I’m not exactly sure when the Sausage videos started going viral, but all I know is I can’t get that stupid beat out of my head. If you don’t know what I’m talking about I highly recommend you go on youtube right now and search “THE BEST GIRLS’ SAUSAGE BEAT RAP” before you continue this article.

I have to admit, my friends and I watched this video an ungodly amount of times—laughing hysterically at the end when the girl says, “I like girls, can I still take sausage?” For a second we even contemplated making our own. I’d be the nerdy girl, one friend would be the skinny b*tch, and we’d top the video off with our friend who’s a vegetarian—that’d get everyone. We were thrilled at the thought of adding ourselves to the ever growing pile of army men, sonic employees, basketball teams, and high schoolers posting the videos. But then, being the girl who overanalyzes everything, I started to think about the message behind the videos and wasn’t sure if I should be amused or alarmed by them.

When I dissect the videos, specifically those done by girls, I do think there is an element (very small) that is admirable (I use this term very loosely). They’re owning parts of who they are—their nerdiness, their curviness, and saying that doesn’t matter because they can still get…and then the sausage ruins anything “admirable” about the rap.

Why does everything have to be so sexualized? These are thirteen, fourteen year old girls talking about taking, licking, and sucking sausage (which we all know to have dual meaning). And yes, I understand that although these girls are rapping these sexualized lyrics (just as they would with every other over sexualized song on the radio) does not mean that’s their actual view, thought process or behavior. However, I do think it is important that we acknowledge the fact that sex has become so commonplace in today’s youth. They see it constantly on television and in advertisements and hear it in songs, so it is only natural for them to be influenced by what the media is feeding them—especially when the average American is said to spend an average of 3.2 hours a day using social networking sites and more than five hours watching television.

Sex is being introduced to people at such a young age due to its prevalence in our culture, and because of this the youth are becoming desensitized to it and engaging in sexual activities at an earlier age. According to the U.S. Office of Adolescent Health those who have sex early are less likely to use contraception, putting them at greater risk of pregnancy and STDs. And if we’re going to be so okay with how nonchalant the youth is about sex, maybe we should properly educate them on the things that come with it.

I don’t know, maybe my deeper issue with the #SausageMovement, and almost every song on the radio is it’s profanity (clean songs can be great too) and the encouraged trivialization of sex. I know I can be a bit more old school than the average twenty year old, but I like the idea of sex being a meaningful act that is shared between two people who care for each other, and not just something physical and insignificant; like going to the club, picking up someone else’s chick (or man) and taking her home. While I’m sure the #SausageMovement is just meant to be harmless fun (and not everyone needs to look so deeply into it like me), I do think people need to reflect on what we feed into our minds and the messages we’re sending.