FREE ESSAY ON SEX IN SOCEITY

SEX IN SOCEITY

Sex in Society
Sex plays a major role in today's society. From television, radio, music, and
advertisements, to video games, the Internet, and even art and pictures, all forms of
media use sex to help sell their products. With the public being exposed to so many
different types, the overuse and exploitation of sex is common. Is sex a useful tool, or
a ploy to get the attention of the public? 
Before discussing sex in the media, one must understand why it has come to be that people
use sex as a gimmick. The writing of modern history has resulted in a viewpoint that is
nothing short of a stag party. The history of women is ignored, hushed up, and censored
in the most literal sense of the term. This method of eliminating the social and
political destiny of half of humanity is the most effective form of supremacy.
(Janssen-Jurreit, 1982, pp. 15-16) The world we live in today is still man-made, no less
now then in the nineteenth century. Eve Zaremba states in Privilege of Sex: Women's
self-awareness as females has until very recently reflected the world's (i.e. men's)
image of them; how well their personal performance matched male expectations. As English
Canadians began to develop an identity in 19th century society, they mirrored the ideals
for women of the Victorian period: gentility, weakness, ignorance and submissiveness.
(Zaremba, 1974, p. i ) These individual roles, as described by Oneill and Leone in
Male/Female Roles: Opposing Viewpoints as the relationship of a man or woman to society
on the basis of gender, became essential in shaping male and female attitudes towards one
another. Over the past twenty years remarkable changes in these traditional male and
female roles have been witnessed. The subsequent impact on men, women, and families due
to these changes is believed to be, by many social historians, caused by the re-emergence
of the women's movement. (p.13) Though a positive alteration of roles has occurred, how
is it that children of this century still may obey stereotypes?
A baby is born knowing nothing, but full of potential. (p.19) Oneill and Leone believe
that the process by which an individual becomes a creature of society, a socialized human
being, reflects culturally defined roles and norms. The first crucial question asked by
the parents of a newborn baby is What is it? A boy or a girl? (p.25) Other queries about
attributes of health and physical conditions are only brought up afterwards, the first
priority is to establish its sex.  Indeed, almost immediately, gender identity is
permanently stamped on the child by the name it is given. (p.26) Recent research has
established beyond a doubt that males and females are born with a different set of
instructions built into their genetic code. Studies at Harvard University and elsewhere
show that marked differences between male and female baby behaviour are already obvious
in the first months of life. Females are more oriented towards people. Male infants, on
the other hand, are more interested in things. Stanford psychologists Karl Pribram and
Dianne McGuinness conclude that women are communicative animals while men are
manipulative animals. Some people believe this is hereditary, while others think that if
boys and girls were brought up in exactly the same way then all behavioral differences
between men and women would evaporate. (p.26)
Beginning in early adolescence, children develop their own ideas of male and female roles
with the perception of the conduct and activities of his or her parents and other adults
in their world, including characters on television. Young people are exposed to
advertising from a very early age. The effect, says the Ontario Ministry of Education,
especially of advertising on television, has a significant bearing on girls' and boys'
behaviour, and their aspirations. To most children the commercial message is another
piece of information received from the television set. It is often difficult for them to
distinguish truth from fiction, particularly when the fiction is packaged in compelling
words, striking images, and catchy music. (Ontario Ministry of Education, 1975, pp. 5-7)
An overwhelming amount of the visualizations that young kids see are the stereotypical
images of women and girls. This almost makes it seem legitimized, states Hon. David
Macdonald, as it is reinforced and perpetuated by the mass dissemination of these images
in broadcasting. (Macdonald, 1979, p. 3)
Children know in their minds that women, like men, come in all ages, shapes, sizes, and
colours, but they do not see this represented in the broadcast media. The increasing
diversity of women's lives is also omitted in most broadcasting. For example, commercials
and programming most often portray women as mothers performing domestic tasks, as
economically dependent homemakers, or as sexual lures for products or decorative objects.
Such images constitute a limiting or narrowing of women's, men's, and children's
perceptions of themselves and their roles in society. (pp.4-5) Sheila Copps made public
her comments that sexist and racist stereotypes were prominent in advertising. (Curtis,
1996, p. 6) A member of the Canadian Advertising Foundation (CAF), Patrick McDougall,
fired back by saying Copps had no clue what the CAF does and adds that Canadian
advertising has immensely cleaned up its act and that there is very little if any sexist
advertising being broadcasted. (p.6) The overall content of television nowadays has
changed dramatically from that of the past. Today characters deal more and more with
important issues such as teen pregnancy, stds, spousal abuse, and birth control. (Impoco,
1996, p. 58) Five to ten years ago, this subject matter was unheard of for use in
programming content, as TV families tended to be occupied with trivial things such as
outrageous clothing and hairstyles. Although Canadians have improved their broadcasting
standards, not everyone is completely following their trend. In an intensive study done
on American programming, it was found that a sexual act or reference occurred every four
minutes on average during prime time. (p.59)
Sex Sells, the old adage goes. (Menzies, 1996, p. 9) Sexiness, as a component of the good
life, is a staple for advertisers - Coca-Cola decorated its drug-store posters at the
turn of the century with coquettish young women who male drinkers wished to date and
female drinkers to emulate. (Carter, 1996, p. 53) Finnish yogurt makers ran an ad with
hot, young, well-built Finnish boys holding containers of yogurt, with the slogan Less
fat, more taste.... Eat it. This aroused a scandal and nationwide debate. A formal pole
was conducted on these ads and some interesting statistics were produced. Two-thirds of
respondents were male, and two-thirds thought the ad was sexist. There was a sharp
contrast in the female contingent, as the vast majority of whom thought the ads were sexy
and quite acceptable (Holland, 1996, p.31) These stats just prove that when the shoe is
on the other foot, women view ads much in the same way that men do, and men are offended
at seeing themselves portrayed as objects.
