When looking for an article that argues for media effects, I searched for an article on Ebsco Host and found an online journal article regarding the "Effects of Sexy TV." I was interested in the topic because it seemed prevalent to a lot of the behavior of people my age and I wondered if there was a correlation. There was a lot of difficult language when I was trying to see what this article was trying to prove but I think I was eventually able to make some discernings about the content.
The source for my article was Journal of Sex Research, May 2005, Vol. 42 Issue 2, p130, 8p. It was composed by Laramie D. Taylor, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. The purpose of Taylor’s argument, I believe is to create a greater distinction between previous studies of effects of sexual television and his own, which attempts to prove more specific content analysis. Taylor says:
“Based on the information processing model of media effects, I proposed that the messages embodied in such content, the degree to which viewers perceive television content as realistic, and whether sexual content is conveyed using visual or verbal symbols may influence the nature or degree of such effects. I explored this possibility through an experiment in which 182 college undergraduates were exposed to visual or verbal sexual television content, neutral television content, or no television at all prior to completing measures of sexual attitudes and beliefs. Although exposure to sexual content generally did not produce significant main effects, it did influence the attitudes of those who perceive television to be relatively realistic. Verbal sexual content was found to influence beliefs about women's sexual activity among the same group.”
What I thought was interesting was even though many of the points that the author investigated had weak outcomes, there was still that chance that there was some form of influence, which I think means that no matter what the situation is, we are all somehow affected by media, especially television, because it’s such a common form of media and one of the most prevalent. Even if people don’t have a computer, they usually have a television and the way that children are raised today, it seems like a lot of parents just plop their kids right in front of the TV and expect Sesame Street to teach them all they need to know. It’s not that these programs aren’t helpful, but it seems that sometimes some parents, not all, but some definitely depend on the education of television, and to me it makes sense that a lot of teens are having sex early, especially because of what they see on television, teens taking “the next step,” “going all the way,” etc. It’s really frustrating that kids think this is okay when they’re only fourteen, I mean I hear my brother talking about kids his age already having had sex, or experimenting like when they’re just out of elementary school…that’s just a little too young, especially with extended life spans and such---with a potentially longer time to live, why experience these things so soon when you can get an education first and avoid being poor or homeless cause you’re raising kids you had when you were like 16 or something. It leaves fewer children off the street, eases the exploding population of adoption centers, etc., and especially in the instance that a child isn’t planned, I think it eases the stress between parents and their kids. If they didn’t want a kid to begin with, they might have relationships that are strained. If they planned having kids however, I think it would promote healthier parent/child relationships.
So my conclusion in relation to Taylor’s is that despite the fact that “Sexy TV” may have fewer effects than expected, it’s still important to recognize that people are affected by sexy TV and that even if one believes they are invincible, one can still be influenced by things one sees on television, and that somehow maybe this sort of genre should be monitored. It could also create unrealistic fantasies that people might tend to think are realistic, especially the more realistic the images are. Just something important to think about I think. Because I think people need to realize that “Sexy TV” doesn’t just promote more sex, it promotes unsafe sex, because a lot of it doesn’t seem to realistically portray possibilities of those side effects, like STDs.
So the next time you watch TV, realize, no matter how powerful you think you are, you are affected so subtly sometimes by what you watch on television, and step back from the big picture and look at your situation in context. Has anything changed in your views?
And I’m not trying to sound uber conservative or anything, cause I’m not, but how easily are you being influenced, and is it making you be less safe in your behaviors? Because ultimately you could end up with a kid or some STD in a situation that you didn’t expect anything out of. So instead of following the Nike slogan, “Just Do It,” I think something more appropriate would be, “Just think it, before you do it, then either do or don’t do it based on your conclusions.”
~
The source for my article was Journal of Sex Research, May 2005, Vol. 42 Issue 2, p130, 8p. It was composed by Laramie D. Taylor, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. The purpose of Taylor’s argument, I believe is to create a greater distinction between previous studies of effects of sexual television and his own, which attempts to prove more specific content analysis. Taylor says:
“Based on the information processing model of media effects, I proposed that the messages embodied in such content, the degree to which viewers perceive television content as realistic, and whether sexual content is conveyed using visual or verbal symbols may influence the nature or degree of such effects. I explored this possibility through an experiment in which 182 college undergraduates were exposed to visual or verbal sexual television content, neutral television content, or no television at all prior to completing measures of sexual attitudes and beliefs. Although exposure to sexual content generally did not produce significant main effects, it did influence the attitudes of those who perceive television to be relatively realistic. Verbal sexual content was found to influence beliefs about women's sexual activity among the same group.”
What I thought was interesting was even though many of the points that the author investigated had weak outcomes, there was still that chance that there was some form of influence, which I think means that no matter what the situation is, we are all somehow affected by media, especially television, because it’s such a common form of media and one of the most prevalent. Even if people don’t have a computer, they usually have a television and the way that children are raised today, it seems like a lot of parents just plop their kids right in front of the TV and expect Sesame Street to teach them all they need to know. It’s not that these programs aren’t helpful, but it seems that sometimes some parents, not all, but some definitely depend on the education of television, and to me it makes sense that a lot of teens are having sex early, especially because of what they see on television, teens taking “the next step,” “going all the way,” etc. It’s really frustrating that kids think this is okay when they’re only fourteen, I mean I hear my brother talking about kids his age already having had sex, or experimenting like when they’re just out of elementary school…that’s just a little too young, especially with extended life spans and such---with a potentially longer time to live, why experience these things so soon when you can get an education first and avoid being poor or homeless cause you’re raising kids you had when you were like 16 or something. It leaves fewer children off the street, eases the exploding population of adoption centers, etc., and especially in the instance that a child isn’t planned, I think it eases the stress between parents and their kids. If they didn’t want a kid to begin with, they might have relationships that are strained. If they planned having kids however, I think it would promote healthier parent/child relationships.
So my conclusion in relation to Taylor’s is that despite the fact that “Sexy TV” may have fewer effects than expected, it’s still important to recognize that people are affected by sexy TV and that even if one believes they are invincible, one can still be influenced by things one sees on television, and that somehow maybe this sort of genre should be monitored. It could also create unrealistic fantasies that people might tend to think are realistic, especially the more realistic the images are. Just something important to think about I think. Because I think people need to realize that “Sexy TV” doesn’t just promote more sex, it promotes unsafe sex, because a lot of it doesn’t seem to realistically portray possibilities of those side effects, like STDs.
So the next time you watch TV, realize, no matter how powerful you think you are, you are affected so subtly sometimes by what you watch on television, and step back from the big picture and look at your situation in context. Has anything changed in your views?
And I’m not trying to sound uber conservative or anything, cause I’m not, but how easily are you being influenced, and is it making you be less safe in your behaviors? Because ultimately you could end up with a kid or some STD in a situation that you didn’t expect anything out of. So instead of following the Nike slogan, “Just Do It,” I think something more appropriate would be, “Just think it, before you do it, then either do or don’t do it based on your conclusions.”
~
posted by cscenglishbabe at 1:19 PM
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