Lebanese Media and Sexuality

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Lebanon is the most free and liberal country in the Arab world, a combination of the western culture and Arab culture gives it a unique culture spectrum, the country is more tolerant with the regard to relations between men and women and also homosexuality , however the country has not yet grasped the idea of sexuality Preparing children for the transition to adulthood has always been a challenge, parents play a vital role in shaping youth knowledge about sex and sexuality, public schools in Lebanon provide inadequate information, leaving the youth vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancy and sexual abuse, thereby allowing children learning through their own way and getting misinformation from media, internet and peers, even though teachers are supposed to remain the trusted sources to the knowledge of sex education. The Lebanese media uses sexuality as a cheap form of entertainment rather than raising awareness. The Lebanese society is blind when it comes to sex education before marriage, given rise to immature attitude towards sex, sexually transmitted diseases and confusion.

Mass media has a huge influence on sexuality and opens windows on sex, there is a huge concern regarding sexual contents in television, internet and media in general, in the absence of improper sexual education in school, youth tend to derive partial information and misinformation about sex by themselves. Such sources include Hollywood movies, pornography and also TV show. The media is the fastest way of spreading information to the public, subsequently films are becoming more and more explicit, children these days are exposed to pornography, According to journalism professor and media critic Jane Brown, the media is piquing teen i...

... middle of paper ...

... etc. are more open to sexuality, couples kiss and hug in public disregarding whoever is around and also open about homosexuality.

In the absence of proper sexual education in Lebanese schools, media has played the role of the substitute, providing the audience with a misconception about sex and sexuality and promoting sex as a cheap entertainment in TV shows advertisement etc.

Works Cited

Jane D. Brown, Jeanne R. Steele, Kim Walsh-Childers (2002). Sexual Teens, Sexual Media: Investigating Media's Influence on Adolescent Sexuality. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. p. 2.

Brooke Anderson (2013). Shock value, sexism and superficiality: Lebanon’s advertising problem. The Daily Star Lebanon. Retrieved from http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Lebanon-News/2013/Oct-09/234028-shock-value-se xism-and-superficiality-lebanons-advertising-problem.ashx#axzz2mFhoUINx

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