Strip2Clothe!
This is for the entire Virgin Mobile RE*Generation crew!
I had been told about the STRIP2CLOTHE campaign early on, and knew that it had come a long way, but with studying for the bar exam I hadn’t had the time to take a look at it. However, I had to take a few minutes to check out the site, when I read about the “outrage” in the news today. I felt like a kid in the schoolyard watching a very good friend get beat up on…BUT before I stepped up in support of the campaign, I wanted to see it for myself.
After visiting the site and getting over my knee-jerk “uht oh” reaction, I watched some videos, and guess what, they’re cute. (I loved to see people actually laughing a little when most of the time the work we do makes us want to cry). The screened videos are not pornographic, they’re not sleazy, they’re actually funny & creative, and who knows if the Supreme Court would say the videos appeal to the “prurient interest” (because no one really knows what the heck that means anyways). The bottom line is there is real value in the site, and in getting people engaged in this topic.
STRIP2CLOTHE is a great campaign because it’s clean, and yet it’s also provocative — it has provoked people to start talking. I’m stepping up to show my support. After visiting the site, it looks like good clean fun to me, and as long as it stays that way I will support it in any way that I can.
Much luck to my friends working tirelessly on this issue at Virgin Mobile RE*Generation — your team rocks! Here’s my 2 cents, and I hope it’s right on time…
I think the site is off the charts and is a great way to get peope to:
#1. have a little good clean fun while helping homeless kids, and
#2. get interested in the issue if they didn’t care before
All that said, we should expect the current criticism. In America it is so tough to talk about the truth when it comes to sex. This failure to communicate, unfortunately leads us to trouble. The trouble is serious, it means kids are left on their own while we bicker about the best ways to help. We need to get over it, and that’s difficult because it means getting over ourselves.
I’ve seen firsthand how Americans can be afraid of themselves, when it comes time to talk about anything remotely related to sex. I see it when I bring up sexual exploitation of youth, rape, and other horrors that I lived as a street kid. People shift around in their chairs, they just don’t even want to imagine the things that could happen to a 12 year old on the streets. Well, imagine it or not, it’s the truth.
Because it’s the truth, if we don’t get homeless kids some help fast, and get them noticed in mainstream, then they’ll either:
#1. have no chance at a future; and probably also
#2. be forced to have sex to survive
The business behind helping homeless kids means we’ve got to take risks. We’re competing with other charities that are far more sympathetic than teens who are having major issues. This is the right time, place, and reason to take risks.
So, I ask…
“What’s worse? Screened content that shows a few people having a good time, that is less sexy than the JCPenney catalogue? OR Letting kids live alone on the streets to be exploited by pedophiles?”
I think even my mother-in-law (love you lots b/c I know you’re reading) would agree that we should all chip in a piece of clothing that we can do without, if it means we’re saving kids from the torture I once experienced. And if you’re not into taking it off, and don’t want your teen to either then talk to them about why you think it’s wrong (an opportunity for instilling values at home), and let them know there are other ways to help homeless kids…the RE*Generation campaign that started it all was to simply text “KARMA” to 68405 . While standard text rates apply, you don’t even need to know how to make a video to give a brand new piece of clothing to a homeless kid — and if you don’t get why kids need new clothes then you’re probably on the wrong site.
For the RE*Generation crew that worked tirelessly on this campaign: Put the negative press behind you — it’s not a time to be safe. This is the type of campaign that can stop the real terror on the streets, of kids being forced to sell themselves on the streets to the real monsters.
I think in the long run the world will respond positively — America will catch up too — unless of course we remain so pent up with our own sexual frustrations that we can’t face reality, but I have faith that we can and will do the right thing!
Much love to the RE*Generation team — you guys are awesome and you’re on the right track!!!