Sexuality is a term that conjures up different thoughts in the minds of different people. Traditionally it is seen as purely reproduction (penetrative sex), but in fact is more complex than that. Sexuality can be related to love, pleasure, sin, desire, passion and marriage. One’s sexuality is part of one’s identity. Whether you are heterosexual, homosexual or bisexual, you are still a sexual being. Without sexuality our identities would be incomplete.
Sexuality can be seen in the way you dress, the way you walk and talk and the way you behave. But the question still remains, if this is such a natural part of one’s identity… why is the subject still taboo? In today’s society images of sex and sexuality are all around us – in the news, in advertising, in films and on television. We learn about the subject from many avenues and yet it is still a ‘hush hush’ matter. It is visible in our parents, friends and even our pets.
The majority of us are not blessed with parents who are open for discussion of such matters. But then where do we learn how to behave when it come to matters of the heart and body with regards to our partners and prospective partners? With this in mind, it is not surprising that we turn to television to learn about behaviour. This coupled with the large amount of sexual content in media today provide the perfect alternative for learning about sexuality.
Teenagers are at a very critical age of physiological and psychological development. Teenage girls in particular have many identity conflicts and low self esteem which could affect the development of a healthy identity. The learning and understanding of sex and sexual identity is determined at this time. At this age one becomes more able to understand and process concepts such as sex roles, commitment and sexual behaviour. Curiosity about all matters sexual becomes heightened at this age due to the surge of hormones and teens look for answers from all possible avenues. It has been shown in numerous studies that children and teenagers are prone to learn behaviour patterns from television and apply them to real life.
4 comments:
Even tho, is it not passing the baggage to place the blame on an object that we altimately have control over... TV on TV off... It is more that the Parents are to blame... if you do not take an interst in your child, it will find other means of distraction ie: the TV or worse...
Finger pointing has always been a means of shedding the blame, and this I'm afaid is the case with the whole idea that media is to blame for the state of society... No my friend we are to blame for our own short comings
i dont fully agree with jo.
ys we have the right to turn the tv on or off. And yes a good parent will protect their child from the harshness of sex and sexuality.
the problems which arises is that thos kids who are totally sheltered.
i know friends who are so controlled by their parents that its scary. Not going out. no TV. No phones etc etc. it just leads to these kids wanting te rebel and thats scary
thats when they start sneaking around and finding out about sex and sexuality and sensuality the wrong way.
and tv and the media portrays sex in weird ways.
either totally pie in the sky sensual and romantic(the idealisms) or totally hard and "porno", they never show the reality
so yes i agree that bad parenting is to blame. but you can also place blame on the media
Im with jo on this one, u cant blame the media for bad parenting. The media didn’t ask to have children, the parents made that decision, so now it’s up to them to man up to their responsibilities and educate them! Although the media don’t show the “real” sex, they have a good reason, “real” sex with people falling over each other and not knowing what to do doesn’t sell, it’s the media’s job to sell, isn’t that basically what everybody is trying to do on earth, make money?? I blame parents who don’t educate their kids, yes the birds and bees discussion must be very uncomfortable for both the parents and the kids, but honestly, I would rather have that uncomfortable talk, than having my child come home pregnant or the father of a child when they aren’t ready to deal with the consequences!
I agree with anonymous. Parents are the ones to blame, not television or the media in general. Parents need to teach their children that what they see on tv or what they read in magazines is not reality. In a real world, there are things such as morals and culture that need to be taken into consideration before making decisons regarding sexual behaviour etc. Therefore, issues regarding this "real world" and the subsequent resolutions cannot be taught to you by a mere tv set.
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