Sexting: The Problem is Bullying, Not Sex

by Alex DiBranco · 2010-01-14 16:43:00 UTC
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Whether or not it's a good idea to text naked pictures of yourself to someone else, it wasn't the act of "sexting" that led two girls to commit suicide in the last two years. It's the bullying that accompanies it.

I posted on this issue back in the beginning of December, and a read-worthy op-ed in the Boston Globe last week comes to the same conclusion. Jesse Singal attacks the media for pursuing a more flashy "'death by sexting’ angle rather than the more pedestrian angle of bullying leading to suicide." Singal also decries the practice of actually arresting kids on child pornography charges for getting caught sexting. (Joann Wypijewski commented on this ridiculousness in a column for The Nation last April.)

In addition, Feministing points out, in relation to Singal's story, that the focus on "Kids! Sex! AHHH!" has diverted attention from the fact that adults, especially women, can be harmed by having private sexts forwarded on by an irate ex. Rose Afriyie argues that with "some policy making and problem-solving approaches," we could keep sexting a safe act between consensual partners, that couldn't be used against them after a bad break-up. Protecting women's privacy instead of slut-shaming them: what an idea!

Photo credit: C y r i l l i c u s

Alex DiBranco is a Change.org Editor who has worked for the Nation, Political Research Associates, and the Center for American Progress. She is now based in New York City.
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