#KylieJennerLipChallenge #Why

If you scroll across almost any social media website right now, you will see pictures of swollen lips with the caption #KylieJennerLipChallenge. This recent fad involves people putting a small glass around their lips and sucking in order to create their lips to swell into a desirable, plump pout similar to that of pop icon Kylie Jenner. However, the results of this phenomenon are drastic and negative, which thousands of young girls reporting severely bruised faces after trying this challenge. The question arises: why are young girls submitting themselves to pain in order to achieve Kyle Jenner-like lips?

The answer is because of the ever-growing popularity of the selfie, a picture taken on a smartphone of oneself. The selfie era has come about due to recent smartphone technology and instan-mobile upload-ability. It is a way to express your autobiographical status (#bored, #hungry) while appearing "naturally beautiful" to your followers. It is actually more of an art form. "Sexiness is suggested by sucked-in cheeks, pouting lips, a nonchalant cock of the head and a hint of bare flesh just below the clavicle," says Elizabeth Day in her article about selfies. The "sexy pout" is encapsulated by mega celeb Kylie Jenner, whose lips are questionably natural, as you can see the change in her lips over the past few years. 

To achieve the pout seen in the right picture, fans have discovered the cup-sucking challenge can have similar plumping effects to that of Botox treatment, which Kylie seems to have had. This pain users submit themselves to is all in efforts of appearing more sexually appealing like Kylie, who at just seventeen years old garners millions of likes per selfie posted. 

This sad but revealing trend reflects the aesthetic and sexualized presence of women on social media. If icons and role models such as Kylie Jenner only post sexualized images of themselves on social media accounts, then young girls model this behavior to the extent of hurting themselves. The fault lies with the elite group of public figures who choose to be in the public eye--they have a responsibility to mold society in a way that leads them in the right direction and not bruising the faces of young girls. 

Day, E. (2013, July 13). How selfies became a global phenomenon. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jul/14/how-selfies-became-a-global-phenomenon

Sam Smith’s “Stay With Me”... stuck in love myth status quo?

“Stay With Me” gets its start from a one night stand. In the music video, Sam Smith swiftly gathers his clothes and slips out of his lover’s apartment without a word. Smith is infatuated with his lover and although it was originally a one night stand, he wants more than just that. It is never clear to audience whether or not the lover reciprocated Smith’s feelings. Smith strikes a chord with many gay men. Finding that perfect guy on Grindr, having an amazing sexual encounter, and suddenly finding oneself emotionally attached. By the end of the music video, there is an entire choir singing and professing Smith’s love and devotion to this mysterious and allusive lover.

Smith is not the first mainstream gay star. We’ve enjoyed Boy George from Culture Club, George Michaels, Elton John, Freddie Mercury , just to name a few. So why is Smith’s entry into the US market important? It is important because, his entry coincides with the LGBT fight for marriage equality movement that continues to spread from state to state. Earlier in the semester we read a research article entitled “Love Will Steer the Stars” that talked about love myths present within songs and their effect on the audience. Songs such as “Stay With Me” strike a chord with the audience because “ the combination of words with music makes song especially powerful, striking the listener simultaneously on emotional and cognitive levels (Bader p. 146).  The study found that around 2.5 love myths are present person song in American pop ( Bader, 2007).
I decide to conduct my own informal content analysis of the song “Stay With Me” by using the same love myths that Bader coded for in the original analysis and found that in “Stay With Me” 4 love myths were present (listed below). I was not surprised to find love myths present, because Smith cites various American pop divas such as Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey as influences. Furthermore, it was not surprising to find love myths present because his “Stay With Me” because his song was carefully crafted for a mainstream taste. Again, there have been many gay artists in the past, but never at a time when at which the gay rights movement has been as strong in the U.S. “Stay With Me” offers gay presence within mainstream music without disrupting the status quo. His gayness is glossed over. The description of his lover is anonymous. No other information is given about his lover except for the causal encounter. So while I applaud Smith for his talent, I feel as though he leaves the audience wanting to know more. His first album offers little deviation from popular heterosexual scripts, I’m excited to see if his second album will abandon some of the love myths and offer more about his gay identity.

Love Myth #2 There’s such a thing as “love at first sight”.

Love Myth #4 If your partner is truly “meant for you,” sex is easy and wonderful

Love Myth #10 The right mater “completes you”---filling your needs and making your dreams come true

Love Myth #11 In real life, actors and actresses are often very much like the romantic characters they portray.

