Nudity In Media

Furthermore, nudity isn’t only found in TV commercials and product ads, but it is very much exposed through music, music videos, TV shows, and tabloids. The mass amounts of nudity most people experience, but don’t necessarily realize comes in the form of music and music videos. This form of media, along with TV shows, is the most exposed form of media. Songs and artists are globally recognized, making music so accessible. For instance, songs like, “I Just Had Sex” by The Lonely Island, “Lollipop” by Lil Wayne, and “Strip” by Chris Brown all allude to nudity or sexual contact. In today’s culture it is almost taboo to hear a hip-hop song that didn’t include sexual organs, nudity, or sexual intercourse. This is due to the fact that these songs

Accessibility to sexualized TV shows, music, and written media at a constant rate and capacity makes it easy for this information to reach America’s youth. In the journal article, “Impact of the Media on Adolescent Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors” Liliana Escobar-Chavez et al examine the effects of mature media on younger populations, stating, “ The mass media have been shown to affect a broad range of adolescent health related attitudes and behaviors... one largely unexplored factor that may contribute to adolescents sexual activity is their exposure to mass media” (303). The youth’s main source of nudity and sexual exposure comes from music videos. Escobar et al state, “one fifth to one half of the music videos portray sexuality or eroticism” (315). The article continues, presenting effects from a study conducted on 1,533 9th graders after watching erotic music videos. Escobar Chavez et al found that, “adolescents who had just watched an hour of MTV videos were more likely to report approval of pre-marital sex than those who had not” (315). Increasing rates in adolescent sexuality instantly creates a normality of expressing interest in nudity at a younger age, making the youth more comfortable with their bodies to want to express themselves sooner than earlier generations ever have. Alternatively, the increase in nudity tolerance and acceptance can additionally be due to the comedic relief that comes along with most nude or sexual scenes in TV shows and movies. The journal article, “The Naked Subject: Nudity, Context and Sexualization in Contemporary Culture” Rob Cover examines how comedy can lighten the topic of nudity and increase comfort levels when being nude or surrounded by nudity. Cover states, “ nakedness has sometimes connoted vulnerability, humiliation or comic transgression: almost compulsory in teenage comedies is a scene of male nudity in a public space for comic purposes”