By CHARLENE SCHEMBRI

I am becoming increasingly worried about what makes the news in Malta, and why. Or maybe, what makes it to the social media walls. I fear the reason certain news is passed over in the Maltese media, and laughed over on social sites is: taboo. Even though we have gone through the stages of becoming a Republic, gaining Independence, and joining the EU, we still seem to suffer from a very stifling island mentality.

Sexuality, for instance, is never discussed openly. Other than a random segment on TVM quoting figures from the GU clinic. This says STDs are on the rise – the main aim of which is to scare us off, again, from discussing our sexuality. And then we hear about 15-year-olds who had the audacity of dancing around some pole at the ‘I Love Music’ events. The general reaction was shock, these girls were practically prostituting themselves for €10. Maybe if someone had stopped and explained to them that it is possible to be sexy without being scantily clad, this would not have happened. On the other hand, they have a right to feel sexy and strut their stuff. Admittedly, they are minors, so maybe we can explain that if they want to do this professionally, they have to turn 18 first. I’m sure there are sufficient licensed gentlemen’s clubs in Malta to take them in.

Another aspect of the island mentality is having the same reaction to the same phenomenon on a yearly basis. Such as: the rain. When it rains, it floods, fine. So what are we going to do about it? Maybe we could raise a fuss equivalent to the Arriva one, and call the Minister responsible for roadwork a bunch of names (in English, of course). But wait, that is the same Minister, and that doesn’t seem to have helped much.

We could also ask for help from the EU. We,  in turn, are helping Greece with our minor contributions. Otherwise the EU will literally have to bail us out come the February rain.  Alternatively, we could build a Malta-sized Noah’s ark. It would be a tight fit, since statistically speaking we are a nation of overweight and obese people. It might be tough to find animals to put on this ark though. Most of them seem to be buried alive somewhere. Yes: Star and Gaia.

And here we come right back to the island mentality. It is beautiful and moving when people get riled up about animal abuse. They put up posters on Facebook with the perpetrator’s face and lots of ill wishes for him and his family. But what happens when a girl is abused by her father? Or a son by his mother? Or a niece by her uncle? I have to spell this out because there is never any mention of domestic abuse in our society. This riddles the victims with guilt, they cannot speak about it, maybe they repress it, and it haunts them for the rest of their lives.

Malta is built on taboo. The younger generations may think that the battles have been won before them (probably by whichever political party they support). But in reality, there is still a lot that needs to be done, and addressed.

The question is: when will we start?