Maury Povich recently had yet another program on “Wild Teens.†As in so many of shows with this theme, all the “Wild Teens†were girls. They were girls in their early teens who were having sex, often promiscuously.
Why do shows on “Wild Teens†so often focus on girls rather than boys? The audience for daytime television is largely female as there are still many more housewives than househusbands. It is easy for women to identify with the problems specific to girls such as problem pregnancies. There is more sensationalism to be wrung from sexually active (or drinking or drugging) girls because they defy the ancient matriarchal saying that girls “are made of sugar and spice and everything nice.†By contrast, similarly behaving adolescent boys seem to confirm the misandrist stereotype that boys are made of “snips and snails and puppy dog tails.†The saying is sometimes said a bit differently with “nails†or “snakes†taking the place of “snips†but the message is the same: little girls are sweet and little boys are nasty.
While the special focus on girls rather than boys makes a kind of sense, it is also morally wrong. By many measures, teen boys are far worse off than their female counterparts. Boys have long been, and remain, the majority of juvenile delinquents and today’s delinquent can easily become tomorrow’s career criminal. Most of the teens who have gone on school shooting sprees have been boys. Boys are more likely to commit suicide and less likely to go on to college than girls.
Nor does the fact that boys don’t get pregnant mean that the culture should not be as concerned about sexually active boys as sexually active girls. Very young fathers have been held legally liable for child support and the failure to pay child support can expose them to the horrors of life behind bars. Boys can get sexually transmitted diseases, at least one of which is life threatening.
Since the majority of TV viewers are women, can they be led to be as interested in the problems of boys as they are in the difficulties faced by girls? I believe they can. Women are at home for a variety of reasons. One that is prominent is a desire to ensure the safety of their young children. Another is the belief that it is best for the emotional and/or intellectual development of small children to be cared for by a parent – who in most cases will be the mother – 24/7. Thus, the female audience is often at home and able to watch TV because they care about their children. About half of those children are boys. They need to be made aware that their sons are often in trouble so that they will demand that more attention be paid to them.
