Sex & the city
Sex & the city
By Jaclyn Dillman | Feature Editor
From contraception to misconception, sex is an unavoidable component to movies, language and everyday life. Stereotyping and the belittlement often accompany this “right of passage” in our society. It seems that in the minds of many men and women, both young and old, sex is viewed very differently.
For example, when a 20-year-old woman has sex with multiple people, she is labeled easy or slutty. On the other hand, if a 20-year-old man does the same thing, he doesn’t seem to receive the same derogatory label as a female. It is evident that this is gender bias and wrong. However, many facets of our society condone this name-calling and stereotyping. This has been the case for generations, and needs to be stopped. This stereotyping comes from many different media entities, one of the most dominant being television and movies.
The point is: sex sells. Everyone knows this, and yet “selling sex” has begun to come at the expense of the self-esteem and self-image of many young adults today. Television shows like ABC Family Channel’s “The Secret Life of the American Teenager” and The CW’s “Gossip Girls” cast the traditional stereotype on sex and relationships in young people. Derogatory and sexist music lyrics can also have the same effects. A prime example would be rap music lyrics that degrade women and treat sex like a sport rather than a commitment and partnership between two individuals.
A 2008 study done by the National Institute of Health discovered about 46 percent of teens ages 16 to19 have had sexual intercourse. Females account for the majority of that number. Females are just as sexually active as males and should not have to feel ashamed to admit so. Sex is a part of human life, but, sex has become a degrading act that is used to label and belittle.
If two individuals decide to have sexual relations, it is a choice they should not make lightly. When that decision is made, it should institute an obligation to society as well as ourselves to break sexual stereotypes today and see to it that sex is viewed in the way it was intended: an act of intimacy and commitment shared by equal partners.
