New Ways of Seeing: Study examines youth views on teenage pregnancy and romantic relationships

What do young Filipinos think about sexual and reproductive health?  How do they look at issues like teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, virginity and sexual relationships? What images do they associate with these concepts? 


In the last two years, Mulat Pinoy conducted two amateur video contests: “We Are Right Here. We Are RH.”, and “Sexual Health: Shout or Shush?” These two competitions encouraged young people to submit videos that expressed their thoughts regarding a controversial topic: sexual and reproductive health and rights. With the debate raging constantly across all levels of discourse, Mulat Pinoy sought to give young people a voice in the discussion, to give them a chance to show what they see and feel. 


Data Tolentino-Canlas, a professor at the College of Mass Communication of the University of the Philippines and a PhD student of Rhetorics, Communication and Information Design in Clemson University, carefully scrutinized the submissions for both contests. Her goal was to analyse a total of 45 videos and discover the prevailing trends among the entries: subject matter, word choice, image choice, and so on.


Her study, titled “New Ways of Seeing,” yielded distinct patterns regarding the notions being held by the young people who submitted. Her abstract covered the broader points:


Findings revealed that portrayals of topics related to sexual and reproductive health rights were still highly influenced by mass media, traditional views on marriage and sex. A gap likewise existed in the understanding of statistical and research information and its representation for a young audience. Creators of the videos focused on romantic heterosexual relationships, and how these usually lead to unwanted pregnancies, with women being on the receiving end of the “punishment” of a life of lost opportunities.  


Representations of reproductive and sexual health rights were extremely low, compared to repeated images of contraceptives per se. However these representations did not discuss nor advocate their use, and instead were presented as controversial artifacts that came in conflict with traditional Roman Catholic beliefs. Likewise, there were very few representations of the LGBTQ communities, which were, ironically, some of the most vocal advocated of sexual health rights and awareness.


Among the patterns that Tolentino-Canlas discovered from testing were these specific qualities:


- Teenage relationships are primarily perceived as not only heterosexual, but with admonishing tones regarding sex between young people and seen as the cause of ‘troublesome’ situations.


- Teen pregnancy is portrayed as a burden left to the mothers, with social stigmas and hardship-related effects as an expected by-product without enough support or care from the father or other possible sources.


- Contraception is almost exclusively identified with condoms, and not any other method such as pills or family planning.


- Homosexuality is occasionally rendered with a degree of irony and derision, and focuses solely on gay men rather than the broader spectrum that includes lesbians and queers.


- Religious discussion is clearly avoided but backgrounds and imagery remain prominent, especially as a balm in troublesome situations. Seeking aid and counsel from friends, family or community is less common than seeking solace in prayer/faith.


Each of these aforementioned items, along with several other points, were drawn from the collated info from the videos, using a specialized coding matrix. After the comprehensive analysis, Tolentino-Canlas also provided suggestions about how young people can best move forward, in terms of broadening their awareness and their expressive intent. She stated:


The study recommended exploring ways of presenting information that would allow creators to critique mass media representations of the issues raised above. The study presented suggestions for alternative stories (i.e., successful single parents vs. the sinful, damned woman), images, and approaches to reveal perspectives and explore topics beyond the boundaries of religion and tradition, under which most of the creators still operated. The study suggested changing, empowering and defying present conceptualizations and images of reproductive and sexual health to allow young people the opportunity to discuss subject matter that really mattered to them, and not just what societal structures think they should concern themselves with.


While the study did not have a wide enough statistical sample to be able to speak conclusively regarding all Filipino youth, it does reflect how powerful the influence of mass media can be, and how young people can definitely use similar platforms to speak out in return.


The major points of the study’s findings can be found here: http://www.scribd.com/doc/142018527/Mulat-Pinoy-Year-3-Video-Contest-Content-Analysis

For more information: Mulatpinoy.ph
Facebook: Mulat Pinoy
Twitter: @mulatpinoy

Contact Person: Regina Layug Rosero, regina@mulatpinoy.ph


*This article is a press release by Mulat Pinoy and is only shared in this blog.  