Bader, A. (2007). "Love will steer the stars" and other improbable feats: Media myths in popular love songs. In M.-L. Galician & D. L. Merskin (Eds.), Critical thinking about sex, love, and romance in the mass media (pp. 141-160). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Condom Commercials as a Positive Sexual Health Message?

Does condom use in Trojan commercials subconsciously promote sexual health? I find it interesting that growing up my parents would always shield my eyes when a condom commercial played or tell me to look away. But is there actually a positive message being shown in these commercials?

I feel like this is such a controversial topic because condom commercials are promoting sex while at the same time promoting condom use. This is important for adolescences because if they are not engaging in sexual activity yet, but are being primed with these behaviors they may feel as if sex is a normal thing to do; even at such a young age. They may also be learning sexual safety at a young age. There are also a wide variety of commercials that have many different story lines. There are commercials that are extremely gender based, and promote sex among men. Others promote the objectification of a woman’s body, while some promote a couple is in a healthy relationship. Can different storylines in the commercials promote different sexual health messages? For example, do the ads with couples in relationships have more of a positive health effect than the ones with female objectification?

            I think these are all important questions to ask because as an adolescent who is learning about sexual behaviors, it is important to show sexual health messages; so in this case these ads would be positive. But on the other hand if these commercials are promoting degrading features of women or men, then are the messages of sexual health being dismissed and only the images being absorbed? Below is a commercial for Trojan that emphasizes on a couple who seem to be happy together and enjoying themselves. It shows the woman in a dominant position by being on top of the man, and by showing that she has a condom in her pocket. I think this is one of the healthier and more promoting ads that Trojan uses to showcase their condoms, while also emphasizing on a positive sexual health image. They do this by showing how both the female and male are prepared and have condoms and they are both ready to use them without intimidation. I think ads like this are the ones we should be showing to the public because they are not extremely graphic, and they also show how sexual behaviors doesn’t have to be extremely crazy and overly passionate in order to be good. This is also another positive sexual behavior promotion of the ad showing that sex differs among couples and there is no idealistic way of having sex.

Most of the condom ads promote the use of condoms but they don’t show the health risks of not using a condom. In Delgardo & Austin’s study (2007) they looked at an episode of friends where Rachel becomes pregnant even after using a condom. This was shown to be effective because after viewing the episode, respondents said that they did observe sexual health behavior, and were aware of the risks. Even if an individual does not directly link sex and the risks, at least they have facts about condoms and may eventually internalize the risks of having unprotected sex. This relates to the condom commercials because whether they show the risks or not, they are still bringing condom use to the top of mind. I did find one commercial where Trojan creates a humorous commercial that shows the risk of not using a condom by saying “Do you really know who you’re sleeping with?” implying that STDs are a risk factor as well as other risks of sleeping with a partner whom you do not know. I think this is also promoting a positive message in a different way than did the previous ad.

 

            In my opinion, I think the purpose of the ads by the company is to promote sexual health so that they can make money on condom sales. This is a huge factor when internalizing these ads because in order for Trojan condoms to make a profit they have to sell condoms, which is the whole point of the advertisement right? I believe that when the content in condom ads are not objectifying or sexist, and the ads seem to promote a positive happy message, then they will create a positive sexual health message to viewers.

References:
Delgado, H., Austin, B. (2007) Can media promote responsible sexual behaviors among adolescents and young adults. Lippincott Williams & Wilkins. 405-410

Pushing the Limits

     This semester has been a crazy ride. There have been many things that I never thought I would have talked about in a class setting. Non-normative sexualities (BDSM), Sexting, and Porn have all been things that made me question “What have I gotten myself into?” Classes don’t always go the way you planned and according to thechive.com neither does sexting. 

     Throughout the class we talked about the influence that media has on our life. The Damned if You Do, Damned if you Don’t article states that “Norms may also help explain sexting behavior. Lapinski and Rimal (2005) distinguish between collective norms, which refer to norms that apply to a social entity, and perceived norms, which refer to an individual’s perception of what those collective norms are” (Lapinski, 374). Sexting is not the only thing that following social norms applies to. 

