Sex & Sexuality in Media

Media is the strongest man-made force in the world that can move people… Positively and
negatively, for good and evil.

And it’s everywhere!

Time, 5 March 2001: “16%- reduction in general alcohol consumption in

countries that ban advertisements for spirits.”

Time magazine confirmed: "violent games teach kids to enjoy the experience of
killing" (Time, 10 May 1999). Violence in media does teach children
that violence works and violence wins.

Media is influence… It has the power to condition people with false needs and mistaken life
models.

A little boy goes up to his mom and asks, “Mommy, is God a boy or a
girl?” The mother replies, “God is both a boy and a girl.” The boy then
says, “Mommy is God gay or straight?” The mom replies, “God is both gay
and straight.” The boy then asks, “Is God black or white?” She says,
“God is both black and white.” The boy thinks about all this for
a moment and asks, “Is God Michael Jackson?”

In parts of Kenya, men pay for sex with girls as young as 10 in the hope of
avoiding AIDS. And Kenyan schools don’t offer sex education. In
2000, the United Nations Population Fund tackled the problem with
a song: “I Need to Know.” The tune, sung by young Nairobi musicians,
became so successful that the UN decided to do the same in other countries. (Time, 3
July 2000)

(pic of Abu Sayyaf beheading soldiers): Magpalabas sana sila ng nire-rape… Yung
sinusunog na buhay… Gusto kong makapanood yung tinu-torture…
Magpakita sana sila ng tinatadtad…

Tinanong ang ilang mga bata: “Kung ikaw ang presidente, anong gagawin mo?”…
Sabi ni Catherine, 4: “Papatayin din at pahihirapan ang natira.”…
Sabi ni Princess, 6: “Ipapapatay ko sila pag ang mga taong
mababait pinatay nila.”… Sabi ni Richard, 6: “Dapat ipapapatay tapos ang
patay ililibing dahil patay na sila.”

“They are from a different planet. Definitely not of this world.”

Said Kenny Baker, better known as R2D2 in the Star Wars movie, on
fans’ extremism- some fans have started a movement to adopt the
“Jedi way” as a legitimate religion in New Zealand. (Far Eastern Economic Review,
22 March 2001).

Who are the winners of our last election? Lito Lapid, Pia
Cayetano,
Fernando Poe Jr almost won the presidency even if it was his first
time to run for a government office, even if he did not have the
qualification even to run as baranggay Tanod.
They only have one qualification they were in the showbiz before.

“In this society, mass-produced and mass consumed movies, books,

records and TV programs are a considerable part of our real
lives; they contribute greatly to making us behave the way we do.” - Newsweek,
April 1, 1991

Media is influence. And it has secured its position of dominance in the lives of people
particularly of youth…

The US edition of Time magazine of 3 May 2004 featured this study of
male college students:

Impossibly thin fashion models glorified in magazines have made countless

women feel bad about their own bodies. That is no secret… But studies at 
the University of Central Florida have discovered that the muscle-
bound hunks in TV and print ads also affect men.

A study of male college students, average age 21, found that those who were

shown TV commercials featuring muscular, sometimes bare-chested men, were depressed 
and had more dissatisfaction about their body than students who 
watched neutral advertisements… Talk about masculine vanity 
today…

Media has been the principal mediator of reality for man. It has taken on, to a
great extent, the anthropological role that formerly the school, the home, and the church
had.
And if we want to be involved in anthropology today, the study and understanding of man today,
we cannot ignore media.

The advent of the digital and information technology today defines our very

relationship with the culture of youth and of the future.

60% of British children between ages 7-16 know what an Internet homepage is. 9% of the 
children knew what the preface of a book is. (Time, 14 Oct 2002)

TELEVISION

Accdg. to Youth Study 2001 – TV & radio have the highest reach
among the youth and take most of the youth’s time. 90% are exposed to
TV & Radio
TV exposure is 10-14 hrs a week.

Watching What We Watch: Prime-Time Television Through the Lens of

Faith. Walter T. Davis, Jr. and others. Asserts that television has
replaced both the church and school as the dominant storyteller of our time.

Each year, a typical teen-ager views nearly 15,000 sexual references,

innuendoes and jokes on television, of which fewer than 170 deal with
abstinence, birth control, sexually transmitted diseases or
pregnancy.” (CNN)

About 66% of prime time shows contain some sexual content.

In one study, a solid majority (62%) of scenes in television shows were coded
as including some sexual behavior, and 28% of these scenes placed the
primary emphasis on sex.
Each new season television programs contain more sexual content
than the previous year.

