Sexuality In The Media

With the media becoming the main source from which the current society gets their daily information concerning products, news stories, and entertainment, it is wise to think critically about the messages they are conveying to us. These corporations spend large sums of money every day in order to grasp our attention. The question as to whether or not they have their customer’s best interest in mind arises and leaves the public no answer but to look to the advertisements they have produced. Consider the pistachio industry using a woman with a whip to grasp the viewers’ attention. In reality, is a provocative image what it takes to sell us a simple bag of pistachios? With advertising decisions like these come negative consequences such as the

They see the overwhelming importance given to sexual attractiveness in the media-one study estimated that the average teenager ahs witnessed nearly 14,000 sexual encounters on television- yet they also hear their parents and religious advisers telling them that sex is wrong. As a result, many young people begin having sex without really intending to and without taking precautions against pregnancy.

With private networks, such as HBO and Showtime, taking larger risk with sexual exposure, we have had greater exposure here. In addition, sexual innuendos have grown bolder, as seen in commercials like the ones displayed by Carl’s Junior (notorious for its womanizing). Consequently, with the sum of these changes sex is becoming more acceptable in media.

The biggest example of media oversexualization in today’s media is pornography (Greenfield,742). The Internet, which was created less than 30 years ago, is one of the largest sources of pornography. Although the Internet is useful and can be used for positive purposes, Greenfield states that “"Many

Sexuality and sex in America is a complicated subject in that there is little consensus on the topic of sex in, and the American media sends many mixed messages regarding sex and sexuality to everyone, not just to adolescents. Americans are aware of sex primarily through advertising (print media, commercials, etc.) as sex is used to sell anything and everything. The media also bombards Americans with sexuality and sex on television and in films. The sexuality of teenagers is not a straightforward issue in America either. Many parents do not discuss sex or sexuality with their children. There have been ongoing debates as to whether sexuality should be taught as part of school curricula because there are such a great deal of adolescents participating in reckless and/or dangerous sexual behaviors, largely because they are grossly uneducated about sex. The paper will reference the film Juno and other texts as a meditation on the relationship between adolescent sexuality and the media.

Are Men and Women Equally Sexualized in the Media? The media is a form of communication that people use all around the world in order to find out new information and keep up to date on worldly events. There are many different forms of media, including: the radio, television, internet and magazine. For the most part the general public are used to the norm of seeing sexual images in the media, however, what they do not see is how the media sexualizes both men and women to a great extent.

In Western society, the media hypersexualizes children from birth. However, this hyper-sexuality is commonly focused on girls aged eight to fifteen (CWHN). This leads to self-esteem issues, high teenage pregnancy rates, eating disorders, sex trafficking, suicidal thoughts, and actions, and what is called the “Lolita effect.” This hyper-sexuality, also leads to violent relational abuse. In boys, has been shown linked with violence. These all have devastating consequences on individuals as well as on Western society as a whole. With less and less clothing becoming more and more prominent by Western media, it seems even children are picking up on this. It has gotten to the point that the media is even sexualizing the children, showing them in

portray more homosexual orientation in the media. It is not often we will see in movies, TV shows or ads a gay couple so doing this will help to take the stigma around being gay and send a strong message that people are treated as equals, no matter what their sexual identity. With inclusive portrayal in the media, this will make it seem less unusual for someone to be homosexual and it can show that, just because they are gay, it doesn’t mean that they dress or act any differently from anyone else.

For parents to be having such a large concern over whether children’s programming is becoming to sexually inappropriate demonstrates that times are changing and more of this sexual content is being found. In 2011, a study was completed that found “TV was the medium where youth were most likely to encounter sexual content, with three-quarters of kids saying they had seen sexual material there,” which shows that this is becoming an increasing problem (Saskatchewan Prevention Institute, 2012, pg. 12). Not only are these scenes being included in adolescent shows like Gossip Girl or One Tree Hill, they are being found in tween shows like Hannah Montana as well as a majority of shows and movies for children like The Little Mermaid, The Lion King, and Animaniacs. Children being exposed to these types of media to early is creating effects that can either be informational or detrimental to the future of a child’s life. The author of a study completed at Harvard University, John Hughes, said “one must ask if that is because the culture we live in and the media we consume are forcing more mature themes, ideas, and issues down the throats of children” because the media in the world today is creating an environment that includes sexual content, violent behaviors and offensive language (2006, pg. 1). Children are unprepared for this type of content

