WTF CNN?

This video segment is currently posted at CNN with the label: "CNN's Carol Costello explores what could be the 'third wave' of feminism, and why that's troubling." Discuss.


[Transcript via CNN, below.]

Carol Costello, CNN Correspondent: There is what some call this curious social trend going on. And it involves women, young and not so young. You might call it a dirty girl culture, a celebration of being rude, crude and sometimes very, very drunk? So should mothers worry?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

Costello (voice-over): Dirty girls, they're crude and sometimes violent, like a potty-mouth tween in the movie "Kick Ass." And the popular comedian Chelsea Handler –

Chelsea Handler: Same (EXPLETIVE DELETED) body for three years.

Costello: -- whose raunchy sex talk and love of alcohol has fueled three best sellers.

Anderson Cooper, CNN Correspondent: Finish the sentence. A day without vodka is –

Handler: Not a real day.

Costello: Just ask pop star Kesha whose hit song celebrates promiscuity and drinking until you pass out in a stranger's bathtub.

Ke$ha: With a bottle a day because when I leave for the night I ain't coming back.

Costello: While it may be just a catchy dance tune, a clever movie, and a funny shtick, is it something women need to worry about?

Susan Giles, Social Commentator: Now there seems to be this strange, it's like a hazing ritual or badge of honor. How drunk can you get? How bad can you behave? How close to the edge can you go? I don't get it.

Costello: Giles says it's as if girls are celebrating the worst of frat boy behavior as a way to female empowerment. And if you ask some young women, that's exactly it.

Unidentified Female: Yes, definitely. Yes, I think it's women trying to challenge men. For sure.

Costello: When it comes to binge drinking, experts say, sadly women are up to the challenge. According to Southern Illinois University, in 1996, 33 percent of women admitted to binge drinking or having five drinks in one sitting in the past two weeks. In 2008, that percentage shot up to nearly 41 percent.

Jaclyn Friedman, Editor, "Yes Means Yes": It's a really troubling message.

Costello: That's disturbing to feminist editor Jaclyn Friedman. She says women having fun or making stupid mistakes is one thing, but adopting destructive, raunchy behavior is scary.

Friedman: When it comes to sexual assault, most rapists use alcohol to facilitate sexual assault.

Costello: So do we need to worry, or is this just entertainment? Experts say that's something parents ought to ask their daughters about.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

Costello: That darn song is so catchy, tick tock, you just want to sing and dance to it—and most people don't really pay attention to the lyrics and that is the problem. Friedman says the real problem is a lack of reality-based role models in our popular culture. Women are either depicted as angelic as in Taylor Swift, or Snooki in "Jersey Shore." There's no one in the middle.