Week unclouded. Social media control, illegal ejaculation, and ageism
News can be overwhelming to follow. Important news bites can get lost amongst all the hard and breaking news. Here are a couple of the headlines from this week and beyond that impact women.
Women want tighter social media laws
Photo by Firmbee.com on Unsplash
Women are more keen on the idea of having tighter rules on social media, according to a recent Times of Malta poll.
The poll found that, when asked whether stronger regulations should be introduced to control potential harm from social media platforms, 71% of all respondents agreed. Over three-quarters of women polled said they would support the move, while only two-thirds of men said they agreed.
Natasha Azzopardi Muscat, WHO Europe’s director for Country Health Policies and Systems, recently said that Malta needs a national debate on regulating social media use among children and teenagers. Her comments followed an international study which revealed that Malta has one of the highest rates of addiction-like social media use among teenagers.
The Health Behaviour in School-aged Children (HBSC) survey, conducted every four years across 44 countries, found that nearly one in four Maltese adolescents aged 11, 13 and 15 exhibited an addictive-like pattern of social media use. The survey also noted that girls were particularly at risk.
Could the concerned women, be concerned mothers?
No consent means rape
Photo by We-Vibe Toys on Unsplash
An Ohio bill seeking to fine men up to $10,000 for ejaculating “without intent to conceive” has been heavily criticised.
But, if you recall, we recently raised this matter here in Malta. It did not involve imposing a fine as such. The debate centred around the question: is it rape if a man intentionally ejaculates inside a woman without her consent?
The legal debate was sparked following a post shared anonymously by a woman on Facebook. The woman shared how, in a previous conversation with her boyfriend, she had mentioned having a baby and told him he could ejaculate inside her. But sometime later, before they had sex, she told him she changed her mind.
Several lawyers agreed that the clear lack of consent to the full act meant that this was, in fact, rape under Maltese law. The law on rape is based on consent and no longer on violence as it stood until 2018. Ejaculation is part of the sexual act. Once consent to that part of the act is not given, then there is no consent and it’s rape.
Gender equality in US movie leading roles, but for younger women
Photo by Alex Litvin on Unsplash
On an international level, The Guardian reported how in 2024 women achieved gender parity on the big screen for the first time in the US.
The Guardian quoted two studies. The first was Dr Martha Lauzen’s annual It’s a Man’s (Celluloid) World report that showed that, out of the 100 top-grossing films of last year, women led 42% of the films, the same percentage as men. Some 16% were led by ensembles.
The second was an ongoing study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. It found that 54% of films in 2024 were led or co-led by women, up from 30% the previous year. Which is great news.
But.
There remained gaps when it came to representation by women of colour and older women.
“There remains a gap in how women over the age of 45 are represented compared to men. Out of the year’s 100 top films there were eight led by an older woman compared to 21 that were led by an older man,” The Guardian said.
Ageism?
Share your news
Do you have some women-related news you want to share? Or perhaps an idea or topic you feel deserves to be spoken about and ‘unclouded’? Or an inspiring story to share?
If so you can comment below or send an email on hello@womanunclouded.com so we can discuss how to get your voice heard.