Sex in media boosts teen promiscuity-study

[mysterygal]

Exactly.... The problem is that their looking for a different kind of attention than what their getting from the boys

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

There is far too much sex - and not enough romance. This is true in terms of the media as well as real life.

I beg to differ. "Romance", as opposed to both ratio and love, is responsible for much evil, from broken teenagers right through Nazism, in my opinion.

BTW, early sex doesn't equal promiscuity. (The main problem is that people get sexually mature at least half a decade before they're emotionally mature.)

 

[Baron Kurtz]

"Interestingly one of the strongest predictors of risk for early sexual intercourse for both black and white teens (in the study) was the perception that his or her peers were having sex," the report said (from the yahoo article originally posted).

As most know, i have trouble blaming society's ills on media. It seems to be an all-too-easy scapegoat - an easy thing to blame for our own failures. I need to read this paper to find out what their findings really were. Unforunately the newsmedia condensations are often misleading. Looks to me like the excerpt above is suggesting the strongest indicator of "promiscuity" is perceived peer pressure. I'll report back after reading the study.

bk

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Sorry to double post.

The yahoo article mentions that America has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates of any industrialised country. But it ignores the notion that America also has one of the most restrictive (repressive?), in terms of sex, media regulatory bodies of the industrialised countries (even compared to - no sex, please ... we're British - the UK). Just witness the furore and subsequent over-reaction to the Janet Jackson Superbowl "incident". So it actually appears to be a negative relationship: The less sex in the mainstream media (USA vs. Europe), the higher the teenage pregnancy rate. This doesn't gel with the idea that sex in media causes sex in teenagers and would support my contention that we're using the media as a convenient scapegoat.

bk

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

The yahoo article mentions that America has one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates of any industrialised country. But it ignores the notion that America also has one of the most restrictive (repressive?), in terms of sex, media regulatory bodies of the industrialised countries

Oh, yes. I think the teen pregnancy problem is highest in Texas, which is at the same time most conservative and restrictive concerning s-s-sex.

 

[Siirous]

Well, I guess being only 20 would put me into the list of growing up in this "Sexual Media Frenzy".

I was educated in the 4th or 5th grade about sexual education. It was mainly a doctors view of "This is the male, this is the female".

In addition, my parents explained sex.

When I was 16, after a couple months of dating a girl we had sex. I know a lot of conservatives frown upon premarital sex, but we were safe everytime. Now 4 years later I'm still incredibly happy dating the same woman, and we're both due to graduate with our bachelors degrees in 1-2 years and look forward to settling down and starting a family of our own.

Looking back I think 16 is incredibly young, like I believe 30 year olds look back at the naive 20 year olds. But at 16 I felt like an adult, and I acted like one. I really believe that what we have here is a misviewing of time and ages:

In the past people were married at a younger age, and a 6th grade education was enough to get up the corporate ladder if you were a hard worker and dedicated. I remember my grandfather telling me in "The Golden Age" at 17 he was married and in the army. Not uncommon.

In today's world without a degree of some kind you are making low wages. You can't afford to get married at 17 and start a family. Children sexually mature at the same age just as they have done in the past. But I, like most people I know in college, am waiting until my mid twenties when I have an established career and can provide for a family.

So if we consider that the age of physical maturity in human beings has remained constant for hundreds if not thousands of years, just from a biology standpoint; may I pose the question that people are not having sex younger, just talking about it more? Also may I suggest the fact that the growing financial need to have a degree postpones marriage and family, therefore making premarital sex more common?

Food for thought.

Sincerely,
Rob

 

[scotrace]

I'm certain I've read that American girls are beginning their cycles at younger ages. Years earlier now than 100 years ago.

EDIT to correct: Puberty is beginning earlier, not cycles.
The study (condensed, BK): Yale-New Haven Children's Hospital

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Scotrace, I'd seen that study. It's interesting. So it seems females are developing faster these days. Anyone know why?

