Sex+Education+in+a+Modern+Society



//Name: Claudia Mullen // //Tutor: Michelle Cornford // //Student Number: N8602824 //

//Artefact//

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//Description //  The artefact is a music video for the song, ‘Blurred Lines’ by Robin Thicke featuring Pharrell Williams & T.I. Pictured are three women dressed in nothing but G-strings and high-heels, wandering, strutting, dancing, sitting and biting their lips next to three men in suits. Lyrics including, “I know you want it” repeated throughout the song, as well as, “I hate these blurred lines” and “Yeah, I had a bitch, but she ain't bad as you. So hit me up when you pass through. I'll give you something big enough to tear your ass in two.”

//Public Health Issue //  The majority of Australian teachers feel that Australian sexuality education programs whilst beneficial, lacked effectiveness in teaching youth to clarify their values, attitudes and feelings. Sexual education among schools in Australia lacks the contextualisation and development of students’ skills in areas like communication, decision making, respect, negotiation of consent and withstanding from peer pressure (ARCSHS, 1999). Modern Australia needs to provide relevant, up to date education. Robin Thicke’s song delivers messages of objectification, blurred lines of consent, and approval of disrespecting females. Mass media has one of the greatest impacts upon adolescents and the forming of their attitudes and beliefs, yet when the messages are of a warped reality, who then educates children? In order to make sense of media’s mixed and at times inaccurate messages Australia needs to incorporate media contextualisation in the sexual education curriculum.

//Literature Review //  One fifth of sexual assaults of adult women and approximately one fourth of reported sexual assaults of children in Australia are committed by young men. Often these perpetrators are labelled as ‘sick’ and require intrusive treatments, followed by life-long monitoring. Research has revealed that the likelihood of a repeated sexual offence by these adolescents is one case in ten (Finkelhor, Ormrod, & Chaffin, 2009). From the decade 2001 to 2011, the rate of chlamydia notifications among Australian’s aged 15 years or older more than tripled. Of the 79,833 cases reported, the majority of infections occurred in the 15-19 year old age group (see figure below). Chlamydia is predominantly transferred through unsafe sexual practices and causes serious health concerns if left untreated (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2012).

Within Australia there is also a continuing problem of teenage pregnancy. Statistics on teenage pregnancy and sexually transmitted infections indicate the need to incorporate innovative strategies to prevent the high-risk sexual practices of teenagers (Skinner & Hickey, 2003).

An American nationwide survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that media use of adolescent’s between 8 and 18 has raised from 6.5 hours a day to almost 7.5 hours. Findings also say that often two or more media devices are accessed instantaneously, meaning children manage to access a total of 10.75 hours of media content in those 7.5 hours a day (Hutton ,2012). The Kaiser study also found that as a source of information about sex, teens regard media as the second best source, the first being sex education programs (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 1996).

A study conducted by Strasburger (1993) determined that throughout adolescent schooling (until graduating from high school), student’s spent 15,000 hours watching television, compared with 12,000 hours spent in school classes. Not surprisingly,the wide accessibility of media portraying acts of explicit sexuality has become a central source of information for children (Hawk, Vanwesenbeeck, de Graff & Bakker, 2006). Ross O’Hara of the University of Missouri (Moore, 2012) reported that, "Adolescents who are exposed to more sexual content in movies start having sex at younger ages, have more sexual partners, and are less likely to use condoms with casual sexual partners."

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Brown (2002) discusses many studies that have focused on the effect of media upon young adults. In the United States it was found that one in ten television shows watched by young adults contained suggestive or explicit depictions of intercourse. Kaiser Family Foundation research found that 83 percent of popular teenage television programs reviewed contained sexual content. Characters in these shows rarely experienced negative outcomes from their sexual experiences (Brody, 2006). In addition, approximately one in four music videos consisted of sexuality or eroticism. Pop music commonly contains sexual references, and the majority of references are degrading sexual references. Songs that include degrading sexual references often also include references of other at-risk behaviours (Primack, Gold, Schwarz & Dalton, 2008). “Sex” is the most commonly searched word on the internet and in magazines and the majority of editorial and advertising content focused on the depiction of females and how they can keep a guy. There has been a steady increase in explicit sexual messages in the dialogue, behaviour and lyrics contained in television, film and music (Brown, 2002). In general, the majority of these portrayals are inaccurate and misleading, yet are believed as fact by adolescents (Rich, 2005).

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">One study reviewed 684 blockbuster movies from 1998 to 2004 for sexual content (Moore, 2012), finding that even G and PG rated movies contain levels of sexual content. The second part of the study then focused on 1,228 children between the age of 12 and 14. The study required the children to report which movie’s they had watched out of a list of 50 randomly selected current movies. After 6 years, these participants were asked to complete a follow-up survey regarding their sexual behaviour (contraception, total sexual partners). In having constant exposure to media, a vast majority of teenagers accept, learn from and emulate behaviours depicted as the norm, attractive and without risk. The main limitation to studies on sexual behaviours and media exposure is that it is difficult to determine which behaviour caused which.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">A study undertaken by the Rand research organisation observed over 700 sexually active adolescent’s from ages 12 to 17 for three years. The study discovered a strong association between adolescent’s who watched the most sexualised content on television and an increased likelihood of teenage pregnancy. Even with the removal of outstanding factors, such as family and neighbours, there was still a strong correlation. Sexually active adolescents aren’t only exposed to the risk of pregnancy or STI’s, research also links them to a higher risk of depression and suicide (Brody, 2006).