On TV, sexual activity is shown as normal, fun, exciting, and without any risks. - American
Academy of Pediatrics

WHO’S DOING IT?

References to premarital and extramarital sexual encounters outnumbered
references to sex between spouses by at least 6:1 (Greenberg &
Hofshire, 2000)
In soap operas, as high as 24:1 for unmarried vs. married partners (Lowry &
Towles, 1989)
32:1 in R-rated movies with teens (Greenberg et al., 1993)
Nudity occurred in all R-rated films in sample, with female nudity
outnumbering male nudity 4:1

Examples:
Victim extreme –
'Victim Extreme' cancels
'striptease' scene
Posted: 7:29 PM (Manila Time) | Jul. 10, 2004
MTRCB Chair Marissa Laguardia said the network, as part of its self-regulation
procedure, last Friday decided not to show the scene that featured Viva Hot Babe Hazel
Espinosa doing a strip-tease number.

Noon time shows – sex bomb and viva hot babes

Sex in the City – some may say its educational but it is full of
sexual scenes and jokes and all the sexual encounters are outside marriage.
Seemingly it portrays sex is casual, sex recreation, sex is simply for happiness.

Friends - program attracts between 25 million and 29 million viewers each

week, making it the highest-rated program on TV this season. With
Jeniffer aniston as the most popular celebrity on TV

Background: The scene featured five of the main characters having

a friendly game of one-ups-man-ship over which one of them has
had sex in the weirdest place. As the scene begins, three of the
most popular twenty-somethings in America are playing a game of
one-ups-man-ship.

Monica gets the ball rolling by boasting that she once had
intercourse on a pool table. Joey goes her one better by
announcing that one time he had sex in a public bathroom-a
women's bathroom-in a library. But Ross wins the prize, as he
describes having sex with a former girlfriend behind one of the
rides at Disneyland-"It's a Small World after All."

The "loser" in the game is clearly Rachel. When forced by her

friends to disclose the most unusual place she has ever had sex,
all she can manage to come up with is "at the foot of the bed."
Ross responds to that pronouncement by saying, in a facetious
tone: "Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner!"

Funny is not it? But if you would analyze it, it could have this
effect.
Analysis: Here is a group of very attractive, very popular young
people who compete to see who can have sex not just frequently
but in the most bizarre places possible.

So the message to young viewers is clear:

If you want to be like these attractive and popular young people,
do what they do-have lots of sex:
The more sex you have, the better.
And the more bizarre the location, the better

Bubble Gang – green jokes, all women are endowed.

fear factor – women are in par, women should have great bodies,
exploitation of women

Just as with media violence, it is not true that exposure to

media sexuality will automatically make young people behave
irresponsibly. However, the research indicates that the material
erodes behavioral barriers, shapes attitudes and expectations
about sexual relationships, and thus influences later behavior.

MTV
75% of 16-24 year-olds watch MTV (20% watch one or more hours a day)
33% of young people watch MTV Asia

On Music Television "MTV", 75% of the music videos will involve sexual imagery,
50% involve violence and 80% will combine the two. (American Academy of
Pediatrics, 1995).

44% of kids say they watch something different when they're

alone than with their parents (25% choose MTV).

Music videos are now very much an integral part of pop culture that is a staple
diet of teenagers today, and therefore have a huge role in molding these
impressionable minds. Women are often portrayed as sex symbols or as
objects to satiate male sexual desire in music videos. Dressed in fishnet
and leather, they drape themselves over car hoods, snarl like
tigers, and undress in silhouette behind window shades. Besides
being used as sex symbols, females in music videos are also often
associated with negative qualities as such infidelity and materialism.
(south borther – the show)
Advertising
Sex is usually used for specifically commercial purposes on
television, because it is an easy and cheap way to get the
undivided attention of most viewers. "Sex sells!" - king Arthur,
binardi, wine, , ginebra

Stress on the attrativeness of the body, people are led to think that
they must succeed physically to be acceptable.

Women are powerful – ginebra comercial

Women are submissive – axe,union bay, women and perfume
Women are the weaker sex – rock port

Abused – abused, abused look . women are portrayed as abused, they

look with no direction in life.

MAGAZINES
The number one celling magazine is FHM

Other competitors have come up, Hot Stuff & toyz for boyz. Women
are toyz.

