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Sex ed in american schools
Sex ed in american schools
Positive and negative impacts of popular culture on youth
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Some individuals hold the opinion that prudery is not only silly but also dangerous to the virtues and coherence of the U.S. community. Prudery divides the U.S. into two unnecessary categories that not only reduce societal coherence, but also reinforces the effects of other political and social divides that exist in the society (Marcotte 1). Prudery culminates in the eruption of sexual scandals that are insignificant in the public arena. Even so, these arguments can be easily countered by those presented by Henderson who uses empirical data to show that prudery in the U.S. has positive effects, which is contrary to popular belief (1). By comparing the statistics on teenage pregnancies, abortions, and HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in the U.S. to those in selected countries in the Western …show more content…
For instance, the previous generation of musical idols such as Michael Jackson and Madonna did not express their interests in nudity and extreme sexual behavior in the public arenas as compared to the modern-age equivalents, such as Miley Cyrus who has been renowned for extreme sexual behavior in the public domain (Marcotte 1). Prudery has also affected the literal and writing industry through books such as the Twilight Trilogy that incorporates extreme sexual obscenity. These ideologies then trickle down to the young generation. In fact, recent studies indicate that 33 percent of the young U.S. citizens aged between 15 and 24 years have never had sex (Marcotte 1). While these figures were overly publicized in the mass media platforms in the U.S. as an unobjectionably good thing, it is critical to understand that the numbers are relatively high compared to other nations, especially in Western Europe. The perception of these numbers as an achievement when it falls short in the global arena is the result of sexual perversion in the U.S. society as a result of
The first three books don’t contain any sex just sexual tension, between Bella and Edward. Making the series a “hole success “(345) fans readers and moviegoers were fascinated and left in suspense after the first three books always waiting for the big moment between Bella and Edward. After the saga came out in 2005 ( stephaniemeyer.com/twilight.html) fanatisim started with many blogs ,websites,groups,etc. such as twilight fanatics Facebook (facebook.com/trueandthroughtwilightfantics) . how is this affecting young people? Well Christine Seifert argues that twilight has transmitted an abstincence message to fans. The idea of waiting until marriage to engage in intimacy is represented by the twilight saga where the ideal couple Bella and Edward engage with each other and finally consume the sexual tension that has been exposed during the first three books. A study conducted by the university of Missouri in 2010, found that abstinence was the feature that kept referencing as the reason bella and Edwards relationship was so appealing. This controversial acknowledgement of twilight could refer to the background of Stephanie Meyer, who is well known for being a religious woman approaching this area with Jewish values (aish.com/s/as/the-twilight-saga—abtinence.html). to me ,abstinence is transmitted throughout the saga but is not an actual issue. In the united states 46 % of all high school age students, and 62 percent of high school senior students , have had sexual intercourse, this leaves us with almost nine million teens with active sexual
Pepper Schwartz opens Why is Everyone Afraid of Sex? with "In spite of the visibility of sex in the media and popular culture, despite a widespread acceptance of a variety of sexual practices, Americans still hold a deep-rooted fear of sex." (252) Schwartz then goes on to explain the surprising, but obvious truth. American society portrays a sexual attitude, but is actually hiding a fear of the activity. Schwartz does a great job of showing both sides of this argument. She mentions how sex seems to no longer be a completely taboo thing within the media and society today. Within television, magazines, articles, movies, etc, sexual themes are all over the place. Another factor is that premarital sex is becoming more and more acceptable these
A moral panic is defined as a public panic over a matter that is considered to be threatening or shocking to the social order. One example of a significant matter that caused a moral panic in the public eye is homosexuality. The public discriminated against homosexuals, viewing them as sick, unnatural, immoral and a threat to society. Another example of a moral panic is America’s effort to protect its children from sex, which is discussed in the Harmful to Minors book by the author Judith Levine. This controversial argument by Levine explores why Americans demonize the topic of sex and keep their children away from it in fear that it will harm them, and in return Levine explains how protecting them away from sex actually ends up harming them.
