According to Lacey Wash ,“One day last winter Margarite posed naked before her bathroom mirror, held up her cell phone and took a picture” (Hoffman, 2011). Just like Margarite, many teenagers in our fast paced society, are becoming victims of the negative rewards granted by the act of “sexting”. Perhaps this popular trend among teenagers and young adults alike; has emerged from the immense availability of computers, cell phones, and other electronic devices which can be used to captivate a person’s naked body. Perhaps such actions are triggered by the need to feel “cool”, or the social stigma that many teenagers experience during their adolescent years. In many cases, however, what starts out as a simple picture has the ability to transcend …show more content…
Though this can be a possible explanation for why sexting occurs, I stand strong to the belief that a person’s inexperience, lack of sexual education, and unawareness of the dangers, are also major factors for why sexting is such a popular activity among young adults. It is important to state, that even though sexting produces many negative consequences and its effects can be catastrophic, according to Hoffman (2011), sexting is not an illegal act, meaning that those who engage in it are not breaking the law as long as they are eighteen years of age or older. Apart from this, Hoffman states that just because sexting is a popular act among many teenagers, it does not indicate that every teenager is going to engage in such activities (Hoffman, 2011, para 45). Though I understand and agree with Hoffman’s statement, I believe that with a sensitive topic such as sexting, the attention of reporters and researchers alike should be on the affected group rather than conforming to the unaffected population. As we continue with the topic of sexting among young adults, it is important to once again ask the question of why? Why do teenagers engage in this dangerous and many times irreversible
Many young girls are aware that what they are doing on the internet can be seen by others and it can lead to positive or negative reactions from their peers. Orenstein is concerned about younger girls and women and how social media could take a bad turn on things for them. She wants us to know that social media can damage one’s reputation depending on how it is used. Girls post pictures of themselves on the internet in order to attract positive attention from their peers, as well as others who are considered as strangers. They want to be able to seek the attention from others in order to create an audience. As a result of this, Facebook is then used as a “social norm”, meaning that people can judge and form opinions based off of what is seen in an online profile. Orenstein explains that she isn’t trying to put technology in a bad light, because she uses it to keep in contact with her friends and family. She’s mindful about what she puts on the internet, while young adults are making their identities into a
The Australian Consumer Law (ACL) was established to protect consumers in any legal trading activities in Australia. A set of guarantees has also been introduced for those consumers who are acquiring goods and services from Australian suppliers, importers or manufacturers. The guarantees are intended to ensure that consumers will receive the goods or services they have paid for. If they have problems with the products and services they bought, they are entitled for remedies, such as repair, replacement, and refund.
A man does not have to fear not being attractive, a “good guy,” or an “asshole,” and women do not have to be viewed as “whores”or “virgins” and seen as prey. Serano argues for a world that “women are allowed and encouraged to be sexual without having to be nonconsensually sexualized...and men can be respectful of women without be desexualized”(421). Most adults are using their smart devices on an everyday basis, and social media has proven itself to be a key player in the spread of information. With the advent of social media, adults can raise awareness for and promote equal roles in society for men and women through popular pages like those of celebrities. The local and national government can also promote such a lifestyle. Conventions and seminars are often used to raise awareness for a certain cause. Such events can be sponsored by the state to help adults change their perspective, leading to a change in mindset. As long
Erica Zhang Professor Nelson Intro to Mass Media & Communications 3/11/2013 Media Analysis Assignment In today’s media, the sexualisation of women has unfortunately also extended to young preteen girls, through a myriad of detrimental social constructs and internalized prejudices spanning centuries. The commodification of their sexuality is unnerving, as it encourages predators to project their fantasies onto unwilling participants that are too young to understand the nature of these harmful actions, and know how to escape or refuse them. In an attempt to shed light onto this issue as a concerned parent, Rachael Combe wrote the article Little Girls Gone Wild as a response to this sudden boom in increasingly sexualised behavior among and towards preteens. While her intentions remain sincere and her concerns as a mother legitimate, the article is flawed in the sense that she is not delving deeper into the causes behind this phenomenon, shaming the young girls for indulging in their outward appearances and for participating in a role that society has forced them into, instead of the predators that reinforce this sexualised image and make it something to be desired and aspired to.
In today’s American society, almost everyone, even children as young as six, owns a cell phone with a camera. Although convenient, camera phones also open the door to massive problems concerning child pornography that stem from sexting, or sending nude or lascivious photos. According to a 2010 Federal Bureau of Investigation survey1 of 4,400 middle and high school students, “approximately eight percent of students reported that they had sent a sext of themselves to others while thirteen percent said they had received a sext.” The main problem with sexting, aside from being child pornography if it is a picture of minor, is the ease of dissemination of the sext to other contacts or even the Internet. The United States alone has seen several students commit suicide after a sext intended for one person’s eyes goes viral or is sent to the entire high school. Such was the case of Ohio high school student, Jesse Logan, who sent nude photos to her boyfriend who then sent them to other students who harassed her until she committed suicide.2
"Children are influenced by media–they learn by observing, imitating, and making behaviors their own" (APA, 2001, p.1224). Girl’s as young as 4-years sees Britney Spears music clip “Baby One More Time”, who at the time was a 17-year old girl/world pop icon at the time wearing a school uniform showing off her midriff, wearing a lot of makeup and a short skirt. Disney teen icons such as Miley Cyrus aka Hannah Montana taking personal photos of herself in “sexy” poses and sending it to her ‘older’ boyfriend and then having it all published all over the internet for the entire world to see. Boys also face sexualization too, as has been seen in Calvin Klein ads, where pubescent-looking boys pose provocatively with perfectly sculpted six-pack abs hawking teen fashion These pop culture celebrities both female and male are always in the media, for inappropriate actions and they’re meant to be role models for children. In fact most of these sexualized celebrities are still children themselves. The sad part is it’s not just sexualization being encouraged in the media other negative things such as violence, drug and alcohol use ...
