By: Megan Clark Campus Life Editor
In honor of January being National Stalking Awareness Month, the assistant director of Abby’s House, Andrea Hugmeyer, presented an informational PowerPoint about how stalking is portrayed in the media.
While only a dozen or so guests attended the event during the day on Jan. 27 in the WUC, those that were present were highly interested and vocal during the interactive presentation.
Stalking is a form of sexual violence and involves a pattern of repeated, unwanted contact that makes a person feel fear. Examples of stalking include repeatedly calling and following a person, sending unwanted gifts, texts, or emails, and threatening that person’s family or friends.
Ultimately, stalking is based on control. 7.5 million people in the U.S. are stalked each year; 90 percent of all college students participate in “unwanted pursuit behavior” after a breakup.
Using examples such as the popular novels-turned-movies “Twilight” and “50 Shades of Gray,” the music video for “Animals” by Maroon 5, as well as the movie “The Perfect Man,” Hugmeyer showed how stalking is portrayed as romantic, a glorified fantasy, and fear-inducing.
Kayla Robertson, a senior psychology major, said that Maroon 5’s music video “makes stalking sexy,” when stalking should be anything but.
One event attendee said that these examples present the idea that “when a woman says no, no means convince me.”
Media is one of the most influential forms of socialization. A dominant message that bombards consumers of various forms of media is in relation to male dominance, protection and pursuit. Women are portrayed as submissive and in need of protection.
These ideals subversively influence how women and men think they should look, act, and interact with others and society.
These messages ultimately make stalking, either in person or cyber, normalized.
Already, forms of cyber stalking are acceptable in society. At the mention of stalking someone over Facebook, no one bats an eye.
Through media deconstruction, such as understanding the methods through which a certain message is being sent and by whom, viewers can try to avoid supporting media that promotes harmful messages.
Another way to combat negative messages in media is to actively seek out television shows, movies, or music that subverts the dominant message. Hugmeyer gave examples of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” as television shows with positive messages that are also entertaining.
