This column first appeared in Malta Today

Malta seems to have been gripped by a running theme over the last few years, coming at us from all angles, ranging from TV shows, social media, podcasts, music and basically every aspect of popular culture.  It’s all about sex, baby.

Of course, this is not exclusive to our country, nor to this generation. In fact, we have always been exposed to it, probably since the birth of MTV in 1981. As controversial music videos started being released, becoming more and more explicit over the decades, all boundaries of what was permissible to be broadcast continued to be pushed. 

But, at a local level, the handling of sexual topics used to be much tamer, more toned down. In fact, back in the ‘70s, anything to do with sex was so taboo and repressed that we might as well have been living in the Puritan age.  Of course, I doubt anyone wants to go back to those stifling days.  As the island became more secular, more risks were taken, both on radio and TV, sometimes eliciting waves of shock among audiences who were not used to that kind of thing on Maltese stations. I remember that one of the first radio talk shows to invite listeners to ask questions about sex caused such a sensation that it had to be strictly monitored by the Broadcasting Authority. And who can ever forget that infamous clip when a member on the panel euphemistically referred to ‘icing sugar’ on national TV?  All hell broke loose. 

But in comparison to other countries, Malta was still ‘behind’ for lack of a better world. At least on the surface. 

Because it was also an open secret that throughout the 80s, many were busy renting ‘blue’ films under the counter from their local video store, adjusting their antennas to be able to receive the infamous Teleblea, while shows such as Colpo Grosso were freely available from Italian stations.  The difference is that this was strictly adult content, watched late at night, and children were (on the whole) shielded from it. 

Fast forward to subsequent decades and the shackles of rigid puritanism were eventually shrugged off; a development which was needed for our society to become more open-minded and tolerant.  But then, at some stage which is hard to pinpoint exactly, everything accelerated, which brings us to where we are now.  I can’t help but compare Malta’s extreme swing towards exhibitionism and sexual vulgarity to the behaviour of a rebellious teenager who was raised in a too strict household and who is pushing it, just to see how far they can go.

Bajd u Bejkin, Serving Kant, Love Island…as much as we try to get away from them, they are in our face, all with the same overtones:  the hyper sexualisation of women (but, predictably, not the men).  On Love Island it is the women who walk around in skimpy bikinis while the men are covered up in swimming trunks – and it is the women who are practically salivated over when they walk in, as if they were slabs of beef in a meat market.  It goes without saying that consenting adults are free to do what they like, but we should not under-estimate how much this message has filtered through to society as a whole, and that includes children.  No matter how much we try to pretend it isn’t so, children are constantly watching adult behaviour, observing and absorbing, taking it all in.

In this edition there was a teacher (who, apparently, has already been voted out) as well as single parents.  I’m assuming the parents will have to give some sort of reason for why they went on this reality show and explain to their children that they will be away from home for weeks on end.  As for someone who is a teacher, I wonder…where have all the standards gone when it comes to this profession? How can students respect your authority if they have seen you prancing around in next to nothing for the male gaze? If we think that children are not being influenced by all this, then we really do have our heads in the sand.  Inevitably, I will probably be called all sorts of adjectives for pointing this out, (judgemental, a prude, old-fashioned, a hater, take your pick) but I find it absurd that we have reached the point where we are not allowed to point out the obvious, that we have to agree with everything and God help you if you don’t.  

Have women always been sexualised? Yes, since the beginning of time. The original feminist wave tried its best to put a stop to this objectification which treated women as trophies to be paraded around in triumph; but those who have never understood real feminism shirk away from the label and have always tried to belittle and skew the true meaning of this movement. These days, it is masqueraded as so-called female empowerment, which apparently means having a cameraman zooming in on your butt cheeks for a full close up on TV.  I have yet to find someone who can convince me that a woman displaying her body for public consumption makes her a feminist.  In fact, celebrities wearing just a G-string and a smile on the red carpet have gone so overboard that the Cannes film festival this year issued another rule to its dress code, banning nudity.  The very fact that it had to add this “for reasons of decency” speaks volumes. 

The implications of this constant sexualisation and easily exchangeable commodity of women are already visible, and will continue to increase. Every day I read stories of women who have been badly treated, abused, taken advantage of and violated. Their husbands and boyfriends quickly trade them in as soon as the next hot young thing comes along. Too many women lament that they are not respected and are treated like dirt with the worst case scenarios turning into ugly stories of domestic violence and rape. Yes, abuse has always existed, but we can’t deny that it is getting worse. When women are constantly being presented as mere ‘playthings’ and just another possession for men (as well as young boys), it feels like it is becoming a losing battle to claw our way back to some kind of sanity. With popular culture constantly bombarding girls with the message that they must look sexy and stay young (forever), cosmetic surgery is now a booming industry even among 20-somethings who have been brainwashed into believing that a Kardashian butt, silicone boobs and duck lips are the answer to finding your soul mate.  

This relentless emphasis on sex in our culture can be seen in teenage boys who are quick to speak in a vulgar way about girls, and prepubescent girls who already want to look like a sex bomb because that is what we are telling them will attract the most male attention.  If you think this doesn’t matter or that what is being churned out is not having an effect on the collective psyche, especially on impressionable young minds, then think again. All l know is that I saw a short clip of one of the Bajd u Bejkin co-hosts being interviewed by Jon Mallia who asked him whether he would be happy for his young daughter to watch one of their NSFW podcasts…it’s probably the first time I actually saw him squirm and look uncomfortable.