     Although sexting puts me on edge, other topics topics contributed to my anxiety. The subjects of Porn and DBSM also made me uncomfortable. I wanted a class that would push my boundaries, and well….I found it. Sexting, BDSM and Porn were all topics that were covered in class. If you ask me about a selfie, I could talk to you about that. However, if you ask me about other topics I will feel like the cat has my tongue. I might not feel comfortable about discussing these topics, but I have learned a great deal in this class. I learned to look at the deeper meaning in materials and how media influences topics. Overall, this was a great class that put a new perspective on Communication Classes. It made my last semester interesting, and although this class didn’t go as planned, nothing normally does.  

Works Cited:

Lippman,  J.  R.  &  Campbell.  S.  W.  (2014)  Damned  if  you  do,  damned  if  you  don’t...if  you’re  a  girl:  Relational  and  normative  contexts  of  adolescent  sexting  in  the  United States.    Journal  of  Children  and  Media,  8:4,  371 - 386

Sexting double standard in "Girls"

At the beginning of S01E04 of Girls, Hannah receives a dick pic from Adam, who she constantly hooks up with, but does not know “what exactly they are.” She shows the picture to her friends and they do not see anything inappropriate in it. In fact, although they are shocked, they still joke about the picture. Adam then sends another text saying “SRY, that wasn’t for you.” Suddenly her friends think Adam is a psychopath and Hannah should not respond. However, after her friends leave, Hannah immediately takes a nude picture of herself and send it to Adam. He, of course, does not text her back. Later Hannah shows the dick pic to her colleagues. Similar to her friends, the colleagues do not seem to have any problem with the picture (they even comment on it) until Hannah reveals that it is not for her. They then think the picture is so ridiculous and disgusting that if Hannah does not leave Adam immediately, she does not have self-respect. Finally Hannah cannot take it anymore and tells Adam they should stop seeing each other, since the mis-sent dick pick, which Adam clearly means to send to someone else but does not even bother to explain, makes her feel “stupid and pathetic.” Although she does not want a boyfriend, she still wants Adam to have exclusive sex with her, instead of seeing his body part on some pictures. However, after her emotional speech about how she is going to leave, a little movement of Adam makes her come back and they end up hooking up again. Adam’s comment on Hannah’s nude picture is “you look like you are getting f**ked with a cucumber,” and Hannah’s reaction is “I can’t take a serious naked picture of myself, okay?”

According to Lippman & Campbell’s study, people, especially males’ perceptions of girls who send sexts are “crazy, insecure, attention-seeking sluts with poor judgment” (379). In this episode of Girls, although nobody else knows that Hannah sends a sext back, Adam’s words show his attitude towards Hannah’s sext, even though he himself starts the whole thing. Hannah’s behavior almost proves the opinions of girls sexting mentioned above – she is insecure about her relationship with Adam and tries to use the nude picture to seek attention. She is not even trying to protect herself – she shows her face in the picture. So I am not sure why the show applies this double standard – men can sext as long as he sends it to someone he commits to, while girls are supposed to let the men “take the lead” and act all crazy.

However, one thing for sure is that it puts another double standard about sexting on the table – if it is sent with a specific purpose then it is fine, but if it is sent randomly, or, even to the wrong person, it is disrespectful and disgusting. In other words, nobody in the show seems to have a problem with receiving a sext out of surprise. What they are all opposed to is Adam’s attitude with sexting Hannah. Even Hannah herself is not offended until she knows the sext is not for her. However, if this sext is between a couple committed to a long-term relationship, even it is sent without previous notice or agreement, will that make it OK? We did not have a conclusion on whether sexting is “good” or “bad” during class. Frankly I do not think it is that distinct and simple, either. What I do believe is that sexting should be conducted after receiving the consent of both sides. In other words, both people involved know that is coming. Even it is with a married couple, sending a sext without previous notice is potentially dangerous because you do not know who is on the phone on the other side. For example, if a wife is showing her friend something on her phone and suddenly a sext from her husband pops up, it will at least cause extreme awkwardness. Since cellphone and texting is still relatively new, studies about one of its ramifications – sexting – seem to be hard to reach a conclusion as well. As a result, sexting and its effect, being a really worth discussing topic, will probably remain debatable for a very long time, maybe forever.

Reference

Julia R. Lippman & Scott W. Campbell (2014) Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t…If You’re a Girl: Relational and Normative Contexts of Adolescent Sexting in the United States, Journal of Children and Media, 8:4, 371-386, DOI: 10.1080/17482798.2014.923009

'The Fappening' and the Troubling Distinction of Legality.

