Moral Panics in panicky times

Moral Panics in panicky times
Although the term ‘moral panic’ was coined in 1972, the idea behind moral panics has been around for hundreds of years- the idea of challenging traditional values. Moral panics are related to power struggles, in a Foucaultian sense. A moral panic is something that society is concerned about, and feels a need for protection of children exposed to some kind of threat. Society then takes divided, polarized sides for and against the threat. “Folk devils” are a threat, and the general consensus must oppose the ‘threat.’ Action against the ‘folk devils’ is often extreme, but the general interest in each moral panic is usually fleeting, (Goode and Ben-Yehuda, 1994).

These moral panics are driven by fear, which compares to the fear that many Americans feel about different ways to die. For example, even though heart disease is the number one killer in the US, people are often more fearful of other ways to die.

Girls’ agency in South Africa: Photovoice
What did these girls find dangerous?
The girls took a photograph of the football players’ lodgings and explained that the football players could abuse girls. The social media used football players as voices against rape, but in fact, many of them were the perpetrators. Some of the girls took pictures of toilets because that could be a place where they could be raped both because it is a public and a private place. The girls wanted to create videos about gender harassment and violence.
Aboriginal youth in Canada created an empowering video that also sent the message that one out of four Aboriginal people have HIV.