Sex Sells Essay Research Paper As Americans

Sex Sells Essay, Research Paper

As Americans we tend to have a conditioned view toward sexuality as a normal, healthy part of life. However, it seems that one may underestimate the power that sex has on culture, which is evident in the many areas. Most recently discussions on a sexual nature received extreme national prominence with the public events surrounding the Kenneth Starr investigation and report, which focuses on the sexual aspects of the relationship between President Bill Clinton and a former intern, Monica Lewinsky. The result was a war of beliefs, morals and differences of cultures mixed with political manipulations. With the increase of sexual presence in our society, it is often wondered how this increase has affected morals and values of those who live it. Sex is everywhere–not just limited to the bedroom, but to the television, movies, billboards, office buildings and almost every fragment of modern culture. Around the turn of the twentieth century, open discussion and study of sex was well on its way. Sexual/cultural pioneer, Sigmund Freud believed that sexuality was tightly woven in all persons, present from birth. His breakthrough thinking affected social practices and was instrumental in breaking the “moral fog that had enshrouded sexuality for most of the nineteenth century did not begin to lift until after the First World War” (Janus 1993). By analyzing modern culture, a person can accurately determine the effects of the sexual revolution and how it has led to the alterations or evolution of personal, moral and ethical principals.

Where do we get our morals and values. Character education was what took place in school and society in the past. This drilling of acceptable social conventions seemed to .contain. our culture for many years. In modern years society has shifted to the “decision-making approach” (Kilpatrick 1993). This approach takes many forms, sometimes as a course in itself, sometimes as a strategy in sex education classes, sometimes as a unit in civics or social sciences–it has set the tone for modern moral education in public and even private schools. “The shift from character education to the decision-making model was begun with the best of intentions. The new approach was meant to help students to think more independently and critically about values” (Kilpatrick 1993). Followers of this approach claimed that a young person would be more committed to self-discovered values than to ones that were simply handed down by adults. That was the hope, but the actual effect of the shift has been quite different. For students, it has meant confusion about moral values: learning to question values they have scarcely acquired, unlearning values taught at home, and concluding that questions of right and wrong are always changing with the influence of society. We live in a sexual world, but Americans have been slow to fully acknowledge its enormous impact. Among those interviewed in the Janus Report who were 18 to 26 years old, 21% of the men and 15% of the women had had sexual intercourse by age 14; a small percentage of them had had their first intercourse before age 10. “It ought to be the oldest things that are taught to the youngest people.” (Noonan 1999) This statement accurately portrays moral education today. “The Day America Told the Truth,” a 1990 survey of American beliefs and values contains this scene from a California high school. The setting, Friday afternoon and the students are leaving a class in .social living.. The teacher’s parting words are, .have a great weekend. Be safe. Buckle up. Just say no. And if you can’t say ‘No,’ then use a condom! (Kilpatrick 1993) Although the teacher in this example gives a nod in the direction of abstinence, his approach is basically of the “responsible sex” variety. Sex is an image that Americans have grown accustomed too. Sex is everything. If you’re good looking, then you’re having sex. If you’re sexy, then you’re having sex. If you’re having sex, you’re popular, and people are more likely to buy stuff from your company if you show people having sex. Sex sells. Sex sells cigarettes. Sex sells cars. Sex sells clothes, alcohol and vacuum cleaners.

One way that a breakdown of sexual restraint hurts society is the educational sphere. There is abundant evidence that the more sexually active students do poorly in school and tend to drop out more frequently (Noonan 1999). For all of the teenage girls, who drop out of school, half of them do so because of pregnancy. But that figure only suggests one small aspect of the problem. The constant distraction caused by worries about sex and about relationships takes a tool on schoolwork. Dieting has become an unfortunate cultural phenomenon, especially for women and girls, whose self-image is often closely linked with their body image. Eating disorders are more common in girls because they believe it’s their role in society to be sexy. Numerous studies have been conducted to determine the history of sexual abuse in eating disorders patients, and the findings have been controversial. “The figures range from 7% to 74%, with most studies showing that between 20-69% of anorexics and bulimics have been abused” (Janus 1993). It is important to note, however that not everyone who has been sexually abused develops anorexia and not all anorexics have been sexually abused. For many survivors, anorexia can also serve as a way to make their bodies less desirable t