It wasn't so long ago that females were being married off at 12 and 13, and having their first children shorty thereafter. The marrying/legal sex age has moved on to what, 16 here? I know it's 16 in Britain. We're talking about increase in premarital sex, rather than an increase in promiscuity, right? Or am i wrong? I'm prepared to be wrong. Don't hold back! Are teenage girls really rampantly having intercoure with every male within reach? Or are we overblowing (sorry! Pun not intended) the issue a little?

bk

 

[Marc Chevalier]

My parents ... opted me out of the sex ed courses at school when I was young using the "I'll teach her that at home" excuse ... [yet] neither one of [my parents] ever bothered to tell me about the birds and the bees! ... don't opt your kids out with the intention of telling them what they need to know and then chicken out and leave them getting information from other kids their age

-Jess

You hit the nail on the head, Jess. Schools started teaching sex education because parents weren't. No mystery there: more often than not, parents themselves didn't know much about sex and reproduction. That, and sexuality's social stigma, made it all but impossible for parents to talk with their kids. The only places to "learn" about sex were the schoolyard and the pool hall, and that kind of "information" led to disease, pregnancies, abandoned babies and back alley abortions.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Scotrace, I'd seen that study. It's interesting. So it seems females are developing faster these days. Anyone know why?

A study in Chile concluded that hormones fed to chickens and other animals (to make them grow faster) are affecting young girls who eat meat and eggs. Supposedly, ingesting these hormones makes girls develop faster. The study found that such rapid development is not occurring in girls who eat meat and eggs without such hormones.


.

 

[mysterygal]

Hormones that are in milk and meats are being linked to girls developing earlier

 

[Baron Kurtz]

A study in Chile concluded that hormones fed to chickens and other animals (to make them grow faster) are affecting young girls who eat meat. Supposedly, ingesting these hormones makes girls develop faster.

Hormones that are in milk and meats are being linked to girls developing earlier

Glad i've made the shift over to organic! Wait, maybe that's why i'm so short.

bk

 

[mysterygal]

*hands over a glass of hormone enriched milk* drink up!
It'll be interesting with everything their adding to our foods ,how its going to affect us

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I think that the U.S. has a talent for making sex seem dirty, and selling it as such. If sexuality were shown to be as natural as it really is, the "titillation" aspect so essential to selling shampoo, jeans, fashion magazines, and "Girls Gone Wild" videos would all but disappear. We have TV shows on vaginal cosmetic surgery, but we aren't allowed to see Janet Jackson's metallic pastie. It's a show of false modesty that makes people even more obsessed with sex than they would otherwise be. And why? To sell more and more and more ...

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Hormones that are in milk and meats are being linked to girls developing earlier

That is really weird, Mysterygal! You and I posted the same info at the same time. (Only one minute apart.) A psychic moment ...?

 

[mysterygal]

It is something I doubt will ever go away...dirty sex in the media...it sells.
The pattern seems to be who can one up the next person concerning shock value...I think it'll get worse

 

[Marc Chevalier]

One thing's for certain: it'll get more cynical.

 

[Brad Bowers]

I think that the U.S. has a talent for making sex seem dirty, and selling it as such. If sexuality were shown to be as natural as it really is, the "titillation" aspect so essential to selling shampoo, jeans, fashion magazines, and "Girls Gone Wild" videos would all but disappear. We have TV shows on vaginal cosmetic surgery, but we aren't allowed to see Janet Jackson's metallic pastie. It's a show of false modesty that makes people even more obsessed with sex than they would otherwise be. And why? To sell more and more and more ...

A similar topic is alcohol. Underage drinking seems to be rampant in America, and is glorified by those that are underage. But in societies, such as in Europe, where drinking is a part of the culture from an early age, is it less of a problem?

Brad

 

[John in Covina]

A similar topic is alcohol. Underage drinking seems to be rampant in America, and is glorified by those that are underage. But in societies, such as in Europe, where drinking is a part of the culture from an early age, is it less of a problem? Brad

**********
It's the Forbidden Fruit Syndrome!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Yes. Lots of leads to lots of , which also leads to lots of $$$ (and lots of ).