Hyper-sexualizing our Youth

By Dick Rolfe

 

It may interest you to know that Hollywood defines a certain genre’ of movies by the term “Sexploitation.”  The term has been upgraded from what was formerly known as “Romantic Comedies.” The so-called envelope of creative expression has been pushed to the exploding point. And millions of people are crying “enough!”

Television has also slid down a slippery slope ever since cable and satellite programs like “The Sopranos” and “Sex and the City” began gaining in popularity. Broadcasters find themselves competing with a premium channels like HBO, Cinemax, and Showtime. These subscription channels can air programs with nudity, simulated or actual sex acts, and the most offensive language imaginable, with virtual impunity.

ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX are under pressure to relax their standards in order to keep their audience share. As a result, we are being exposed to more and more sex, profanity and violence than ever before on network shows, even during what was once revered as “the Family Hour.”

As recently as 1987, “butt” was considered as a four-letter word and prohibited on prime time network television. In 1993, NYPD Blue exposed audiences to network television’s first naked male derrière in prime time.

Sex is being injected into our youth culture through all forms of media; in advertisements, television programs, magazines, movies, billboards, and music. Virtually every form of commercial communication is riddled with sexual messages, or sexual images delivering them.

 

You are what you eat

Parents have become almost obsessive about the ingredients in the food products their children consume. We count calories, fat grams, and avoid preservatives. At the same time, we permit our children to consume vast amounts of television without regard for the harmful ingredients they are being exposed to.  

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the average child watches more than 24 hours of television per week; a statistic that keeps climbing by about 10% per year. Compare that to the daily average of 15 minutes they spend talking with mom and dad, or the two hours a week some of them spend in church.

Author and talk show host, Michael Medved and his wife, Dr. Diane Medved co-authored a very insightful book, “Saving Childhood.” In it they state that parents concerned for their children must be constantly alert because the media’s assault on innocence is ubiquitous and comes on several fronts. Television is the most potent and pervasive offender. They go on to say that nothing destroys childhood more effectively than television, because it undermines crucial values in the child’s home, the one place that should be a safe haven.

There is no doubt that television images are colorful, attractive, animated, and entertaining. And that’s what makes them so compelling and powerful. We must never forget that those images are created to attract and influence us and millions of others like us. Film producers, television programmers and advertisers all want to appeal to as large a segment of the population as possible.

 

Super Bowl’s Super-sized misstep

Advertisers agreed to fork over $2.3 million for a single Super Bowl TV commercial because they knew that nearly one billion potential buyers would be watching.

I was amused by the types of products that were hawked during this year’s Super Bowl. Ad agencies must believe that the average Super Bowl viewer is a middle-aged beer drinking slob with sexual performance problems. Whether advertising beer or brawn, sex dominated the images and the messages of virtually every commercial during that choice time period.

Speaking of the Super Bowl, I will only mention Ms. Jackson’s revealing performance to make one point.

I was shocked but not terribly surprised by Miss Jackson and Justin Timberlake’s on-stage antics. What should we have expected from a song with lyrics like, “I’ve got to have you naked by the end of this song”?

The costume failure was only part of the disturbing exhibition that was broadcast worldwide that Super Bowl Sunday. The sexually suggestive dance moves were just as offensive to most viewers as the “accidental” over-exposure. 

Then, of course, there was that icon of the crotch-grabbing set, Nelly. His song, “Hot in Herre” included classic romantic lines like, “It’s getting hot in here so take off all your clothes. I am getting so hot; I wanna take my clothes off.”

The real culprits for the Super Bowl blunder are the members of the Halftime Entertainment Committee for being stupid enough to contract with MTV to produce a “family-oriented” show in the first place.  What did they think they would get, the Lollypop Kids? Personally, I would have preferred a few selections by Nora Jones or Harry Connick Jr.

 

Feeling overwhelmed?

Here are a few suggestions for parents who wish to take back control of the situation?

 

1.       Draw a line in the sand and refuse to support any kind of medium whether entertainment, music, advertising, or news that offends your sensibilities.  Spend your time and entertainment dollars on those products and services that are compatible with your own values. Your children will learn more by seeing a sermon than by hearing one.

 

2.       Send a message of your own; to your state and federal legislator, to the advertiser of a program you object to. Contact your relatives and friends and encourage them to do the same. Every civil letter of objection or praise received by a programmer or advertiser is worth 500 like-minded opinions from people who didn’t write.

 

3.       Avoid over-exposure. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children watch no more than 2 hours of television per day. They also urge parents to play a role in selecting the programs their children watch.

 

4.       Watch television programs and movies with your kids. Talk with (not to) your youngsters about any sexual messages you detect. Then share your family’s values as a basis for comparison. If appropriate, share a couple of lessons you learned from your own mistakes. It helps kids to know that their parents once struggled with the same issues.  

 

A blow for decency!  

To prove it’s serious about decency infractions, the FCC has proposed fining Clear Channel, one of the largest broadcast and entertainment conglomerates in America, as much as $1.7 million for airing indecent programs. Bubba the Love Sponge, who legally changed his name from Todd Clem, was fired by Clear Channel after being accused by federal regulators of airing sexual material on Tampa's WXTB-FM and three other Florida stations. The FCC proposed fining Clear Channel $755,000 for the airing.

Howard Sterns’ radio show was suspended by Clear Channel just aired a disgracefully profane exchange during one of his recent broadcasts. Stern’s show was temporarily cancelled by Clear Channel stations.

John Hogan, Chief Executive Officer of Clear Channel Radio stated, “If a DJ is found to be in violation of FCC rules, there will be no appeals and no intermediate steps. If they break the law by broadcasting indecent material, they will not work for Clear Channel.”

Reiterating its call for a “Decency Task Force,” Clear Channel also has volunteered to fully participate with other representatives of the broadcast, cable and satellite industries to develop an industry-wide response to indecency and violence in the media.

 

Things are looking up. But how long will it last? Just as long as we the people continue voicing our concerns.