitally enhanced? From billboards to magazines to TV ads to internet ads, we are told that these people are beautiful and because we don't look like them, it is safe to say we are not beautiful. It's simple logic. And it robs us of our confidence.
I say robs us because there was a time when we were bursting with confidence, when we knew we the bees knees and we acted like that. But somewhere between Kindergarten and High School, some of us lost our shine or it was dulled. Sometimes in losing our confidence we turn to others to validate who we are, we crave people's attention, we want them to like us. If only we knew that the person we need to like us is ourselves.
Not only like, but love. When we love ourselves, we would never let anyone devalue our persons, our bodies. Sad to say, no one teaches self-love to children and pre-teens. Sad to say that some of these young women come from households where their mothers are too busy working to provide for the household or doesn't value herself in the end teaching their daughters not to value themselves.
The Solution
The solution is not a silver bullet that will instantaneously change the way young women look at themselves. In fact, it would require a campaign approach over a period of time. This would include,
- Promotional material - billboards and posters with catchy graphics and copy speaking to the value of the female form. Perhaps something like, you wouldn't toss a diamond into a pig sty, then why give your body away to a pig? That is pretty weak but you get the drift.
- Television and radio ads on music stations, again, with catchy phrases.
- In school talks - both targeting the girls and boys. Separate talks as well as integrated talks. Those with the girls would encourage them to hold themselves to a higher standard and those with the boys would focus on equating girls to women in their lives who they value
- Speaking on radio and TV talk shows - this is more for the wider community so they are aware.
All of this would not be a one time deal but continuous. Have you ever seen Coca-cola take a break from advertising? Their brand awareness is off the charts and wouldn't it be great if we could take that level of making people conscious of the idea that women should be valued.
Unfortunately, this is all wishful thinking. Or is it? Could a program be created using international funding and even crowd funding? Is it possible that we can change the course of the next generation of women that would carry on beyond our great granddaughters? Is it possible?
Image Credit: i