During this semester, I’ve shaped my understanding of sex and sexuality through readings and discussions presented in class. Moreover, I’ve notice how the media is the major influence on our development as humans nowadays and that things are being expressed and experienced at younger ages, than ever before. Children and teenagers are discovering their sexuality at early ages. Thanks to the freedom that social media offer them; they have better access to express their personal identity rather than to limit themselves to their biological sex and society’s role expectations. Also, I think that the media has been a helpful tool to change society’s narrow point of view over gender roles, gender identity and sex. Today people feel comfortable to talk about their sexual orientation and sex in public. Homosexuality, transgender people and sex are not a taboo anymore and have become more common.

There is a great debate on whether or not mass media has an influence on teenage pregnancy. A study done by the RAND Corporation shows that teens are twice as likely to have sex or engage in sexual acts if they see similar sexual behavior in the media. Many objects in the media that involve sex target teens. Reality TV shows and teen dramas often portray the "cool kids" as the ones who are having sex (Chandra).Today’s teens are highly influenced by what they see in the media and this can change their behavior and choices. Some will argue that the media doesn’t influence teenagers, but how can we be sure of that? Today, the media portray teen pregnancy in movies, television shows, magazines, music, news reports, and books. The problems

Due to the effects of sexuality in the media, more teens are open to sexual acts and at a younger age now. Adolescents are now open to "hook-ups" or friends-with-benefits, where they have "casual sexual encounters at parties and clubs between youngsters who are not emotionally involved with one another" which are influenced by new techology and take away the "first date" which would help put safe sex into the teens minds (Friedman). Some folks are worried that the sex in the media will counteract sex education and do not include problems that having sexual intercourse can bring about. In his article "Sex, Violence and the Media", Charles S. Clark explains:

Mass media has become a vital source from which young millennials get their daily substance of entertainment. The growth of media availability has intensified the images and sounds appearing to the youth of this generation. With the massive growth of media usage and music streaming amongst the youth, there has been more sexual trends and influence of popular culture during this time. The presence of sexual content in media has intensified and became more omnipresent within the past decade. Mass media images has been dominating public spaces with sexualised representations and messages that are impossible to avoid (Buckingham, Willett, Bragg, & Russell, 2010; Burke, Gridley, & Pham, 2008; Flood, 2009; Levin & Kilbourne, 2008; Papadopoulos, 2010; Rush & La. Nauze, 2006a, 2006b; Zurbriggen et al., 2007). Especially with young girls relying on the media for constant trends, we often don’t consider what these messages and sounds are portraying. These advancements in media have expanded enormously to the sexual content and music appearing in media and sites today. Previously conducted content analysis of selected media showed that music contained at least 40% more sexual content than any other medium, with 15% of music's sexual content focusing solely on intercourse or sexual content, compared to a 3% and 4% focus within television and movies, respectively (Pardun, L'Engle, & Brown, 2005).

Living in a world where sexual imagery is produced rapidly throughout the media makes controlling what children are exposed to difficult. Rather than trying to control what a child is exposed to, it is important to know what children learn, especially when it comes to sexual health and sexuality. Many teenagers who are sexually active are not provided with educational resources informing them of the risks and consequences that come with having sex and unprotected sex because their schools provided them with material that was being pushed through an abstinence only sexual education curriculum. Not providing teenagers and young adults with proper

Since birth human behaviour is influenced by what the individual sees and there surroundings, this influence is greatest at a young age and fades as the individual grows in age, but never completely goes away. In today’s society where sex is something that is openly broadcasted in order to promote everything from products to television shows, sex is something that the youth of today are exposed to from an early age. But what effects can this exposure at such a vulnerable stage in life cause? Early exposure to sexual content can increase the likeliness of youth participating in sexual activity by the large amount that they are exposed too, the glorification of sex, the lack of regulation of sexual content in the media by the government, and