According to News.com.au, Linda Fitzsimmons took her nine-year-old daughter Jessica to the debut show on Wednesday and said that she was “shocked and surprised” by it.

“I couldn’t believe it. (Jessica) likes her songs and I’m OK with her listening to them. There’s no swearing in them and she’s too young to understand the hidden meaning,” she said. “But if I tried to take her to an MA 15+ movie someone would stop me at the counter. Why not with concerts?”

Linda is okay with her nine-year-old daughter listening to lyrics about riding disco sticks and she admits the songs have a hidden meaning, so how about also taking the time to research what the video clips are like that accompany each of the songs. Lady Gaga isn’t exactly what I’d call discreet. Getting an idea of the visual elements might have given her an idea of what the concert would be like. Even a browse through the magazines at her local news agent would have shown Gaga in a number of raunchy, revealing costumes. Not exactly a sign the concert will be of a Wiggles nature.

Lady Gaga's Sydney Concert. Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mixvio/4443225938/ CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.0/

Linda aside, Promoter Michael Coppel says rating concerts won’t happen. He doubted that Australian tours would ever carry classifications, because most promoters do not see the show before they book it.

The Classification Board obviously chose not weigh in because it isn’t their area, but get this: Even Steve Fielding refused to throw his two cents into the ring. This is a man who feeds on this nonsense. It’s like water and air to him. Someone please check he is okay.

According to the government, there ‘was a ‘low level’ of community concern about music videos’. They also said they had no power over the Advertising Standards Board, presumably in response to calls for stricter controls on advertising.

News.com.au reports:

Barbara Biggins, of the Australian Council on Children in the Media, said young children’s exposure to sex-charged videos was a serious concern.

“Children are increasingly exposed to a hyper-sexualised media in what has been described as the ‘pornification’ of our culture,” she said.

[...]

Julie Gale, of Kids Free 2B Kids, said the response showed a continued reluctance to respond to concerns about the sexualisation of children.

“It also fails to address many of the concerns of child development professionals and increasing evidence from research,” she said.

Family First senator Steve Fielding said the Government had gone soft on the issue.

“The response is weak,” Senator Fielding said.

“Someone’s got to them.”

Maybe it was common sense, Mr Fielding?

But apparently that’s lacking, as one angry parent explains:

I take my kids to the local 7/11 for slurpies and they are confronted with a prominent display of condoms, right at the front counter, instead of a discreet corner somewhere else, like near the women’s sanitary wear. Common sense?

Imagine if they placed tampons on the counter. Anarchy!

There’s some other great ones as well:

As a caring parent, I have a right and responsibity to ensure that my children are exposed to sexualised content at a rate and to a degree that I decide is appropriate for their age and maturity. Corporate interests are at absolute odds – indeed are in direct conflict with this right. By any sane assessment I should surely win this conflict but weak-kneed politicians espousing ‘industry self-regulation’ as the solution will ensure that I do not. Let me make it clear by example. I should NOT be endlessly forced to explain the issues surrounding erectile dysfunction to an inquisitive 6 year soaking up the world from the safety of a child restraint seat… – John Colville of Sth Yarra

It would be nice if it were as simple as turning the TV off. But what happens when you go to a shopping centre, fast food outlet, bowling etc and videos of half naked teenagers dancing around polls are playing on large screens in front of you. Are we supposed to make sure our kids don’t leave the house so they aren’t subjected to this trash? – Isla Smyth

Even if one considers billboards about erectile dysfunction to be sexual in nature (as opposed to a health issue), the fact an advertisement mentions sex does not mean it sexualises children or inappropriate for public consumption.

When The Chaser team was roundly castigated for their “Make A Realistic Wish Foundation” sketch it revealed another reason why satire rarely makes the grade in Australia.

“There’s almost a part of people that wants to be outraged,” says Simmons. “That sketch was two minutes in half an hour. People being outraged the next day, sure, but it went on for weeks.”

Simmons believes it’s partially attributable to our uncertain times.

“So much is out of our control — the war in Afghanistan, the GFC, Swine flu, they all affect us in different ways. This is a way for people to claw back some control in their lives, to express their anger and their outrage and to make them feel good about themselves.”

Which leads us back to the numbers thing — because of our relatively small population, vocal and indignant wowsers receive a greater share of voice than they would in countries like the US, where they can turn over and watch something else.

Simmons’ remarks about clawing back control are particularly relevant, especially when you look at recent cases like the Cotton On kids clothing ruckus. Author Hugh Mackay’s views on regulation in Australia give us insight into why: that if we make it appear we have solved a problem through regulation, we ease the burden of personal moral responsibility.

