How Is Mass Media Effecting This Generations Sexuality

Television is one of most pervasive and influential forms of media. Sadly, there is a lot of sexual context on television. It is in movies, TV shows, and commercials. Sometimes it is subliminal but it can be obvious. I can admit to it myself I was completely ignorant to the sexual content in television shows I watched as a child, like show in Figure 1 now that I am older, I can clearly see the signs. Besides being naturally curious, TV is usual the first exposure to sexual content. Research show that sexual content is being shown early through television and that children 6 to 11 are attached to shows with high sexual content (Teenage Sexuality 39). (Figure 1 As a child, I did not notice the sex reference to pornographic magazines in the show Ed, Edd, and Eddy, 2003.) Not only is TV causing adolescents to become more curious but it is also influencing ideas about what is normal and expected during sexual activity (Kittleson 74). Because the way sex is present on TV, adolescents depict it as an activity without risks or consequences. Adolescents become oblivious to unplanned pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and even sex addiction. It was until recent years that TV networks like MTV start airing reality shows about teenage girls becoming young parents. Shows such as Teen Mom and 16 Pregnant have a reverse effect on society because the teenage mothers of these shows are becoming celebrities off their pregnancies. This effect can leave adolescents confused about