Tuesday, February 10, 2009

MTV is Still Helpful Sometimes...Kinda

Hey MTV, by now you've probably figured out that the generation that made you thrive is now too fed up with your shenanigans to even hate your guts, they're just over you entirely. At best you're kitsch, and at worst you provide a super unhealthy view of relationships and reward old gender stereotypes. So you can imagine how pleasantly surprised I was to see your website highlight domestic and dating violence as a response to Chris Brown abusing his girlfriend, Rihanna, this past Sunday. It takes me back to the days when you were all about being on our side, and you always had hip little public service announcements for us to learn and grow from.

So thanks for speaking up and spreading some awareness about an issue that is often kept hush hush. You cater to the youth, MTV, it's nice to see you taking some responsibility for that once in awhile. I like how you address the pattern of violence by looking back to a 2007 interview with Chris speaking openly about growing up in an abusive household. DV is a learned behavior that can be curbed with awareness, education, and speaking out, and you do a good job of illustrating that. But, you should have been more clear about how dating and domestic violence specifically is about power and control, and is part of a larger cycle of violence. Also, and perhaps most importantly,when you title your articles "What To Do If You're A Victim Of Domestic Violence," you should probably think of some, y'know, things to do...you left that part out and mostly just talked about some other things. Close though. If nothing else, MTV, just give out a hotline # it's quick, easy, and totz effective. Like this: If you or anyone you know is dealing with intimate partner violence and you wanna talk about it call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or 1-800-787-3224 (TTY).

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I'm glad you find things like this and bring them into conversation.

I think the thing that bugs me the most about it (besides how you pointed out they don't actually point survivors in any direction) is that the links for help aren't very visible, and they're not normally the ones I'd recommend folks go to.

Would it have been so difficult for the reporter to link to RAINN or provide the number for the National Domestic Violence Hotline or the National Sexual Assault Hotline or the National Teen Dating Abuse Hotline? Honestly.

And, surprisingly, there are many comments that I saw just briefly skimming through them that are smart, on point and question why we're only now starting to pay attention to dating violence amongst young people, when it happens all the damn time.