Sexuality and Adolescence in the Media

Sexuality and Adolescence in the Media

Priser, Danielle

Over the past decade, the amount of sexuality that is seen in the media has skyrocketed. In fact, if one were to judge adolescent sexuality upon solely media outlets, it would be easy to assume that adolescents are becoming sexual beings earlier and more often than previous generations. Unfortunately, this assumption is not far from the truth in the majority of cases.

Because media portrayal of sexuality in this age group has increased and become more commonplace, sexuality among adolescents has followed suit. More teens are engaging in intercourse and at earlier ages than ever before, which causes more teens to become pregnant or contract sexually transmitted disease. In fact, the CDC estimates that nearly half of all STD's are contracted by those in the 15-24 yrs age group. While this may not seem like a frightening statistic, couple it with the fact that those born in the year 2000 and later (who are now reaching their adolescent years) are expected to easily live to reach 100 years of age. This would mean that the first quarter of their lives could impact the last three quarters of their lives in a very negative way.

All of the media attention to adolescent sexuality does have an upside, however. If one were to compare today with, say, fifty years ago, a much different picture was painted of adolescents and people in general. Sexuality has always been something that Americans did not speak of, but whispered about in hushed tones. Women's sexuality was ignored completely, and sex and sexuality were seen as dirty and something to be ashamed of. By bringing adolescent sexuality into the light of mainstream media, we are able to talk openly about important issues such as homosexual marriage, equality, and transgendered issues. These are all issues that would be condemned in previous generations, but now we are beginning to speak to each other in a more open manner as other countries (such as Germany and Denmark) have been doing for generations to no ill effects.