Tuesday, May 5, 2009

Sex and the Society

People are obsessive about not being obsessive about sex. Individuals in society try to be open minded, but society both represses and promotes sex. Allan says that sex in society today has become known today as the insidious power within, sex has become a “truth to discover and a thing to control (p 540). The public discourse in society inflicts a kind of moral consciousness on individuals’ perceptions of their “selves” in terms ranging from sexually pure to promiscuous. Sex has become objectified, something to be observed, analyzed, and profited from. Capitalism has objectified sex in order to exploit it economically. The more society represses sex, the more deviant behavior is expressed unnaturally and exploited. Pornography, sex shops, and strip clubs profit from the exploitation of sex. But sex is also exploited to sell many goods thus promoting sex unnecessarily in society, exacerbating an already exaggerated and unhealthy obsession with sex. Society is even sexualizing objects to make a perverse profit. Cars are designed to look “sexy” and some individuals have reported experiencing feelings of love & attraction for objects like cars. Do you think that sex is over emphasized in today’s society? How big a part does sex play in your everyday life. How is society influenced by the media’s portrayal of sex in popular culture?

12 comments:

  1. I think sex is definitely over emphasized in today's society, since we can see something related to sex everywhere. It does not matter if we are driving or at the comfort of our home, there are ads both on the streets and on the TV that are somehow related to sex. For instance, at night, there are many TV ads advertising "magic" pills for men, or sex lines for those who feel alone, and I am not talking about random ads, but continuous ads that appear one after another. I think sex is a big part in everybody's lives, and I am not talking only about a sexual relationship, but about what occurs in our surroundings. We like to go to the mall and everywhere we turn there are sexy models showing the latest trends, and there are body lotions and perfumes that supposedly make you attract the opposite sex. So, I think sex plays an important role in everybody's lives, regardless if the person is sexually active or not; sex is part of our capitalist culture without a doubt.

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  2. Today's society is very focused on sex, but at the same time society tabooes sex. I beleive that in our everyday lives we witness how our capitalist society uses sex to sell all sorts of merchandise going from cars to food. In many television comercials we see how sex is used to sell. Sex is is used to sell products by making the products either look sexy or having good looking women come out in the commercials. I think that sex works for selling merchandise, and making places like strip clubs make more profit, but at the same time the fact that we taboo sex is not positive because by tabooing sex it leads to misinformation for society as a whole. The misinformation about sex could lead to more teen pregnancies, and sexually transmitted diseases in the future.

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  3. I would have to agree that sex is extremely over emphasized, and I think this has a huge effect on our society. Our youth today see sex as not a big deal. The media's portrayal of sex has caused it to lose the sacredness of sex. It is an everyday thing when our youth turn on the television to watch a music video, and see nothing but sex appeal during the whole video. Sex appeal is common for our youth because they want to emulate what they see on tv. Sex plays a huge role on everyday life. And I would have to agree with D1ego23, this will definitely have an effect on teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases in the future because sex is seen as not a big deal anymore.

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  4. I beg to differ with those who say sex is "sacred." Many people tend to forget we human beings are animals- with instincts like hunger, tire, and a desire for sex- these instincts are what help us survive as a species. Ad companies have simply tapped into our most basic instincts. The reason chain restaurants make so much money is the same reason pornography and sex sells! They appeal to instincts we can- but choose not to control! Excuse me very much for liking sex, but I also love Italian food so watching an Olive Garden makes my mouth water. In exactly the same manner- a teenager whose hormones are raging will go out and buy the Axe body spray if it will get the girls to fall over their own feet to get to him- it's only natural.

    I think this is what is meant by the original comment- exactly what I see has been posted in comment after- people obsess about NOT being obsessive about sex. We want to maintain this image that sex is "sacred" that it's somehow something dirty that needs to be kept in the dark. Well, ladies and gentlemen, this is the PRECISE reason we make kids curious- because they know absolutely NOTHING about it except what they see on MTV- that sex is fun, being sexy is cool, and being sexually desired by anyone and everyone is the GOAL. Perhaps if you gave your son a condom instead of a curfew- we COULD do something about STDs and teen pregnancies. Pretending teenagers "respect" sex just to listen to their parents is, honestly, just plain naive.

    Yes, sex is over-emphasized- but you tell me- I challenge you. Aside from commercials about food- what sells better than sex? If you can find ONE thing that does- well I'll take back everything I just said. The profitability of sex (and food) is too tempting to pass over. Morals and sacredness went out the window in the 60s when the hippies introduced a new drug- SEX. The ad companies just followed through.