Back in September of 2014, the internet experienced what has since been termed 'The Fappening'. What was never definitively called a hack of iCloud, 'The Fappening' is known as one the biggest hacks on the internet leading to massive leaks of personal (often sexual) images of female celebrities. What started on the internet forum 4Chan moved to Reddit were a subreddit with the now infamous name was created (Fappening because it is a portmanteau of the words 'the happening' and 'fap' which is slang for maturbation).

While 'The Fappening' was enormous, enduring it was not. Not long after the stolen images started to spread, they began to disappear. Many a sad boy was quick to cry foul, with claims of first amendment rights and freedom to distribute. While many tried to justify their theft and enjoyment of the images, or legitimized it by donating profits from the stolen images to charity, celebrities' legal teams were quick and powerful, and the images were being removed faster than they were being uploaded.


'The Fappening' represents an ugly time in a time of questionable privacy on the internet. Most of the victims were women, and most of the images clearly displayed a notion of intimacy between the celebrity and the intended viewer. This sort of breach of privacy women suffer on the internet is not new. Far more than the average man on the internet, women must deal with harassment, rape threats, and the fear of having their personal information exposed for the trivial reason of simply being female. Unlike these celebrities, the women who are often victimized by men on the internet don't have the legal backing that can actually lead to any attempts to charge those who harass them or remove personal information or photos.

Sexting has become more and more popular as the technology of cell phones has moved forward. Some have argued that this trend may be a way for teens to enjoy sexual agency for the first time (Brown et al., 2009) while others have pointed to the double standards of females who engage in sexting (Lippman & Campbell, 2014). Could it be that this understanding has lead to some of the problems many women face in order to protect themselves or prosecute those who are stealing their personal info? When 'The Fappening' occurred, many blamed the women who had taken the photos in the first place. And when the founders of numerous revenge pornsites were finally taken to court after a lengthy battle, the same argument was heard. For the latter though, the problem with how to prosecute was felt particularly hard because, in most cases, the photos were submitted by those who had obtained the photos legally (jilted ex-boyfriends). As we move forward, many states have started to craft new laws to address the problems found on these revenge porn sites, but for now the problem still persists. And it may be time to consider how our understanding of victimization is contributing to this phenomenon.

Reference:
Brown, J. D., Keller, S., & Stern, S. (2009). Sex, sexuality, sexting, and sexed: Adolescents and the media. Prevention Researcher, 16(4), 12-16.

Lippman, J. R. & Campbell. S. W. (2014) Damned if you do, damned if you don’t…if you’re a girl: Relational and normative contexts of adolescent sexting in the United States. Journal of Children and Media, 8:4, 371-386, doi: 10.1080/17482798.2014.923009


Image from Jezebel.com

Life Without Internet

My house lost our internet connection two days ago. My hate for Comcast has increased exponentially as each hour without Netflix passes. We have an appointment to get it back tomorrow, but wow, have these past few days been boring. I have actually had to resort to watching TV on a real television. Today, I marathoned with SVU, Ted, A Walk to Remember, and one of my all-time favorite movies, 13 Going on 30. Anyway, while watching all this TV, I noticed that I was watching really critically. Not just the media content, but also the commercials. Two things really struck me while I vegged out on my bed on a beautiful day (I suck). First was a commercial for 1800 Silver tequila, which corresponded perfectly with our class discussion on alcohol and gender. The commercial featured two guys who were at a bar enjoying themselves while drinking cosmopolitans. Another guy walked up to the bar and ordered tequila on the rocks. When he received his drink, he looked at the cosmo guys and gave them a really judging look while sipping his own drink. The other guys noticed, and embarrassed, asked their waiter to take their drinks away and bring them tequila, as well. This kind of bugged me. Why does it matter what people drink? Why should someone be ashamed that they prefer a fruitier drink over straight tequila? (Tequila without salt and lime or in a mixed drink is really disgusting in my opinion.) It bothered me that alcohol companies are promoting this gendered-drink phenomenon that is so rampant in our culture.

