Why Talk About Sex?The media and culture’s effect on the sexuality of today’s youth.

Trivia Time

1. Actor Martin Sheen has two famous actor sons—Charlie Sheen and who else?

A. Judd Nelson

B. Emilio Estevez

C. Carrot Top

2. Who is TV’s longest running married couple?

A. Ricky & Lucy Ricardo from “I Love Lucy”

B. Heathcliff and Clair Huxtable from “The Cosby Show”

C. Homer and Marge Simpson from “The Simpsons”

3. What TV show was the first to depict a married couple sharing the same bed?

A. Mary Kay and Johnny

B. The Flintstones

C. The Brady Bunch

4. Which deceased president had the longest marriage?

A. John Adams

B. Theodore Roosevelt

C. Ronald Reagan

5. Ex-Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston shared the screen on:

A. The Tonight Show

B. The Jerry Springer Show

C. Friends

6. Who is considered “Hollywood's power mother-daughter team”?

A. Sharon and Kelly Osborne

B. Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson

C. Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher

7. What musical pair “exposed” themselves at the 2004 superbowl?

A. Brittney Spears & Justin Timberlake

B. Gwen Stefani & Gavin Rosedale

C. Janet Jackson & Justin Timberlake

8. What movie, with actor Will Ferrell, did the song “Afternoon Delight” appear?

A. AnchormanB. Wedding CrashersC. Talladega Nights

9. What R&B singer, came out with a hit single titled, “Sexy Can I?”

A. UsherB. Ray JC. R. Kelly

10. What popular boy band had a song titled “Digital Get Down”?

A. Backstreet Boys

B. 98 Degrees

C. N Sync

Answers

1. Actor Martin Sheen has two famous actor sons—Charlie Sheen and who else?

A. Judd Nelson

B. Emilio Estevez

C. Carrot Top

6. Who is TV’s longest running married couple?

A. Ricky & Lucy Ricardo from “I Love Lucy”

B. Heathcliff and Clair Huxtable from “The Cosby Show”

C. Homer and Marge Simpson from “The Simpsons”

3. What TV show was the first to depict a married couple sharing the same bed?

A. Mary Kay and Johnny (1947)

B. The Flintstones

C. The Brady Bunch

4. Which deceased president had the longest marriage?

A. John Adams (54 years)

B. Theodore Roosevelt

C. Ronald Reagan

5. Ex-Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston shared the screen on:

A. The Tonight Show

B. The Jerry Springer Show

C. Friends

6. Who is considered “Hollywood's power mother-daughter team”?

A. Sharon and Kelly Osborne

B. Goldie Hawn and Kate Hudson

C. Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher

7. What musical pair “exposed” themselves at the 2004 Superbowl?

A. Brittney Spears & Justin Timberlake

B. Gwen Stefani & Gavin Rosedale

C. Janet Jackson & Justin Timberlake

8. What movie, with actor Will Ferrell, did the song “Afternoon Delight” appear?

A. Anchorman

B. Wedding Crashers

C. Talladega Nights

9. What R&B singer, came out with a hit single titled, “Sexy Can I?”

A. Usher

B. Ray J

C. R. Kelly

10. What popular boy band had a song titled “Digital Get Down”?

• Backstreet Boys

• 98 Degrees

• N Sync

Tie-Breaker

What movie is about teenagers who make a pact to lose their virginity at prom?

A. Super Bad

B. American Pie

C. Varsity Blues

What movie is about teenagers who make a pact to lose their virginity at prom?

A. Super Bad

B. American Pie

C. Varsity Blues

Why Talk About Sex?The media and culture’s effect on the sexuality of today’s youth.

Understanding Youth Culture

• Kids are kids, right?– “Our youth love luxury. They have band manners,

contempt for authority. They show disrespect for their elders, and love to chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their household. They no longer rise when their elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up their food, and tyrannize their teachers.”—Socrates

• Today’s youth culture is different than any other from before

Your typical Mosiac

• Born between 1984-2002

• There is no norm

• They combine traditional and contemporary

• Exhibit a nonlinear style of thinking

• Cut and paste value system

• “abandoned” teenager

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Sexuality in the Media

Movies

• Movies like SuperBad, Wedding Crashers, Anchorman, etc. make sex out to be joke.

• Sex=love

• Sex isn’t a big deal and doesn’t need to happen between people who are married

Music

• Teaches that sexual immorality is no big deal– “Ain't no big deal, it's innocent”—from I kissed a

girl by Katy Perry

• Sex is love– I'll take you home if you don't leave me at the front

door. Your body's cold, but girl we're getting so warm. And I was thinking of ways that I could get inside. Tonight you're falling in love. The feelings stirring me up.—from Shake It by Metro Station

• On the top 40, 24 of them had sexual references and 11 had to do with relationships.

Television

• By the time a teenager graduates they will have spent 15,000 hours watching television.

• 56% of programs contain sexual content

• 1/3 of family hour shows contain sexual references

• 75% of music videos involve sexual imagery

• Television is used as a “super-peer”

Commercials and Ads

• Sex is used to sell anything

• Men are perceived as in charge, aggressive, and dominant.

• Women are perceived as sexual objects and that they must be beautiful.

Internet

• National Institute on Media and the Family found that there are some websites that can “trap” a person.

• Porn is no longer a secret—but has become almost universal

• Pornography industry makes over 14 billion dollars a year.

• There are about 40 million page views of pornography per day in America alone.

• Websites like Facebook and Tumblr allows younger teens to put information about themselves out there for anyone to see.

“ I fully expected that my adult perception of the barrage of sexual images, metaphors, allusions, and anything-goes ethic would be duplicated among midadolescents…I was surprised to realize that for most adolescents the issue of sex has lost its mystique and has become almost commonplace…[they] have become laissez-faire in their attitudes and even jaded.”—Chap Clark from his book “Hurt”

“Hah. It’s a joke to them. Like it doesn’t mean anything to them.”

–High School, Female

Sexuality in Youth Culture

What you can do.

• Set up boundaries– Web-site blocking– Use television ratings– Check out Movie and Music reviews– Tivo / DVR

• Tap into resources• Remember that Christ has fought the

fight– “I have told you these things, so that in

me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”—John 16:33

Resources

• commonsensemedia.org

• Xxxchurch.com

• Tvguidelines.com

• Pluggedinonline.com

• Whattheyplay.com

Creating an action plan

• Think about your household: What are some areas where you could set more boundaries?

• Write them down and discuss at your tables.

• Now pick one area to work on.

• Go home and talk to your child about it.

Don’t go overboard!

• This is to make you aware of what is going on out there.

• You don’t have to limit everything your child does—just talk to them about it.

Remember…

• You influence your child’s life greatly!

Works Cited.• ABC Nightline. Porn Debate. February 29,

2008.• Clark, Chap. Hurt. Baker Academic. 2004.• Barna, George. Real Teens. Regal Books,

2001.• Center for Media Literature. www.medialit.org. • Committee on Public Education. Sexuality,

Contraception, and the Media. American Academy of Pediatrics, 2001.

• Lanis, Kyra. Images of women in advertisements. Sex Roles: A Journal of Reserace. May, 1995.