Midwest Teen Sex Show isn’t nearly as dirty as it sounds.
Created by red state (are we still allowed to say that?) natives and Brooklyn transplants Nikol Hasler and Guy Clark, the web series provides a “comically candid alternative to birds and bees euphemisms.” Instead of high school sexual education instructors who teach a curriculum that doesn’t work and blush at the mention of “masturbation,” MTSS informs teens about responsible sexual practices through sketches and straight talk that’s informal, yet informative and (heaven forbid) fun.
Unfortunately, the business of sexual education is harder to practice than the subject matter is to preach.
For one, advertisers are reluctant to sponsor your product. (Nikol told me, “We would have an easier time finding sponsorship if we were straight up porn.”) And for two, YouTube and MySpace take down your videos and Facebook gets rid of your show’s page, no questions asked.
Over the past several months, the internet’s leading video-sharing site and two top social networks deleted or removed episodes of MTSS or its affiliated group due to Terms of Use violations. This despite the fact that the show is primarily geared towards a Love Line-esque, sometimes-foul-mouthed-but-definitely-not-pornographic discussion of teen sex.
I talked with Hasler and KoldCast.TV’s David Samuels (KoldCast began sponsoring the series in August 2008) about what exactly went down:
YouTube - The ‘Fetishes‘ episode of MTSS was deleted on 12.28.08 by YouTube. KoldCast emailed YouTube and the company’s only response was a form letter that said the video was in violation of YouTube’s Community Guidelines. YouTube ignored additional inquiry.
MySpace – Earlier last year, the same Fetishes’ episode was removed from MySpace after being viewed over 33,000 times. MySpace unilaterally deleted the video and provided no explanation as to why. Meanwhile, faux pornographer James Gunn and actual pornographers Jenna Haze and Sasha Grey have active profiles.
KoldCast also attempted to advertise MTSS on MySpace several times, with paid banner ads, and every ad has been rejected.
Facebook – On Friday, Facebook deleted MTSS‘ 2,000+ member group page because of a “Terms of Use” violation. Hasler sent an email asking which of the many listed terms MTSS violated (”groups that are hateful, threatening, or obscene are not allowed,” and neither are “groups that attack an individual or group, or advertise a product or service”). She hasn’t yet received a response. “One look at the page would have shown what it was about,” Hasler says, “which is the show and opening discussions with teens about the issues they are dealing with concerning sexuality.”
Here’s the ‘Feitshes’ episode that caused a lot of the ruckus:
Risque? Sure. Would I want to watch it at my office job? Probably not. But obscene and in need of immediate takedown? Nah ah.
I know plenty of videos get pulled from sites for ridiculous reasons, but the ones we hear about are generally removed due to (unfounded) copyright concerns, not an inaccurate label of offensive or indecent content. It’s frustrating to find out that a show geared towards providing people honest information about sensitive topics isn’t being treated fairly, or at least seriously, by large companies overprotective of a conservative image that (judging by the other content on their sites) doesn’t really exist.
Here’s more from Nikol:
The internet is full of sex, and a lot of it is unhealthy and a whole lot of it is aimed at the same people we are trying to spread a more open and safe message to. We’re not changing the name of the show. We’re not going to stop talking about these things. I have seen time and time again how our show has impacted parents, doctors, educators and teens and no generic social networking site (especially one on which I have seen profile pictures of people nude) has the right to tell us we are violating their terms without telling us specifically how that is happening.
So what gives YouTube, MySpace, and Facebook? Why treat a good show that’s helping people poorly? Can KoldCast, MTSS, and the online video community get a response? Or at least a clearer Terms of Use?
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Comments
You are very much not alone. I’ve had very, very tame photos removed from FB and MS without any explanation whatsoever – all of them having been selected specifically in an attempt to avoid violating those ambiguous ToS policies. The clothing I was wearing revealed far less than you’d see on any beach in the country. When they delete your stuff, they offer no explanation whatsoever (because they know they can’t, so they just ignore you).
We no longer have to worry about the government censoring us – we have those who control the flow of information doing it for them. This includes not only MS, FB, photo sharing sites such as PhotoBucket, but Google and it’s refusal to feed search results for the correct medical term for the female clitoris from searches performed under “safe search” conditions (while simultaneously providing millions of results for the word “penis.”)
Oh, for chrissakes. FaceBook has a lot of damn nerve … given that one of their more popular applications is SexGames …
http://www.intotemptation.net/.....-sex-game/
where people are encouraged to recruit their friends to accomplish kinkier sexual conquests.
I began watching MTSS back when there were only two episodes in existence. As an HIV/AIDS educator, I find the shows to be a great way of initiating discussion around issues that many find difficult to talk about.
A number of friends of mine are not interested in having me blab away about varying issues associated with sexual health, but do not have a lot of awareness around subject. All it takes is for me to say, “hey – do you want to see something funny?” and click on one of the video links. Next thing you know, we’ll be up until 3 in the morning cycling through every single video and they’ll be asking questions every time something comes up that they’re curious about.
With all the content that currently exists on the internet glorifying the objectification of women, with all the sexual content blatantly failing to even hint at safer sex, with the Facebook ads depicting young women busting out the cleavage announcing the mass amounts of money you can make on the internet (doing what exactly?), how is it that educational and informative content that actually appeals to youth and provides a safe environment for them to ask the questions that could ultimately save their lives is being removed?!
What country do we live in again?!?
The people of MTSS are doing an incredible job. I’m righteously pissed to hear that they have been met with such ignorance unfounded censorship. It’s ridiculous that violence and t&a prevail where frank discussion and disarmingly absurd humor are stifled.
Hang tough, Nikol!
I say take this to the big dawgs- let’s write the large newspapers and cause a stir!
Some democracy, huh?
“RED STATE” um Illinois has voted Gore, Kerry, and Obama in the last 12 years. Granted it’s not the most liberal part of the state but red state it is not.
My bad, Chris. I got it confused with another Midwestern State.
Nikol is from Wisconsin and now in Brooklyn. The rest of us still reside in Illinois. Although it’s a Blue State, many of the counties outside of the Chicagoland area are Red, and this directly informed the quality of sex ed we experienced in school.
this is a great show, and its a shame to see big companies shy away from such great concepts and people.
hang in there!
Dugg.
http://digg.com/arts_culture/S.....ce_YouTube
This is an awesome way to teach kids/teenagers about sexual issues. I wish I had these videos when I was in middle school. Our video consisted of two human stick figures going through puberty and wasn’t very informative.
I know that censorship is alive and well and living on the Intertubes (among other places), but this is ridiculous. How are we supposed to educate those who need it the most (in an attempt to counter the massive amount of utter crap out there about sex) if these kinds of things happen? I’m a college health educator and I lurrrrve sending my students to MTSS. Very sad day.
Facebook et al, shame on you…
F that man, I love MTSS!
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