ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY: NEED THE CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH TO ADD ONTO THIS AT THE END.
ID: 359738 • Letter: A
Question
ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAY: NEED THE CONCLUSION PARAGRAPH TO ADD ONTO THIS AT THE END.
Sexuality in the media is easily one of the most prominent aspects of modern society. The media is highly sexualized, though whether or not this is the decision of deliberate manipulation towards a sense of hypersexuality or merely a response to "what sells" is unclear. This is part one of a sample essay that addressed significant research done into the subject of whether or not the media is becoming increasingly sexualized and the impact that may have on society.
Sexuality in the Media Part I
The topic has become increasingly controversial as many individuals believe that there has been an increase in sexualized media over recent years. They believe this is to blame for the increased sexuality exhibited by adolescents. Critics of this argument may argue that as society and adolescents begin to become more sexualized, the media responds to this by producing media which has become more sexualized in order to continue to be relevant and popular. The media may argue that they need to continue to be sexualized in order to effectively promote their ideas and sell products to a society that has become sexualized over time.
A review of the literature surrounding the research on sexuality and the media needs to be analyzed to determine whether sexuality in the media has been increasing or not. A review of the literature is also needed to make a determination regarding which came first and what has caused the increased sexuality both in among adolescents and in the media. I believe that the literature will find that there has been an increase in sexuality in the media. I also believe that the increased sexuality in media has resulted in increased sexuality in adolescents. Which has resulted in hypersexualized adolescents who engage in risky behavior, have increased chances of becoming pregnant or having sexually transmitted diseases.
Sex Sells, So Does More Sex Sell More?
Advertisers frequently make the argument that sex sells and lately it appears that more sex sells. One must only look at magazine advertisements and television advertisements to notice that advertisements have become highly sexualized in their content and intent. Elliot found that “recent developments in advertising imagery... have moved well beyond the simple use of nudity and suggestiveness to the use of overt sexuality. For example, press advertisements in the UK for Haagen-Dazs ice-cream use images of couples apparently using the product as an artifact during sexual activity” . While this may appear to be just an issue in Europe the problem has been increasing in the United States which can be seen in the over-sexualized advertisements on display. Advertisers have begun to reach the extent of what is designated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to be acceptable. The use of sexuality to sell products to consumers can have negative consequences. This is evident in adolescents who are highly susceptible to the influential nature of overtly sexualized advertisements.
The magazines in which these overtly sexualized advertisements are featured have also become highly sexualized as well. These magazines, especially magazines geared to teenage girls, have more articles about sex. Magazines geared towards older men and women also have increased sexuality. Men’s magazines frequently picture women in scantily clad clothes on their covers. Women’s magazines have numerous articles about sexuality and the optimal ways to gain pleasure. These magazines do not have to be bought for the measure to be spread as these magazines and their covers are featured on grocery store stands.
Television and Music
Television and music have also become increasingly sexualized. Television programs have more scenes and storylines involving sexual activity than in previous years. These scenes are also playing during earlier hours as in years past sexuality on television could only be televised after a certain hour. Music has also become hypersexualized as the lyrics which are sang by role models for young children sing about having sex. While most of the lyrics are laden with innuendos there is still an implied sexuality and in some more explicit music the sexuality is highly overt. This music also contributes to the highly sexualized nature of adolescents as they frequently listen to music which teaches them how to behave sexually.
A large amount of literature exists surrounding the relationship between sexuality in the media and adolescents. The significant amount of research demonstrates that this topic is of significant concern to researchers. As parents grow concerned about the sexuality of their teens they want answers for how to address the problem. This may demonstrate why a large amount of research has gone into the topic. As research is needed on a problem before a possible solution can be created. If research can demonstrate that increased sexuality in the media leads to hypersexualized teenagers a possible solution may be that the amount of sexuality in the media needs to be decreased so as to combat this ever growing epidemic.
