Why do we assume sexting girls aren’t expressing their authentic desires?

An article by Leigh Goldstein in Jumpcut argues that the legal and media commentary about sexting denies youth the capacity to be subjects:
By criminalizing self-produced child pornography, our government has effectively censored minors’ right to record their sexualities or erotic identities. … Having shushed the kids, we adults gleefully expound on what they must feel: [...]

“Leave the Romeos and Juliets of the world alone, even if their love happens to be memorialized in forms less appealing than iambic pentameter”

From a law review by Stephen Smith (2008, Jail for Juvenile Child Pornographers? A Reply to Professor Leary, 15 Va. J. Soc. Pol’y & Law) concluding that prosecutors should only pursue charges against teens for consensual sexting if it aids catching adult sexual offenders:
We need not celebrate what some might describe as the “sexual liberation” [...]

The many ways sexting is illegal

1. Failure to keep adequate records
Reading through a new law review (.doc in draft) on sexting, I came across this:
Under federal law, moreover, any person who “produces” sexually explicit images, including “lascivious exhibition of the genitals or pubic area” is required to maintain certain detailed records and to keep his or her home available for [...]

Legislation falsely claims to “decriminalize” teen sexting

Headlines claim, “N.J. Legislation Would Decriminalize ‘Sexting’ by Teens,” but only for some teens:
Only juveniles who have no prior record, were unaware their actions constituted a criminal offense and are likely to be deterred from future offenses by completing the program would be eligible.
To choose an education program over a child pornography prosecution, teens must [...]

Northwest Herald | Sexting hysteria

Letter to the editor:
When I first heard about this new scourge being practiced by 20 percent of kids around the country, I sat down with my five children and told them that once the numbers reached 80 percent, no one would care any longer. Until then, I warned them to be careful of the pictures [...]

Bill O’Reilly responds–to the prof quoted before me in the Post article

Bill O’Reilly thinks that National Post article is a “Sexting Shocker.” He doesn’t mention me, but he all but calls for prof. Cummings to resign.

I am quoted in the National Post on sexting

Article in the National Post describes key points of my project fairly accurately:
Ms. Hasinoff argues that … the media are likewise doing more harm than good by portraying a girl’s sexual self-expression as an invitation for sexual harassment.
Harassment, she said, could involve the non-consensual distribution of a private photo by a disgruntled ex-boyfriend, for example.
I [...]

Legislative efforts to criminalize images of nude minors and seniors

Ohio Senate Bill 103
No minor, by use of a telecommunications device, shall recklessly create, receive, exchange, send, or possess a photograph, video, or other material that shows a minor in a state of nudity.
Though the charge is less (from a felony to a misdemeanor), this proposed Ohio law would require much less explicit sexuality than [...]

Province of Manitoba makes child porn reporting mandatory

Manitoba is the first province to enact legislation that makes it mandatory to report child pornography, Family Services and Housing Minister Gord Mackintosh announced today.
“Child pornography is child abuse,” said Mackintosh. “In any of its forms, it is an affront to humanity. Any delay in reporting child pornography gives a green light to those [...]

Sexting and the “fallen woman”

Feminist Law Professors asks:
Why does our society seem so fascinated by “fallen women” and so magdalene01concerned to take stern remedial action at the first sign of a “fall.” Why do we hammer down on teen-age girls who, though perhaps not yet worldly wise, probably know what they want about as well as most people? Launching [...]