Other recent incidents of outrage, like that surrounding the Chaser Dog skit, probably rest more closely with our news media trying to whip up a storm in a teacup.

The association’s state secretary Max Howard said calling a drink Cocaine is just wrong and trivialising an illicit drug is unethical. He’ll seek advice from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission as to whether the beverage can be marketed in Australia.

It’s madness people! First you drink an innocent glass of milk, then you graduate to a glass of Cocaine and before you know it your snorting powder off a toilet seat in Kings Cross!

We can’t put all the blame on Cocaine though. Until 1903 Coca-Cola (or Coke) had nine milligrams of cocaine per glass. Surely that, it’s irresistable red cans, and the fact it’s called Coke is the reason our kids are turning to drugs?

It doesn’t stop at the soda giants either.

Drug groups and outraged parents say Jim Beam-branded chips (which do not contain alcohol but are bourbon whiskey-flavoured) are promoting alcohol to kids. However, a spokesman for Jim Beam said the chips were not marketed towards children and were intended to be sold mostly in bottle shops.

Unlike Cocaine there are some legitmate concerns here, but I wouldn’t worry too much. John Della Bosca has a plan.

News Ltd writes he’ll argue for a ban on alcohol advertising at a national ministerial council meeting in November.

Ban. Ban. Ban. Problem solved. No?

According to the Cairns Post, a Cairn’s resident complained about one of the companies vans with ‘Lick My  . . . . ‘ painted on it in Japanese characters. (UPDATE 24/08/08: It translates to ‘Lick My Cunt‘)

I don’t know what the last word is because the Cairns Post self-censored, but it’s probably safe to say it says cock or balls (there’s also the chance there is no third mystery word and the complainant considered his own thoughts worthy of censorship) . Those of you who can read Japanese, please feel free to translate:

'Lick My Cunt' is what's written in Japanese on the side of this van, according to readers of StotC. Thanks to those who translated!

The Post writes:

“I have asked police and the Attorney-General to investigate whether it breaches Queensland law and if not I’m happy to look at ways to rid our streets of this rubbish,” Ms Bligh told The Weekend Post.

“The owners of the vans are grubby and acting irresponsibly.”

The outraged resident, Mark, sent the letter to the paper after his Japanese wife translated it for him.

“It’s terrible. If you walked around in a T-shirt with that written on it in English, you would be arrested,” he said.

In QLD that’s probably not far off the mark.

But Wicked says that van was resprayed a year ago:

Wicked boss Dave Kinkead confirmed the company had owned a van with those slogans.

“As far as I am aware it was resprayed about a year ago and the last word was changed to something non sexual,” he said.

While Anna Bligh concerns herself with moral decay and other such pressing Roman matters, the State’s public transport and health systems remain a pathetic joke. What’s more offensive?

]]> http://www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com/anna-bligh-uses-attorney-general-police-to-censor-wicked-vans/feed/ 7 http://www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com/sunrise-attack-adult-barbie-get-it-all-wrong/ http://www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com/sunrise-attack-adult-barbie-get-it-all-wrong/#comments Thu, 17 Jul 2008 11:00:49 +0000 Mike http://www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com/sunrise-attack-adult-barbie-get-it-all-wrong/ Morning shows are the masters of two things: Jumping to conclusions, and whipping up a moral frenzy over absolutely nothing. Their big mum audience is perfect for generating coffee cup outrage all day long.

This morning Sunrise ‘family expert’ Dr Michael Carr-Gregg got stuck into a new fishnet flaunting Barbie doll. They labeled it Adult Barbie. ‘Totally amoral,’ ‘You can buy it in stores,’ ‘Outrageous,’ ‘B.M.I of 10 and unable to menstruate’ (yeah, I dunno either) — It’s ‘going too far’ Carr-Gregg screamed. What would the Pope think of it he asked!

Watch the clip here.

Adult it was, but not for the reasons Sunrise or Carr-Gregg attacked it. The doll in question is a limited edition collectors item based on the superhero Black Canary. It’s part of a Barbie Famous Friends DC Comics series not sold in stores like Kmart or Toys’R'Us, but in specialty collector stores. Certainly not an item your kid is going to pickup on a shopping trip to Westfield.

Here’s what one online store selling it says:

‘Barbie Famous Friends Dc Black Canary Doll is an Urban-Collector pre-order. When Barbie visits Star City, she needn’t worry about crime when Dinah Lance, the Black Canary, is on the case! Mattel recreates the DC Comics’ heroine as a Barbie Famous Friends: Black Canary doll, which stands nearly 12′ tall. With her comics-authentic costume of black leather jacket, black fishnet stockings, and black thigh boots, Barbie’s friend Black Canary will keep the criminal element at bay!’