Susceptibility of Adolescents to Sexualized Advertisements
An extended literature review conducted by Gruber found that adolescents were highly susceptible to the influences of media and he highlighted the reasons for why this was the case. “This group may be particularly at risk because the cognitive skills that allow them to critically analyze messages from the media and to make decisions based on possible future outcomes are not fully developed” (Gruber, n.p.). However Gruber also found that while at the moment adolescents may be influenced by media, longitudinal studies find that the influence of an adult role model is more important in shaping the sexual beliefs and practices of a teenager. This study shifts the focus from the media to the parents and makes a cause for the parents to have more of an influence in their children’s lives rather than the media.
In her analysis of the studies that have been completed on adolescents and sexuality in the media Brown came to a similar conclusion. Brown studied a broad number of approaches that have researched sexuality and adolescents. She found that while media does play a large part in determining the sexuality of teens, it only does so because that is the only outlet they have to learn about sexuality. As in the previous study Brown shifts the focus back to the parents as she reports that “it looks more like schools are talking about sex as little as possible, health care providers receive little training or incentive to work with youth...Other sources of information teens might turn to for advice, such as their parents or religious advisers, are still reluctant to say more than just say no (Brown, p. 8).” These studies indicate that society has found a convenient scapegoat in the form of media to explain the hypersexualized behavior of the teens. However critics may also be able to use this to state that if adolescents only form of education regarding sexuality is the media than the media needs to depict sexuality responsibly.
Teenagers Choose Media Based on Their Interests
Steele’s analysis on media and adolescent sexuality introduced a different angle into the literature on adolescent sexuality. Steele’s study demonstrated that teenagers are choosing the media they utilize based on their interests. Steele was able to formulate this conclusion from “working from a developmental perspective that recognized identity formation as a key task of adolescence, we devised a model that explained how adolescent's media practice revolved around identity” . Steele determined that a teen’s main goal is to form their identity. Rather than a cause and effect relationship, teenagers and the use of media have an intertwining relationship in which one does not necessarily predict the other.
While most of the literature that is available on the topic of adolescents and sexuality used methodology that was removed from adolescents, Werner-Wilson studied the source directly. Werner-Wilson studied the perceptions of teenagers and parent themselves regarding the large presence of sexuality in the media. Werner-Wilson found that while concerns about the media was highly prevalent with parents, teenagers did not seem to have been influenced by the media or if they were did not care about the influence of media in their lives. The study also proposed a solution to the problem of adoloscents and the sexuzliaed media they are ecposed to. “For now, parents and sexuality educators may need to convince adolescents that concerns about the media are valid before trying to change media-influenced behavior” . Similarly to other studies Werner-Wilson also places parents in the center of resolving issues that come up from the sexualized media. Although Werner-Wilson does acknowledge that media can have a negative influence on teenagers, the solution needs to focus on changing the perception of media for adolescents. Teenagers must be able to recognize when the media is attempting to influence them in order to be able to resolve to let the media play a smaller part in influencing their decisions.
Adolescents and Parents, But What About Everyone Else?
The research on sexuality in the media is heavily focused on adolescents and parents. There is very little information about how sexuality in the media affects adult perception of sexuality. Although research is available on the effects of pornography on adults there is not a lot of information regarding how traditional media’s portrayal of sexuality affects adults. The literature leaves out a number of concerns such as race and class. The literature available also does not discuss at length the nature of homosexuality and the sexualization of the media. In the studies analyzed a large and varied number of methodologies were utilized.
Explanation / Answer
In Conclusion sexuality in the media is affecting adolescents and the content is increasing on all the platforms from magazines, Televisions to even music.However another study by Gruber has found that more than media the parents have a larger influence on the children.Moreover studies by brown and steele's analysi tell us that teenagers are being influenced by their interest and the influence of media on children is more prevalent with parents and children are not influneced by it.A lot needs to be researched about the affect of media and pornography & homosexuality on adults.