Nowadays everyone seems so sensitive about anything brought up in the media. Even when it
comes to the etiquette of using sex appeal in advertising, it seems that there is a wrong
way (exploit women) and a right way (exploit men). The pendulum has swung the other way
now. If one is to gaze upon an exposed chest in an ad these days, chances are it belongs
to a man. Male models have emerged as the politically correct babes of the 90's. Yet,
pray tell, where is the massive public outcry? (Menzies, 1996, p. 9) Mediawatch, an
organization that monitors the depiction of women and girls in the media, admits that you
certainly see more naked male flesh today, than you did three years ago. They contend
that the effects of objectification on men and women aren't equal because men and women
aren't equal to begin with. Author of this column, David Menzies writes Hmmm, I still
dunno. Isn't a double standard, by any other name, still a double standard? (p.9) 
There is another more serious problem then offending the genders, with sex in the media
today.. Advertising images featuring young models in suggestive poses are sending out
sinister messages to pedophiles, according to one of Australia's leading forensic
psychiatrists, William Glaser. He argues that some advertising messages are giving
pedophiles subconscious approval to commit crime. It's a very subtle thing, but a young
girl posing suggestively in a revealing bikini can send out the wrong message, Glaser
says. He adds I don't blame the advertising industry, but feels it fuels the fire when it
comes to pedophilia. (Johnson) Also, the attractiveness of sexual aggression as crime
news, and therefore as prime news, has been recognized by many newspapers lately. While
comfortably hidden under the cloak of objective crime reporting, sexual violence can be
endlessly exploited for its titillating value, its crypto - pornographic quality and its
sexist slant. (Johnson, 1997, p.324) As rape and sexual assault became a more serious
social problem in the 80's, this prime news story has helped many papers to sell more
copies in the competitive news market, while creating an impression of responsive and
responsible reporting. Newspapers are adept in sensing issues that arouse general
interest and they then subtly alter the terms of the debate to achieve the end result of
selling newspapers and making a profit, alleged authors Maria Los and Sharon Chamond.
There is a thin line when it comes to educating the public on a problem, or exploiting it
for it's shock value. (Los and Chamond, 1997, p.293) Although this is a horrible
exploitation, there is yet another form of media that rivals this problem. 
The Internet is the worst for having excessive sex in the media, as it is not regulated.
All of the other forms of broadcasting have some sort of committee or association that
analyzes and approves all ads and shows before they are released to the public. With the
Internet, there currently are no real ways of suppressing the content. There are programs
such as Net Nanny that will not open sites containing certain material, but what's
stopping a kid from going over to a friend's house or to school and going to the Playboy
site? With it's vast geographical span, the Internet has the most numerous amounts of
possibilities for media purposes, due to it's ability to reach anyone that can access a
modem. Problems such as pornography and hackers generate a fear in a lot of people and
scare them from using one of the greatest information resources of our world.
We've all seen and heard how sex is used in today's media. With all of these problems and
outcries being raised about it, some may as why is it used at all? Well sex is a part of
life, everyone's life. It is a common ground to all people. Everyone will experience it
or will be or have been affected by it. Producers, advertisers, writers and musicians
must believe that if they include it in what they're trying to sell to the public, people
will somehow relate to it, and be drawn in by it. A lot of times, writers and critics
just go overboard and over analyze things that may not be as terrible as they make them
out to be. Sex in advertising can be a useful and educational tool, when employed
properly, but if people in the media offend just as much of society as they win over, by
producing worthless, excessive overloads of eye candy, then the use of sex is wasted.
Bibliography
References
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Curtis, Sara. (1996 September). Marketers, broadcasters reject Copps' sexism jibe.
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Goffman, Erving. (1974). Gender Advertisements. Boston: University Press.
Holland, Daniel, (1996 April). Hot Finnish yogurt boys touch off advertising sexism
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Impoco, Jim. (1996 April). Tv's frisky family values. U.S. News & World Report 120 no 15,
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Janssen-Jurreit, Marie Louise. (1982). Sexism: The Male Monopoly on History & Thought.
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