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  5. I think sex is hugely over emphasized in today’s society because it is every where and we have given it the power to define who we are. Sex has now crept out of bedroom walls and has exploded all over mainstream. I mean I can’t recall watching a TV show or movie without some kind of sexual act or comment. I don’t bother me seeing these things because I have a clear understanding of what sex is. I know sex and its good and bad sides. I just worry about those who are naive and think that sex is just an act without consequences like our youth.
    I have to agree with the previous comment about sex not being “sacred”. Instead of thinking about sex as being this untouchable act that you must oppress until you are of the right age while mom and dad are getting it on every night we must let our kids now that it is a natural human instinct and a desire we all want to fulfill. But we must also teach that it is precious and shouldn’t be given to just anyone. We must also teach our youth that both men and women must protect themselves from the danger of sex. I think young girls and women are taught about teen pregnancies and safe sex much more than men and therefore all the responsibility are on them.

    Going back to the original question I’ve never really thought about how much sex played a part in my life. I do enjoy the pleasures of sex and am grateful that because of sex I am a mom but I don’t think it is constantly on my mind.

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  6. I agree that capitalism has helped objectified sex, and it is somewhat ridiculous the amount of money that the sex industry received and profits from. However, as a culture we are reinforced this idea with an increasing amount of media that focuses on sex rather than the qualities of a product or person. We have also learn to use words like sexy, hot, etc. to describe a person. I have heard those words too from children so as a society we should instead encourage a less shallow perspective.

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  7. I do not think that sex has been over emphasized, it has always been as such. As humans, sex is a very imperative quality. I do believe that we live in era where sexuality is expoited and subjectified. in recent years there have been contemporary trends that have influenced U.S. sexual attitudes and behaviors, aomw have been good and some have been bad.

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  8. As far as the media goes yes it is over emphasized, but in school ot is not. Unfortunately future generations base their attitudes on what they see in movies and TV. Where sex needs to be is in school in the form of sex education. Well I see it everyday in TV, I see it in the news, its here in El Paso, (one of the major ports of sex trafficing). We can see the influence in today's youth, Texas alone has one of the highest teen pregnancy rates, what else is their to say.

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  9. I strongly believe that sex is strongly influenced in society. Anywhere from celebrities to the media alot of what we see on tv is emphasised on something sexual. The volumious breast, the low cut shirts as well as the beautifulmwomen that we see on tv. Not just women but men as well. We have the young, studly guy who all the older women want. I just think that if we saw media as well as the topic of sex 30 years ago, there would be a huge diffrence

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  10. Proven point!! How many of us are directed to this post while others are left to dry out in the cold!! Sex sells and is also over emphasized! But like u2girl said, there is nothing wrong with wanting it. We are animals of nature and by so we will continue to over emphasize it.
    To the second question, how big does it play in an individuals role is up to the person and to the persons social characteristics. An innocent comment can be turned completely upside down, depending on the person. Or the comment can just be a regular comment that's all. But then again, did Mead say that society is what influences one's self. So yes, sex will be a part of everyday life.
    Final answer, sex is portrayed by the popular culture much better than let's say 10 years ago. We are not starting to see sex be part of the normal everyday life, with commercials, ads, it is all out there. The media can do more now with sex than they could before.

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  11. I do think that sex is overemphasized in our society, like many of the previous posts state, sex is use everywhere. There is a saying in Spanish “El que no enseƱa no vende!” It means that if you don’t sexually show something, then your product is not going to be sold. When you see commercials, especially directed to men, you always are going to see a girl either on a bikini, with a miniskirt and/or with a low cleavage blouse. In news, in magazines, and on TV, sex adds are present in every day life.

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  12. I think that our society over emphasizes sex and I also think that everyone at some point has overemphasized it as well. Nowadays sex is all around us just turn on you TV and count how many ads are selling sex or using sex to sell their products. Just the other day I saw a commercial for a Cadillac car and it was being driven by a very attractive woman. Everyone knows sex sells and that is why I thinks everyone resorts to it. Society is influenced by the media because they buy into their belief and then they try to fit in into their level of "sexiness". I must admit that I have felt the influence as well and I think that it is thanks to the fact that sex has become extremely normal in our everyday life. It does no have a taboo anymore.

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