Zoe Sugg removed from AQA syllabus

[Backbee]

I'll be honest I don't venture into these boards usually, so apologies if this isnt the right place for this thread! I just found this interesting.

Zoe Sugg (you-tuber and blogger, probably comes under the 'influebcer' umbrella) was added to the media studies GCSE and A level syllabus some years ago (apparently she had no idea, which is 'allowed' as her stuff is in the public domain, but seems weird), but has been removed because on her blog, which is run by a team of women, and covers lesser spoken about women's issues along with other things, there was a post reviewing sex toys:

zoella.co.uk/2021/01/13/the-best-sex-toys-to-spice-up-your-life-in-2021/

A few parents are said to have complained that it was not suitable for GCSE ages teens, although actually the syllabus makes no reference to particular posts, so students wouldn't need to read it to complete exams and assignments anyway .

Considering that some content that is actually taught directly in schools meets complaints for not being appropriate and nothing is done, is it right that a woman posting about women's self pleasure is 'banned', even when there would be no need for students to read it, and it's on a website completely unrelated to the exam board or any schools? Thinking back to my school days, we were taught about male masturbation, but no mention of women.

I think it’s reasonable to expect that a student studying Zoella would have a look at her blog and website. GCSEs are studied for between the ages of 14 and 16 so I think it probably is inappropriate to have this kind of post linked to the syllabus. I think it’s too young to be talking about using sex toys. These are children just becoming aware of their sexuality.

Considering what is being taught in PSHE and to much younger children, its an interesting decision.

The website isn't aimed at teenagers - look at how much is about decorating your home, for example. Very silly to put it on the syllabus in the first place - probably very silly to put any personal blog on a syllabus, actually, unless they've taken specific blog posts from her archives and show them to students as 'personal writing' without including links.

Probably for the best. I can see the term ‘penis-having partner’ in that blog post so she’s clearly an idiot. Oh and I think her very existence and the fact that she is so famous yet so devoid of talent is symbolic of everything that’s wrong with the world.

The less teenagers are directed to 'influencers' the better in my opinion.

The less teenagers are directed to 'influencers' the better in my opinion.

I suppose in a media studies qualification though it's good to have a balance of media to compare etc, even if it's critically.

I can see the term ‘penis-having partner’ in that blog post so she’s clearly an idiot

I find it sort of refreshing and depressing at the same time, I mean how often do we see people wanting anything around women being removed and replaced with cervix haver or whatever; rarely the same is true the other way around, it's rare to see men reduced to their genitalia too. Again, depressing overall.

If they aren't directly having to reference that particular post (which seems likely), then I don't see the issue. She has tonnes of videos, posts etc that are definitely very teen friendly.

A perspective from Hollie McNish:

I don't know anything about any of it but just thought I'd share it. Points about Shakespeare and Chaucer are good. No Idea about the influencer.

One point though, do media studies courses at this level explore bias and fact etc? And context of personal views?

I think it's quite simple, she's what, a 30 ish year old woman who runs a business. Her main audience isn't teenagers, maybe at one time it was but those teenagers grew up and are now mid twenties living adult lives.

As per your OP she had no idea her blog was even on the curriculum.

I don't see a problem with it, she hasn't done anything wrong.

If AQA decide it's not appropriate then that's their issue, but she shouldn't get criticised for it. AQA should, for not checking out their sources well enough.