I read an article detailing how kids today are being exposed to an unhealthy amount of sexuality through television, music, and the Internet. While several media outlets were mentioned, the main culprit was made to be television, possibly because this article was published on the web. The criticism is essentially that our media highlights sexuality without responsibility, correlating with our high rates of teen pregnancy and STDs. The critique seems pretty spot on since I’ve never seen tv sex involve a condom pause or a serious discussion about the risks of unprotected sex with strangers, some of the researchers suggestions seem a little absurd. For example, “the authors of the statement ideally would like ads for erectile dysfunction drugs to not be shown on TV until after 10 p.m.” Their hearts are in the right place, but regulating male enhancement commercials seems petty and dictatorial. Many of the researchers’ other ideas for improvement, such as “responsible programming,” were more vague and hard to evaluate. Finally, they believe we should stop the practice of using sex in advertising. That’s un-American and I do not agree with it.
Sex sells! Advertisers learned that long ago and are not going to give it up now. It's too profitable.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your claim that pushing advertisement for erectile dysfunction is a bit too much, that is a medical condition. If they can show dumb commercials for growing your eyelashes and getting lap band weight loss surgery they should also be able to show erectile dysfunction advertisements. I'm not too sure about male enhancement commercials though, because that's not necessarily a medical condition and sometimes those commercials can get a little risky. At the same time, it's ultimately up to the parents to monitor their child's tv habits. There are plenty of kid friendly networks that do not show commercials about anything inappropriate.
ReplyDeleteI remember when I was little my parents used to make me cover my eyes whenever a sex scene would come onto television. When they finally stopped, I think they realized it was part of the generation that I am growing up in. People should have enough concern for their-selves to know the effects and things that can happen because of unprotected sex. Overall, I do agree with you in that it is a part of our present day society and people need to learn to accept that.
ReplyDeleteInteresting article and I definitely agree with you. What really stood out to me was the part in this article where it mentioned that parents have become increasingly shy when it comes to talking about sex with their kids and the "media is picking up the slack." It reminded me of my mom when she made the comment that she figured I had already found out everything I needed to know about sex from my friends and through the media. I have to say, it is pretty sad to think that the media is becoming our new sex educators especially since everything is being overly sensationalized and unrealistically portrayed to its audiences.
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