The second thing I noticed was in 13 Going on 30. The movie is very similar to any other rom-com, but after our discussion on porn I really thought about my obsession with the movie. For me, 13 Going on 30 is that movie that I always watch when I see that it is on TV, no matter what. I love it. I love the idea of being able to redo your life and do things differently, and how every choice we make affects our future, and that being a good person and being good to people is incredibly influential on having a successful life. However, I realized that I may expect this of my own life- that if I make an effort to be nice and a good person, that I will find love and marry my best friend. This is my own personal form of porn- a media fantasy that I buy into and expect, but one that is realistic. Peter & Valkenburg found that sexually explicit media content has effects on peoples' perceptions of realism, but I believe that this carries over to romantic ideals in other kinds of media, including romantic comedies. I am so glad that I have gained more media literacy this semester, and am able to realize that even my favorite movies portray really unrealistic ideals.

Sex Sells

Sex Sells. It's a phrase that we constantly hear and consistently see in the media. The Super Bowl is known for the "new" commercials in which brands make their commercial debut for the year. Many of the commercials are of women being sexualized to sell a product that doesn't really have anything to do with the context of the commercial. Hardee's and Carl's Jr are known for some of the most sexually explicit "soft porn" commercials in attempts to sell their burgers. 

Here are a few examples of their Super Bowl commercials the past three years:

The commercials present scantily-clad women licking sauce off of each other, with emphasis on their chests, legs, and stomach's. Although many women opposed these commercials, saying that they have no decency for families watching the game, there was a consistent rise in sales at Hardee's and Carl Jr's after the airing of these ads, and a huge increase in online fans. "Hardees.com has seen a 104% increase in traffic, and there has been an 83% increase for Carlsjr.com, and both  have added upwards of 120,000 Facebook fans" (Bhasin, 2012). In addition, there were 5,000+ Twitter mentions about the commercials in the first hour after it aired (Bhasin, 2012). 

Despite the increase in sales and online mentioning for the company, one must wonder how these sexually explicit ads, as well as the multitude of other sexually explicit media we see on television, affect adolescents and their views on sex. It was found that 64% of television shows today contain some sort of sexual content (Eyal & Kunkel, 2008). Chia and Gunther talk about the Cultivation Theory, and how "heavy viewers [of television] start to believe that they live in the narrative world portrayed on TV," which includes the multitude of sexualization of women in the media in shows, movies, and commercials" (Chia & Gunther, 2006). As a result, they are more likely to think certain sexual acts occur more frequently than they do, resulting in a higher amount of sexual intimacy between high school and college students (Chia & Gunther, 2006). 

Another article I stumbled across a few days ago listed a plethora of interesting facts about the sexualization in media today, and why we should care. A few of the directly quoted facts are as follows:

• 72% of teens think watching TV with a lot of sexual content influences their peers' behavior somewhat or a lot.
• Programs with sexual content average 4.4 scenes per hour.
• On average, music videos contain 93 sexual situations per hour, including 11 hard-core scenes depicting behavior like intercourse and oral sex. 
• Watching a lot of sexual content on TV and listening to sexually explicit music lyrics increase the chances that a teen will have sex at an earlier age. (Sexual Behavior, 2014)

These facts were some of the more interesting and pertinent in regards to the prevalence of sexual media that is consumed by adolescents. When thinking about adolescents who are intrigued by sexualized media, they are likely to have a fascination with romance, sex, and relationships, more than disinterested or resistant adolescent girls (Brown & White, 1987). These intrigued girls are typically concerned with becoming popular and trying to look good to impress the boys at school (Brown & White, 1987).

From the evidence presented above, we can see how the prevalence of sexualized media can lead to women believing certain things and acting in particular ways, even in early adolescent stages. It is important to remember that not everything you see in the media is realistic. Although TV shows and commercials are made more exciting and interesting with sexual media content, it is not always the norm in every day life, and those portrayals have large impacts on views and attitudes toward sexual norms.

References:

Bhasin, K. (2012, April 4). That Sexed-Up Kate Upton Ad For Carl's Jr. Is Working Incredibly Well. Retrieved April 17, 2015, from http://www.businessinsider.com/that-sexed-up-kate-upton-ad-for-carls-jr-is-working-incredibly-well-2012-4

Brown, J., White, A., Nikopoulou, L. (1987). Disinterest, Intrigue, Resistance: Early Adolescent Girls' use of Sexual Media Content. Center for Population Options.

Chia, S., & Gunther, A. (2006). How Media Contribute To Misperceptions Of Social Norms About Sex. Mass Communication Society, 301-320. Retrieved April 17, 2015.

