The Sex God/dess

There's no denying that children today are exposed to so much more overt sexuality than they were even twenty years ago, let alone during the time I was raised. Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke slept in separate beds when I watched TV. Today, well, let's just say things have changed. A lot. It didnt' take long for the advertising industry to jump on these changes and use sex (or sexually suggestive poses/clothing) to boost sales.

According to a new study by Kaiser, 8-18-year-olds spend an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes every day in front of some form of screen (be it TV, iPod, cell phone or computer). And because most kids tend to multitask, they actually "consume" more than 10 hours and 45 minutes of media in that same time period. Even the very young are being immersed in TV viewing according to the latest Nielsen study. The average 2-5 year old spends more than 32 hours every week in front of the TV. Another finding of the Nielsen study shows that this same age group, when using "playback" material (such as prerecorded DVDs or videos) spends 50% of their time watching commercials.

On average, we each see more than 2000 ads every day of our lives. Pop-up ads on our computers. Billboards as we drive down the high way. Commercials on TV. Ads in magazines and newspapers. The newest form of "advertising" is product placement in movies and TV shows. Watch "The Biggest Loser" and see how they integrate plugs for specific products into their show, so you see a commercial without a commercial break. Those ads, where we are aware of it or not, are seen by the subconscious mind, which takes everything quite literally and holds it all in our memory where it can subtly influence our behavior even if we're not aware of it. Advertisers have been aware of this for a long time and, until such practice was forbidden, used subliminal advertising to, for example, make you feel hungry for a hot dog and soft drink during the intermission at the drive-in. They'd flash pictures of hot dogs and cold drinks every so many frames— always faster than the conscious eye could see, but not fast enough for the subconscious to miss it.

But it's not just the commercials on TV that use sex to sell. Look in any magazine, especially those made for woman, and you'll see an ad with sexual overtones on almost every page. The pursed lips, the wind-blown hair, the suggestive positioning of the body, the bare shoulders, the exposed legs, the cleavage. Some is more subtle than others. Some more overt. But it's there. And our kids are seeing it and our actions are affected by it.

Some will point to the downward trend in crimes such as rape and teenage pregnancy to say that this added exposure to sex doesn't harm our kids. (Although most recent numbers indicate a reverse in the trend of teen pregnancies, most attribute this to the failed attempt by the Bush administration to push their "abstinence only" agenda.) However, these are not the only indicators of whether or not harm is coming to our children.

The sexualization of advertising has led to unrealistic ideas of what the "ideal" body should look like. There is a significant rise in the incidence of eating disorders among teenagers as they seek to achieve what is often an unhealthy weight that's common among models and actresses. More and more teens are seeking plastic surgery in an attempt to meet the idealized standard of beauty, even going so far as to have surgery on their labia! There are stories in the news all the time about girls getting breast augmentations for high school graduation gifts from their parents! Additionally, there are issues of self-esteem as young boys compare the size of their penis to that of full grown men who have often been specially selected for the abnormally large size of their penis.

Additionally, there are alarming studies on the rise in STDs and oral sex and even prostitution among teens today. Back in 2005, a poll by NBC showed that nearly three out of ten teens between the ages of 13 and 16 were sexually active. A study by the CDC during that same time period showed that more than half of teens between the ages of 15 and 19 regularly engage in oral sex. A 2008 report by the CDC shows rises in chlamydia and syphilis (which was almost to the point of eradication in the US in 2000) with a slight decrease in cases of gonorrhea. And the age at which our youth are becoming sexually active appears to be on the decline, with reports of young girls of 11 going to sex parties and engaging in casual prostitution.

We have to take into account the proliferation of internet porn sites as well. The internet makes bringing porn into the home much easier and less embarrassing. A child caught viewing porn or even a husband/wife caught by a spouse can claim they just hit a link and all this porn just popped up. The largest group of viewers of internet porn are children between the ages of 12 and 17. Additionally, the ideas that our children get about sex are usually idealized and wrong. Children who view porn online or in magazines may attempt to "reenact" what they see as "normal" when in fact such acts may not be "normal" and may very dangerous if one is not properly instructed on how to safely engage in some of the activities portrayed.

The debate over whether or not over-exposure to sex is harmful to kids will go on. I find it extremely sad that something as intimate and personal as sex has been so commercialized and deified. I find it extremely sad that so many people judge their own self-worth on how many people they've had sex with or how closely the match the ideal "body" they see advertised on TV or in the movies. I find it extremely sad that our children are becoming so sexualized at such a young age and making decisions with regards to sex that often will have long term effects they have no way of understanding or comprehending at the time. And I'm talking about things like the increased risk of cervical cancer if you have more than five partners in your lifetime, not the changes that occur if you end up pregnant/fathering a child. That's something else that saddens me: children having children, which puts both generations at such an increased risk of poverty and child abuse and unfulfilled dreams/ambitions.