MOVIES

Liberated 1
Sex is simply as pleasure
Technical virgins
Wrong notions of love

Liberated 2
May manaka-nakang mensahe ang Liberated 2 ukol sa tunay na
pagmamahal at sa epekto ng mga relasyon sa ating buhay. Ngunit
ang lahat ng ito'y pawang patumpik lamang kung ikukumpara sa
dominanteng mensahe nito ukol sa makabagong pagtingin ng mga
kababaihan, pati na rin ng mga kalalakihan sa seks. Hindi ito
isang sagradong bagay para sa kanila. Walang responsibilidad o
anuman ang gawaing ito kundi isa lamang itong laro o ordinaryong
aktibidad na gagawin ng kahit sinong may nais, kahit kanino,
kahit saan, kahit anong oras. Walang pagmamahal, pangmatagalang
relasyon o kasal na dapat kaakibat nito. Labis na nakababahala
ang ganitong mensahe. Hindi lamang ang malabis na hubaran ang
tinututulan ng CINEMA sa palikulang Liberated 2, kundi ang
pinaka-konteksto ng pelikula nito na nakasentro sa mga karnal na
pagnanasa at pagbibigay dahilan sa mga lisyang gawain. Maaaring
isipin ng mga manonood na katanggap-tanggap na ang mga babaeng
tulad nina Janel at Fatima pati na ang kanilang iresponsableng
pagtingin sa relasyon at pakikipagtalik. Hindi sila kinakitaan ng
anumang pagsisisi o kalungkutan sa kabila ng kanilang mga
nagawang kamalian. Higit sa lahat, hindi nila ito nakikita
bilang kamalian kundi pawang mga desisyon lamang ayon sa tawag ng
kanilang laman.

Women on top

What are some possible effects of increased exposure to mass

media sexuality?

Several studies have linked increased exposure to the mass media

with dissatisfaction with virginity among teenagers (Brown & Newcomer,
1991; Peterson, et al, 1991; Kunkel, et al, 1999)

The students who think television accurately portrays sex were

more likely to be dissatisfied with their first experience with intercourse (Brown &
Newcomer, 1991:80).

Teens that had been exposed to a highly sexual TV drama rated

descriptions of casual sex encounters less negatively than teens that had
received no sexual content exposure (Bryant & Rockwell,
1994:230).

They turn up the pressure on teens to have sexual relations earlier,

normalizing casual sexual encounters, and confusing younger kids
who may be somewhat traumatized by too-early exposure to sexual
issues.

ETHICS IN THE MEDIA OF SOCIAL COMMUNICATION: A MATTER OF CHOICE

(Pontifical Council for Social Communication, Pauline Publishing House, 2000)

The Church's approach to the means of social communication is

fundamentally positive, encouraging. She does not simply stand in
judgment and condemn; rather, she considers these instruments to
be not only products of human genius but also great gifts of God
and true signs of the times (cf. Inter Mirifica, 1; Evangelii
Nuntiandi, 45; Redemptoris Missio, 37). She desires to support
those who are professionally involved in communication by setting
out positive principles to assist them in their work, while
fostering a dialogue in which all interested parties—today, that
means nearly everyone—can participate. These purposes underlie
the present document.

We say again: The media do nothing by themselves; they are

instruments, tools, used as people choose to use them. In
reflecting upon the means of social communication, we must face
honestly the "most essential" question raised by technological
progress: whether, as a result of it, the human person "is
becoming truly better, that is to say more mature spiritually,
more aware of the dignity of his humanity, more responsible, more
open to others, especially the neediest and the weakest, and
readier to give and to aid all" (Pope John Paul II, Redemptor
Hominis, 15).

Following the Council's Pastoral Constitution on the Church in

the Modern World, Gaudium et Spes (cf. nos. 30-31), the Pastoral
Instruction on Social Communications Communio et Progressio makes
it clear that the media are called to serve human dignity by
helping people live well and function as persons in community.
Media do this by encouraging men and women to be conscious of
their dignity, enter into the thoughts and feelings of others,
cultivate a sense of mutual responsibility, and grow in personal
freedom, in respect for others' freedom, and in the capacity for
dialogue.

In all three areas—message, process, structural and systemic

issues—the fundamental ethical principle is this: The human
person and the human community are the end and measure of the use
of the media of social communication; communication should be by
persons to persons for the integral development of persons.

Integral development requires a sufficiency of material goods and

products, but it also requires attention to the "inner dimension"
(Sollicitudo Rei Socialis, 29; cf. 46). Everyone deserves the
opportunity to grow and flourish in respect to the full range of
physical, intellectual, emotional, moral, and spiritual goods.
Individuals have irreducible dignity and importance, and may
never be sacrificed to collective interests.