Deborah Tolman author of “Dilemmas of Desire” dwells on uncovering a wealth of feelings about sexuality from teenage girls who are faced with a lot of struggles in developing sexual identity and detached from their sexuality. One of her main argument is centered on the juxtaposition of media representations of girls as highly sexualized objects. For instance, “the urban girl is viewed as the overly sexual young jezebel. Latinas are often eroticized as exotic, sexually alluring and available.” (Tolman, pg.170). I agree with this statement due to simple fact that we are living in a highly sexualized cultural milieu and evidence of sexualization is seen through mainstream culture. Images such as Sarah Bartman depict African American/ urban portrayal of sexual imagery formed socio-historical
... The Sounds of Sex: Sex in teens’ music and music videos. Sexual Teens, Sexual Media: Investigating Media’s Influence on Adolescent Sexuality (p. 253)
Introduction: Neither the resolve of patriots nor the labor of men freed Americans from the hands of tyranny. The fathers of this nation, as well as those who fought for her ability to prosper were united by their unwavering faith and trust in God. The future of this world lay heavily upon their shoulders, yet they carried the burden willingly for the duration of their lives and passed it down from generation to generation. As a result, a new nation was born and grew into one of the most powerful countries of the world. Although America began as a Christian nation, it has pulled away from the fundamental beliefs that held this nation together. Despite their ancient predecessor’s emphasis on faith and Christianity, the current government has taken a more secular path. The legality of abortion and the exclusion of religious references in public institutions are a couple of examples how morality has been corrupted within the government. Society itself also forsakes the religious path, twisting the concept of morality to fit the lifestyles they wish to lead. David Barton uses line graphs to demonstrate the decrease of morality since 1950. Violent behavior, the circulation of sexually transmitted diseases, and the birth rate for unwed girls, has drastically inclined while educational achievement and family stability have dropped at an accelerated rate (242). It is apparent through the government’s choices, the media, and the attitudes present in average society that Americans have drifted far away from the principles on which this country was founded. Without a genuine faith and trust in God, American society will continue to deteriorate until memories of a once great nation are all that remains.
American literature often examines people and motives. In Nathaniel Hawthorne’s novel, The Scarlet Letter, and in Arthur Miller’s dramatic classic, The Crucible, people and motives often depict patterns of Puritans struggling for life during a precarious time.
There are many things that influence our behavior from internal influences to social norms. Social norms are implicit or explicit rules that govern how we behave in society (Maluso, class notes). Social norms influence our behavior more than any of us realize but we all notice when a norm has been broken. Breaking a social norm is not an easy task and often leads us feeling uncomfortable whether we broke the norm ourselves or witnessed someone else breaking it. Sometimes however, you just have to break a norm to see what happens.
Let’s talk about sex! Sex is primarily for the survival of our species. It satisfies our urge to reproduce and leave generational legacies on the world. Everyone does it; everyone is here because of it. Yet in society, it 's considered to be a taboo subject to discuss. Most people are uncomfortable openly talking about it, but those who do are often criticized because of their differences. As a result, the effects of the sex being such a private topic are more harmful than simply being open about it. However, in today’s society, it not that everyone cannot be open about their sexuality, it 's mostly unacceptable for women to be open, thus posing double standards on women. I wonder if the connotation of sex is a result of society’s morals
"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 ...
Brown, J. D., Steele, J. R., & Walsh-Childers, K. (2002). SEXUAL TEENS, SEXUAL MEDIA: Investigating Media’s Influence on Adolescent Sexuality. New Jersey: LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS.
In today’s society a person is shaped by family, friends, and past events, but in Aldous Huxley’s classic novel, Brave New World, there is no such thing as family, history and “true” friends. The government controls every aspect of an individual from their creation in the hatcheries to their conditioning for their thoughts and careers. In this brave new world the ideas of stability and community reign supreme, and the concept of individualism is foreign and suppressed, “Everyone belongs to everyone else, after all,” (47). Huxley perverses contemporary morals and concepts in Brave New World, thus distorting the ideas of materialistic pleasures, savagery versus society, and human relationships. These distortions contribute to the effectiveness of Brave New World, consequently creating a novel that leaves the reader questioning how and why.
Today’s society is a sexual playing field. Celebrities on television and movies, models on the covers of magazines, and even politicians have become sexual legends in the map of American society. The issue of sex is publicly discussed, on media and otherwise, and as such, it has become, to a great degree, a measure of self-worth. Issues such as breast size, penis size, and sexual stamina have flooded the American public with the idea that one is defined by how sexually appealing s/he is.
Pornography degrades the moral values of a society. With increased pornography in the contemporary society, sex is no longer a sacred act shared between two people who love each other. Sex has been abused by many people, while there has been an increase in promiscuity (Sabo 150). In addition, the perceptions that people have about sex and women has changed. Women are seen as objects or instruments of sexual satisfaction. They are no longer respected while men expect sexual gratification from acts that can even be termed as beastly. The effects are far reaching as young people as young as 12 years have been fed with the same perception (Peter and Valkenburg 179).
The idea of waiting till marriage to have sex is no longer as effective with teens as it was in the past, due to the outcome of the “sexual revolution liberalizing social and moral attitudes toward sex” (Findley, Sarah, Chelsea Mageland, and Gabriella Pastor). For years the media has promoted sex in music, movies, television shows, and even with people. In the music industry we have many song with hidden sexual content that many teens listen to. For example, the song