Sexual Health: Why I Care

I was fortunate enough to attend an RH forum last month, a joint venture of Sex and Sensibilities, Mulat Pinoy, and Young Public Servants at the Filipinas Heritage Library in Makati. The forum was a four-part which focused on the hottest topics of sexual health today: teenage pregnancy, LGBT and HIV/AIDS, men's involvement and parental guidance in safe sex and sexual health. Overall, it was an awesome event. I learned a lot, and it makes me look forward to other similar events I can attend.




This post isn't really to talk about that event, though: it's more of an answer to the theme.


Why do I care about sexual health? 

1. Because of definitions

The World Health Organization describes sexual health as "a state of physical, mental and social well-being in relation to sexuality. It requires a positive and respectful approach to sexuality and sexual relationships, as well as the possibility of having pleasurable and safe sexual experiences, free of coercion, discrimination and violence."

It isn't just about avoiding the cringe-worthy wham-bam-thank-you-ma'am, successfully giving head, or finding the elusive G.


At the end of the day, caring about sexual health means caring about my health holistically.

2. Because, regardless of how residents of the Idiot Society see it, cover it, and be ashamed of it, we are born with either a vagina or a penis. Babies have one of them. I have one of them. You have one of them. Religious individuals preaching about the commandments and tenets of their beliefs have them. And we're damned screwed if we don't know how to take care of it (pun unintended). 

Sexual Health isn't just about the proper use of condoms. 
Contrary to popular belief, it's also about how 
sexy abstinence can be. Safe sex IS sexy sex!

Some stats:

• According to the UNFPA, teenage pregnancy  the number of teenage pregnancies rose 70 percent, from 114,205 in 1999 to 195,662 in 2009. 
• UNFPA's 2011 report states that at 53 births per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 19, the teenage pregnancy rate in the Philippines is the highest among Asean's six major economies.
• Just this June, 295 new cases of HIV was reported, with 16 AIDS cases. The June stats is 66% higher than case numbers in the same period last year. Sexual contact, particularly MSM or men having sex with men, remains to be the predominant mode of transmission.
• The Philippines is only 1 out of the remaining 7 countries in the world with increasing HIV infections.

Reality check: sans creative positions, porn is NOT the best way to educate hormonal teenage kids about sex. Boyfriends and girlfriends are even worse teachers. Parents are still the best when it comes to guiding people about the birds and the bees. A close second are health care professionals and educators. People's concern about sexual health, and the ability and willingness to share it to the younger generation is essential, especially if we want to do something with the stats above. After all, knowledge about healthy sexual relationships and how our bodies function is the front line preventive management for Sexually Transmitted Infection (STIs) including HIV/AIDS, teenage pregnancy, and sexual abuse. 

3. Because we need to know how to address our (future) 6-year-old kid if we ever catch him/her playing with his or her genitals, and not confuse an entire future generation by referring to these genitals as "birdies" and "flowers".

I'm sorry to shock everyone with that statement, but, YES, kids as young as 6 years old do have tendencies to masturbate. However, unlike us hormone-driven adults, they do so without malice; they do it because they find it pleasurable, just like sucking and nibbling makes babies happy (check out Freud's psychosexual theory). The problem is, a typical ultra-conservative parent would probably half-faint, shriek at the child's supposed promiscuity and scream threats like, "mapuputol kamay mo sa pinaggagawa moooo!!!" Translation: "your hand will fall off because of what you are doing," and yes, with THAT much exclamation points in the end.

Apathy (or even distress) directed  to the discussion of sexual health and sexuality is the primary cause of why people still wince or cringe or stupidly grin upon hearing Parokya ni Edgar sing, "Don't touch my birdiiiieee!". How hard is it to say penis or vagina?

A bit of psychiatric nursing for you: if you do catch a kid playing with his or her nether regions, kindly DO NOT freak out and scare the heck out of them. Instead, calmly ask him what his feelings are regarding what he his doing, then emphasize that it is not wrong to want to touch himself (because, seriously, has there ever been studies supporting that moderate masturbation is bad for you?). BUT: this act must be done in private. 

This little bit of psychological treatment does wonders: one day kids will not look at sex as something taboo or evil, but something to be smart about.

4. Because we can never separate ourselves, our being, our personality, and our choices with our sexuality.

Whatever we do, and whatever we choose to be, we are bounded to our bodies (at least, until we die), and we can never be truly complete without our sexuality.#