Is Sex a Natural Act?: A Look at Sex in the Media

By Melissa Mekita

 

           Everywhere you go there “it” is. “It” is sex. The topic of sex seems to be very uncomfortable for families or even partners to talk to each other about, but is all over modern day media. Tom Reichert (2002) defined sex in the media as, “sexuality in the form of nudity, sexual imagery, innuendos, and double entendres employed as an advertising tool for a wide variety of products.” This article takes a look at sex in the media and how it influences sexuality in real life.

          

           So does sex really sell?  Here are some facts about sex in the media (Reichert, 2002):

 

-Sexual content (flirting to intercourse) was depicted in 50% of primetime television programs in 1997-1998.  When looked at again in 1999-2000 that number jumped to 67%.

 

-A depiction of intercourse occurs in 1 in 10 television programs

 

-The word “sex” is the most popular searched word on the internet today.

 

-In 2000, 40% of women were wearing some type of revealing clothes, while 18% of males were depicted as wearing revealing clothing within popular magazines.

 

-Depending on the genre, between 1/5 and ½ of all music videos depict sex

 

           Sex in the media isn’t a new phenomenon, though. There is a long history in the United States of printed materials being banned due to sexual content (Stern & Handel, 2001). At first, it was romance novels that were too racy. Then there were magazines, such as Playboy. Then came radio, where many people believed that the playing of jazz would lead to sexual promiscuity.

 

           This led to the creation of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in 1951 in order to monitor many things, sexually explicit material being one of them. The Parents Music Resource Center was created just to monitor the airwaves for lyrics about sexuality. Nowadays, the FCC still plays a major part in monitoring what we listen to and watch. Modern technology has taken sex in the media to a whole new level—with telephone sex and pornography and cyber sex on the Internet. Although the means of transmission has changed, the issue of sex in the media has not.

 

           Why is it so important to look at sex in the media? Studies have shown that the average person spends six to seven hours a day with some type of media (Reichert, 2002). That’s a quarter of the day! The media is part of our everyday culture and—perhaps more than most people want to admit—they follow the rules of the culture. Our culture makes sex out to be both glamorized and sensationalized. Even the acts of sexual assault, harassment, or molestation are sensationalized in the news in programs such as Dateline—these topics are also major sources of headlines in newspapers and news, with 10% of our daily crime news being about sexual crimes (Dowler, 2006).

 

           The messages that the media sends about sex imply that promiscuity within non-committed relationships is widespread. Studies even show that with adolescents, their actions are connected with their interpretations of the media, which leads to more acts of promiscuity (Chia, 2006). Where is the intimacy connected with sex? Where is the natural relationship within sex? Often, not in the media!

 

           Is sex still a natural act? It’s been so commercialized, dramatized, and glamorized it’s hard to be sure. Throughout history, sex has been represented in the media, but it seems to be much more common today. Sex in the media is something that both fuels the economy and requires government regulation. So, the next time you watch TV, read the paper, or even drive by a billboard, look at what these messages are actually saying and whether you agree with them or not.

 

 

                                            References

           Chia, S. C. (2006). How peers mediate media influence on adolescents' sexual attitudes and sexual behavior. Journal of Communication, 56, 585-606.

           Dowler, K. (2006). Sex, lies, and videotape: The presentation of sex crime in local television news. Journal of Criminal Justice, 33, 383-392.

           Richert, T. (2002). Sex in advertising research: A review of content, effects, and functions of sexual information in consumer advertising. Annual Review of Sex Research, 13, 241-272.

           Stern, S. E. & Handel, A. D. (2001). Sexuality and mass media: The historical context of psychology's reaction to sexuality on the Internet. Journal of Sex Research, 38, 283-291.