Cell phones are common objects found in the pockets and bags of almost everyone one in the world. Recently, cell phones have been getting teens and adults into trouble. Most individuals send and receive text messages. The newest trend among some individuals is “sex-texting” or “sexting.” Sexting is a dangerous yet contagious phenomenon contaminating the lives of teens and adults all over the country, if not the world. This phenomenon can have serious consequences. Even after surveying 1300 teenagers, one in five say they’ve sexted, although they know that it could be a crime (Feyerick and Steffen). Sexting is a growing epidemic and the only way to prohibit its growth is to develop close relationships with the kids of today’s society.
Over the last few years, there has been a lot of discussion and debate over the topic of sexting. It has become a widespread phenomenon, the number of teenage girls and boys, men and women who participate are rapidly increasing, and with this too comes the rise of moral panic within societies. Individuals within the communities are becoming more and more fearful, afraid and shocked at this new form of youth culture hysteria. Although young people ‘expressing’ their sexuality has become much more open and free as of the last decade or so, the real uproar of panic is due to the risks they involving themselves in as well as the damage and harm they are inflicting on themselves, whether they know it or not.
Arielle Massiah SW 7300 Sunday, March 29, 2015 Article Critique Teenage Sexuality and Media Practice: Factoring in the Influences of Family, Friends, and School Jeanne Rogge Steele Literature Review and Theoretical/ Conceptual Framework The social problem that the research addresses is the outrageously high rate of unprotected teenage sexual engagement and encounters. The problem was made apparent due to a survey that disclosed that not only had “three quarters of the 2,439 participants engage in sexual intercourse by their senior year, half of the participants reported that they did not use condoms and one third of the population failed to allocate the use of birth control at all; drastically increasing their exposure to HIV, sexually transmitted diseases and pregnancy”. Steele, 1999, p. 339.
I can recall a time when the media was influencing my life and actions. The week after I graduated high school, my girlfriends and I took a trip to Cancun, Mexico, where the MTV beach house was located that summer. As I look back on the week of drunken partying and sexy guys, I can only wonder how I made it home alive. How could any young woman find this behavior acceptable? Every young woman there was flaunting their bodies to the young men around them. They were proud to be sexual objects. Where did they learn such debauchery? This is the kind of woman that is portrayed throughout MTV and various other aspects of the media. They have even coined the term “midriff”—the highly sexual character pitched at teenage girls that increasingly populates today’s television shows—in order to hook the teen customer. Teenage women increasingly look to the media to provide them with a ready-made identity predicated on today’s version of what’s “cool.” The media is always telling us that we are not thin enough, we’re not pretty enough, we don’t have the right friends, or we have the wrong friends… we’re losers unless we’re cool. We must follow their example and show as much skin as possible. The type of imagery depicted by MTV-- as well as people like Howard Stern, the famous “Girls Gone Wild” videos, and various Hip Hop songs—glorifies sex and the provocative woman.
Everyone has access to technology including youth, adults, and older adults. Technology has influenced sexual practice
Over the years so much has changed in terms of peoples views on young peoples sexuality and on sexting and the rules and consequences associated with sexting. If you jump forward a generation or two to the contemporary world, you will realise the social and sexual landscape has changed dramatically. Sex is regulated less and is in some ways less risky for many young Australians. More young people are having sex and more are having sex at young ages. Social mores have changed. The feminist and gay rights social movements have mobilised for legal and social change. For heterosexual young people, effective contraception is widely available and pregnancy terminations are legal and available through the public health care system. Homosexual sex is legal and health and social support services for same sex attracted young people are steadily increasing. (Lindsay, 2005, pp 86).
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter are only a few of the most common words used in today’s language among children, teens and adults. Such words can be described as popular terms related to what many of us know as social media. In today’s culture, many teenagers rely so heavily on the usage of social media that issues once thought to be revolutionary are now taking place offline and online. In fact, several cases of mental addictions, depression and even suicide have all stemmed from the initial usage of sites such as Facebook, which are otherwise socially accepted as a simple means of communicating with “friends.” While social media does have its advantages, it can also be held responsible for several negative events in the lives of today’s teenagers.
The rapid growth of technology in our society has become more dominant than it was in the 17th and 18th century. Today, technology is used for almost everything in our day to day lives. But the most common usage of technology is for communication and industrialization. However, every good thing has its disadvantage if it is over used, and since technology has become very dominant, it is used by both young and older people but more predominant among the youth of the today. Even more, technology has brought about social networking such as Facebook, Twitter, my space, piazza.com, instagram, tango, and last but not the least texting. According to socialnetworking.procon.org, “47% of American adults used social networking sites like Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Classmates.com in 2011, up from 26% in 2008. [26] on social media sites like these, users may develop biographical profiles, communicate with friends and strangers, do research, and share thoughts, photos, music, links, and more” (procon.org. 1). Although these sites help many Americans to connect with their family and friends, have we really thought about how these sites are discouraging some students to spend less time with their books, how young adults are losing their marriages, the indecent behavior it is promoting, and how it has escalated texting and driving in our society? Obviously not!
In the twenty -first century, teenagers live in a life of social networking and life’s online. It’s hard to believe how much the world has changed over the decades, especially in technology. Technology helps people to contact relatives and friends from long distance more easily and conveniently. People can now talk to each other from everywhere in the world simply through chat and video calls. By time, internet connections have spread throughout households and social networking such as Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Instagram has increased gradually. However, the internet and several modern technologies have wasted many times and has hurt the society. Social media plays such a big role in people’s lives that some people couldn’t even imagine