But Carr-Gregg says his barometer for these kinds of things is would you wear what the doll is wearing to work. Well that depends if I’m a superhero, Doc. They sometimes wear these things called costumes.

I don’t recall playing with many Batman figurines when I was kid where the caped crusader was dressed in a business shirt and tie.

Thankfully, one viewer emailed the show and pointed out that it was a collectors item intended for adults, not children. A couple of people also pointed it out on the Sunrise comments page.

Michael Carr-Gregg seems to have a grudge against the doll in general, but is that an excuse for sprouting off on Live tele without knowing or revealing all the facts?

I get the feeling the Today Show was expecting a bedtime story for kids that advocated plastic surgery for 5 year olds, but Salzhauer’s book turned out to be little more than a tool designed to help reassure children that their mummy isn’t sick, she just wants to feel better about herself.

What they don’t show in the video is Lisa and Karl’s attack on Salzhauer after the interview had finished.

Karl Stefanovic: ‘Can you believe that guy!!!’

Real pro.

Watch the cut version here on NineMSN. Sorry, I couldn’t rip it to put on YouTube – no plugin for FireFox 3 yet

Brisbane wowser and soon-to-be protector of the moral majority, Lucy Clark, is positively outraged that she was bombarded with suggestive artwork painted on a number of Wicked camper vans whilst she was out driving with her children.

If you’ve never seen a Wicked Camper on the road, they are usually full of unshaven Swedish backpackers and covered in artwork (like the one pictured below). Everything from The Beatles and James Bond, to blondes and boobys. And as much as John Lennon probably stirs up the goody genes in people like Lucy, it was the latter that set her off.

Here’s a few of the slogans painted on Wicked Campers that Lucy didn’t like:

• ‘Men would like women’s brains more if they jiggled when they walked.’
• ‘If God was a woman, sperm would taste like chocolate.’
• ‘Women only fake orgasms because they think men care.’
• ‘Woman are like banks: once you withdraw you lose interest.’
• And one about D Cups

Her kid didn’t understand the joke, it went completely over her head as you might expect. Lucy was the one offended. She has her priorities in the right place though. She wants a law against it. Urgh.

Lucky this guy doesn’t live here.

Parents and newspapers are going bonkers over an educational drug pamphlet (pictured here) put out by the Sydney West Area Health Service (SWAHS). A pamphlet they say encourages drug use because it advises readers of some precautions to take should they choose to experiment with drugs.

‘It’s wrong. It shouldn’t be encouraging the kids to do drugs. I’m shocked that it doesn’t tell them not to be doing drugs. Instead it sends kids a message saying, ‘Here’s how to do it’.‘ – Parent

Ummmmm. We could pretend for a second that teaching teenagers to say No to drugs is working wonders, but anyone who doesn’t mind a cold dose of reality will know that just isn’t the case. Take a look at this survey of Victorian school students from 2005 (PDF) for example.

Meanwhile, SWAHS had this to say:

‘The resources emphasise that ideally no young person will turn to drug use and one key message is the best way to keep your head together is not to use drugs at all.

But studies consistently demonstrate the majority of young people will experiment with and use alcohol or other drugs at some time.

Many of them do so without adequate awareness of the impact on their mental and physical health.‘

Luckily, NSW Health Minister Reba Meagher doesn’t listen to reason. She’s now pulled the leaflet from distribution and says all other drug education material for young people will be reviewed.

‘…the reference to what young people should choose to do if they ignore anti-drug advice or information is simply not acceptable.‘

Smart, Reba.

Read it for yourself here.

Students of Sydney primary school teacher Lynne Tziolas have started a petition to have her reinstated after she was sacked for appearing naked in Cleo magazine. Lynne, who teaches year 1, was shafted from her public school teaching position after some parents complained about the article in which she discusses the bedroom habits of her and her husband.

“It’s definitely an overstepping of teaching ethics!” parent Michelle Carroll blabbered (not bothering to explain why). Another raised concern about the petition being created in school time.

Thankfully, parents who have a clue are supporting Lynne. Like her students, one is also gathering signatures demanding she get her job back.

“It’s an adult magazine and the children are not going to view it. She is a fantastic teacher and an inspiration for the choir” another parent added.

Just goes to show people: if you’re a teacher (and have sex), don’t discuss it anywhere. Play it safe and just don’t have sex. After all, it’s unethical.