Eyal, K., & Kunkel, D. (2008). The Effects of Sex in Television Drama Shows on Emerging Adults' Sexual Attitudes and Moral Judgments. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media,161-181.

Sexual behavior: What teens learn from media. (2014). Retrieved April 17, 2015, from http://www.greatschools.org/students/media-kids/510-sexual-behavior-teens-learn-from-media.gs

Selfie Reality

Rupi Kaur was doing a final project for one of her classes and had to take a series of photos, she posted one of those to Instagram. It wasn’t long before her photo was removed and she was sent this message: 

What did she post? Was it degrading to women? Was it explicit? Well see for yourself:

This is one of her several photos she took to tell the following story:

“i bleed each month to help make humankind a possibility. my womb is home to the divine. a source of life for our species. whether i choose to create or not. but very few times it is seen that way. in older civilizations this blood was considered holy. in some it still is. but a majority of people. societies. and communities shun this natural process. some are more comfortable with the pornification of women. the sexualization of women. the violence and degradation of women than this. they cannot be bothered to express their disgust about all that. but will be angered and bothered by this. we menstruate and they see it as dirty. attention seeking. sick. a burden. as if this process is less natural than breathing. as if it is not a bridge between this universe and the last. as if this process is not love. labour. life. selfless and strikingly beautiful.”

I thought this was a really compelling story so I researched it further. Instagram ended up apologizing to her and added the photo back to Instagram. This goes back to the selfie debate. Are selfies a form of expression or sure sign of a narcissistic human being?

In Elizabeth Day’s How Selfies Became a Global Phenomenon, she says “A selfie can, in some respects, be a more authentic representation of beauty than other media images.” In Rupi’s selfie she is arguably showing the most authentic portrayal of a woman, and what it is like to be a woman. This photo supports that debate. This photo doesn’t degrade women and show them off in scandalous clothing. It in fact portrays the reality of what it is like to be a woman. It also agrees with Day’s article, “Instagram also allows us the opportunity to see below the surface. We capture a glimpse into the makings of people’s daily lives. We get a sense of those things that make the everyday extraordinary.” This photo that was posted on Instagram showed males the striking reality of what women go through. The fact that it was deleted is concerning because why are photos of half naked women able to be posted, when this is not. This selfie shows women and what they go through, while other photos portray a small percent of unrealistic women. Selfies are a great way to tell a story, and this definitely supports that. This photo should have never been deleted, it is a selfie that is compelling, and I am happy it has been added back to Instagram. 

Works Cited

Day, E. (2013, July 13). How selfies became a global phenomenon. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/jul/14/how-selfies-became-a-global-phenomenon

Parasocial Heartbreak

In case you weren't aware, Zayn Malik announced that he was leaving popular boyband One Direction at the end of March and the world pretty much stopped turning. Much like NSYNC and the Backstreet Boys in the early 2000s, the members of One Direction are the fake boyfriends most teenage (and even some college) girls dream about. Although Rachel Karniol states that these parasocial romantic relationships are safe and provide an outlet for sexual socialization, the reaction that followed Zayn's announcement seemed extremely unhealthy.

Twitter, Vine, and Tumblr exploded with images and videos of girls crying and posts about how much they loved him and will never forget him. The fact that this little change in pop culture caused young girls to skip class, break out in tears, and miss out on sleep is unhealthy. He wasn't hurt, he's not even going to stop singing, he is just leaving the band.

And new media outlets played right into all of the chaos. Buzzfeed managed to publish over 20 stories just on people reacting to Zayn leaving One Direction and continued coverage for weeks.

Yet stories about things like the shooting in Kenya or the Israeli Palestinian conflict barely get touched and would not garner a similar reaction from any one of those girls. I don't think these parasocial relationships can be considered healthy when they cause young girls to become this attached to a person they will likely never meet and miss out on important news.

On the other hand, One Direction definitely proves Karniol's theory that "teenage girls tend to idolize feminine-looking men [...] when an individual who is not feminine-looking is selected as an idol, the idol will nonetheless be attributed highly feminine characteristics, such as being cute and lovable," especially in their younger days which at the very least makes them relatively safe role models or ideal boyfriends.

References

Karniol, R. (2001). Adolescent Females’ Idolization of Male Media Stars as a Transition Into Sexuality. Sex Roles, 61-77.