Sexual Imagery in the Media - Northern Illinois University

Sexual Imagery in the Media
and its Influence
on Adolescent Self-Image
By: John Sieker
Have you noticed all the sex on television? I’m sure you have. It’s
everywhere. You might ask “What’s wrong with that?”. It draws
attention, keeps it, and is interesting and exciting to watch.
Well…
The PROBLEM of Sex on Television
The problem with depictions of sex and sexual stereotypes on
television is that it has a negative effect on the development of young
people. It encourages images of what people should imitate, and makes

people feel inadequate and different if they do not adhere to the
stereotypes.
Evidence exists which suggests that what adolescents see on
television, whether or not they know fantasy from reality, is what they
assume society expects of them and the typical sexual being. While it is
human nature to learn from one’s surroundings, television offers negative
images which adolescents take to be the norm.
Some Evidence:
- Jeremiah S. Strouse, a researcher in the field of psychology and the
media, attests this idea in his statement: “a number of surveys (Brown &
Newcomer, 1991; Peterson & Khan, 1984; Strouse & Buerkel-Rothfuss,
1987) have found that exposure to sexually suggestive materials--
especially Music Television (MTV) and R-rated films--is significantly
associated with premarital sexual permissiveness (PSP) among youth”.
- In addition to this information, a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation,
shows that in the 2001-2002 television season, “two thirds (64%) of all
shows included some sexual content; one third (32%) of all shows have some
sexual behaviors, and one in seven (14%) have sexual intercourse”
(7). Negative sexual attitudes and roles portrayed in drama and especially
music videos can lead adolescents to misguided and damaging behavior.

The problem adolescents of today must face is to discern between
sensationalistic sexual situations and actions and he realities of adult
society.
Objectification of Women
And Self-Development
Much of media uses images of blatant female subjectification. The perfect
example of this is the music video.
- 71% of the popular videos of today (1956 and 1990) were sung by
men sung by male artists, and similarly, male performers outnumber
females two-to-one in music videos (Brown & Campbell, 1986)”
(Strouse).
- These videos also feature attractive women who seem consumed only
by the need to fawn over the male subjects of the videos. The
women presented are shown in the capacity of their apparent

function: the sex slave. This should be apparent to anyone who turns
on MTV.
It is true that these roles are at times reversed in cases where the
singers are female. Although Strouse reports less blatant sex and violence
in female focused videos, but the male recording artists are guilty of such
sexual objectification to a greater degree.
The Impact
The impact that these images have on female adolescents is not
positive. One message that that images of women in music videos shows
young women in regular society is that they are worth less than the men
whom they serve.
Adolescents struggle “to achieve an autonomous adult identity and
are exploring their emerging sexual awakenings, [and] are undoubtedly
more vulnerable to the combined influence of high-impact visual and

auditory messages. This may be true especially if their identity has not been
firmly established” (Strouse).
While correlation does not equal causation, which means that not
all of the world’s problems can be based on the images of television and
their impact on adolescents, “[s]ome recent research reveals that a
relatively short exposure to music videos can result in a desensitization to
[sexuality,] violence (Rehman & Reilly, 1985) and increased acceptance of
antisocial behavior
(Hansen & Hansen, 1990)” (Strouse). I don’t think any of us wants that to
happen.
Furthermore, if female adolescents continually view images in
which women are mistreated, it only stands to reason that their perception
of reality may conform to what they see in the media.
Adolescent Males
Adolescent males are affected by negative sexual images as well.
As a result of constant exposure to images in which women are treated
solely as sexual objects, impressionable male adolescents may learn to
imitate the same actions in social interaction.

More Evidence
- Strouse states that research has been found “in one experimental study
(Greeson & Williams 1986), [that] seventh-and ninth-grade adolescents who
were exposed to less than an hour of MTV were more likely to approve of
premarital sex than were adolescents who were not exposed to MTV.
- Similarly, Calfin, Carroll, and Schmidt (1993) found that college students
who were exposed to a music video exhibited more liberal attitudes toward
premarital sex than did unexposed students”.
Such findings suggest youth culture is influenced by these images,
but to what extent? If the factors viewed on television do in fact alter
adolescents’ views of how one is supposed to act in society, the casual
observer may wonder if the effects of negative popular television culture
have a correlation to the country’s rate of teen pregnancy or divorce rate.
Results from studies cannot account for all individuals, influences, and the
varying times they view sensational television, and “cannot establish a
cause-effect relationship [between viewing television images and possible
negative influence]. Self-selection of media is a major issue of concern.
According to the uses and gratifications model, people are motivated to use
certain media to gratify their psychological needs (see Rubin et al., 1986)”.
It is true, however, that research shows television is a large factor in the

lives of many adolescents, and they are in fact influenced by it to varying
degrees.
The Problem of Image
The influence of media faces adolescents with the problem of
image. At an impressionable time in a young adult’s life, the media
bombards them with images of what may seem desirable. The media is a
“critical part of [adolescents’] sexual socialization” (Kaiser Family
Foundation 2). The problem that adolescents must grapple with is
developing an understanding of the difference between sensationalistic
media technique and the reality of how one should act in society.
Links to helpful information:
Teen Pregnancy – This link provides further links and information
http://www.teenpregnancy.org/resources/reading/further_reading/mediasr.asp
Media and Communications – This link has a great deal of articles and studies of Youth
culture and the effects of sex in the media
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/sections/tv05.html
The Kaiser Family Fundation – This is a foundation which provides information on
influences in the media
http://www.kff.org/entmedia/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/security/getfile

Works Cited
Google.com. Images. 5, April 2004. www.images.google.com
The Kaiser Family Fundation. Sex on T.V. 3: A Biennial Report of the Kaiser
Family Foundation. 2001. 2 April 2004. Northern Illinois University Libraries
.
Strouse, Jeremiah S; Buerkel-Rothfuss, Nancy Long, Edgar C J. Gender and family as
moderators of the relationship between music video exposure and adolescent
exual permissiveness. Adolescence v30n119 (Fall 1995): 505-
521 ISSN: 0001-8449 Number: 02580768. Libra Publishers Inc 1995. 2 April
2004. Northern Illinois University Libraries. .