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S-Club 7 vs. t.A.T.U.
I was watching Saturday morning TV yesterday, and there was some sort of ‘contest’ going on for the best new single—as judged by S-Club members Hannah, Bradley, and Jo*. Inane, harmless… But one of the videos being judged was for the new single by *t.A.T.U.
Jo screwed up her face and said, "The video looks quite cool… but I just don’t _agree with it… Naw, naw._"
So what’s more disturbing?:
-sending a message to your nation’s youth that says girls kissing girls is okay (just watch out for any old men gleefully rubbing their legs nearby);
-or sending them a message that there’s something wrong with girls who do that. That they are distasteful and disgusting and something that clean, decent people don’t like.
My own reservations about the biz people behind t.A.T.U. aside (sexualisation of children, exploitation of their sexuality to get money for someone else etc.), it seemed pretty clear from Jo’s response that it wasn’t THOSE issues she didn’t agree with. It was that they, two girls, make out on stage. S-Club’s ‘values’ of wholesome, shiny clean kids who sing and dance with happy abandon are the epitome of what British culture would like their youth to be. Sure, their tunes are catchy, but the banality of theme and constant reinforcement of what’s proper, and right, for a child to be is shaping the future of this country. Look at how S-Club depends on 12-year olds for their record sales. They are communicating with these kids, making them want to be like S-Club.
And there lies my issue: I don’t care what Jo thinks about homosexuality. I don’t even like t.A.T.U. But Jo is the idol of many a young girl in Britain, and when she’s on TV, expressing that kind of attitude towards girls kissing each other, she informs the opinions of at least a few hundred thousand little girls. And when they grow up to become solicitors, barristers, company managers, that attitude will still be with them. Doesn’t that bother anyone?