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Ori Golan (2013) wrote about the media’s impact on adolescent’s, saying, ‘In a society where media is the most persuasive force shaping cultural norms, the collective message that our young women and men overwhelmingly receive is that a woman’s value and power lie in her youth, beauty, and sexuality.’ One example of this was the portrayal of Julia Gillard when she was Prime Minister, she was regularly belittled with references to her clothing, body and personal life. Calling the ex Prime Minister of Australia a “dog”, “bitch”, “old cow” and “menopausal monster”, none of which relate to her abilities as a Prime Minister, instead focusing on her sexual features rather than intelligence or policies.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">(Golan, 2013) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;"> Within society there has been a decline of women possessing key leadership roles, increases in violence against women and increases in eating disorders. A link has been established between the sexualisation of girls and women and the three most predominant mental health disorders women face today: low self-esteem, depression and eating disorders. Eating disorders increasingly prevalent in children under 12 years old within Australia (Golan, 2013).

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Young men have access to a plethora of pornography because of the internet, and with the representations of women presented boys struggle to develop appropriate respect for women and a sense of equality. Today’s society appears to find humour in rape culture, this just shows that the young men and women of Australia need to be educated about consent and the humanity of women, rather than viewing women as objects of sexual pleasure. Young men should also be taught how to express their masculinity in healthy ways (Thomas, 2013; Golan, 2013).

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">In summary, research shows that higher levels of exposure to sexualised content in media is associated with permissive attitudes toward sexual activity, earlier and increased sexual behaviours and assumptions of higher sexual behaviours among peers. Research also indicates the influence media has upon sexual behaviour, self esteem and self-image (Hennessy, Bleakley, Fishbein & Jourdan, 2009). By providing youth with accurate sexual health information through programs such as sexual education, a greater understanding can be gained of the inaccuracy and misinforming information shown in media. (Rich, 2005).

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%; line-height: 1.5;">Cultural and Social Analysis // <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">When constructing sexual education curricula it is important to consider the society we live in and the impact it has. Media is such a major part of the modern developed world, neglecting to educate Australia’s youth on aspects of sexuality portrayed in media is an error in judgement. Sexual education programs differ greatly throughout the world. Whilst there is currently a high standard of sexual education in Australia compared with many other countries, there is potential to go further and ensure that all areas of sexuality are taught effectively.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Eva Su, recently spoke about “Young Women, Sexual Health and the Media,” based on the results of her internet review, ‘Women in magazines’. The images consistently delivered the message that women should be sexually available, hyper-sexual and passive. Su then looked at the words that media and pop culture use to describe sexually active women, words such as, “slut”, “hoe”, “skank”, and so forth. These two different representations conflict, in that images instruct women to be constantly sexually available, but the language implies that being sexually active makes you worthless. Young women need to learn that these depictions are false. Women need to learn to construct their own values and behaviours. Women who are assaulted or raped often feel ashamed as a result of these stereotypes, and chose to remain silenced. Shaming needs to be stopped. Educating children on consent will assist in the negative view of victims of sexual assault. Eva Su says, “young women are valuable human beings. Their value is not tied to their sexual history... Women deserve to thrive” (Su, 2010).

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Young men and women also need to be made aware that men are allowed to be vulnerable, sensitive, kind and gentle - that gender stereotypes of uber-masculinity aren’t what men are required to be. There need to be conversations about the pressures society places on people on people of all genders. There should also be conversations about sexual violence and whether pressure placed upon men to be macho “men” contributes to the desire to rape (Su, 2010).

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Countries like Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom are yet to implement sexual education programs that address the pressures of sexualised media on adolescents. Incomplete sexual health education programs are believed to have the capacity to reduce the high unplanned pregnancy and STI rates found among adolescent’s in these countries (Skinner & Hickey, 2003).

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">There appears to be a subconscious effect of the continuous sexualisation of women in advertising. Young, educated women, formerly the demographic most critical of sexualising women in media, now dismiss the objectification.

**<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">“Women today appear far less offended by the portrayal of women as sex objects in advertisements than women in past generations, and it seems largely due to our culture” ** <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">(Zimmerman & Dahlberg, 2008). <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Children are now growing up in a world filled with heavily sexualised media. It is becoming the norm. Women have been desensitised to their objectification. Cultivation and effects researchers and social learning theorists such as Brand and Greenberg (1994) and Ryan and David (2003) believe that repeated exposure to sexualised materials may lead to a society more accepting of the objectification of women. Such desensitisation highlights the responsibility and impact that media has upon cultural and moral values (Zimmerman & Dahlberg, 2008).

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">Analysis of the Artefact and Your Own Learning Reflections // <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Robin Thicke’s song ‘Blurred Lines’ has sold over 1.36 million copies and spent five weeks at number one on the ‘Official Singles Chart’. The world-wide popularity and debate over this song has made it almost unavoidable to those using any form of media (News Beat, 2013). Consisting of themes of objectification, rape culture, violence against women and gender role stereotyping. Thicke commented on his video clip saying, <span style="display: block; font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; text-align: right;">(Freedman, 2013) <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Robin Thicke and Blurred Lines is a perfect example of how inaccurately sexuality can be portrayed in the media.
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">“We tried to do everything that was taboo. Bestiality, drug injections, and everything that is completely derogatory towards women. Because all three of us are happily married with children, we were like, **
 * <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">“We’re the perfect guys to make fun of this.”" **

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">If there hadn’t been such a dramatic reaction to Robin Thicke’s music video and lyrics, would I have even cared about this song? Personally, yes, yet maybe there would have been less of an impact. I have been exposed to issues commonly brought up in media by my parents, yet even with this upbringing I still form some of my opinions and beliefs based upon mainstream media. In writing this piece, I have become more aware of the media’s impact upon myself and seek to avoid blindly following inaccurate media representations. I have found this unit incredibly important to my learning. As someone who has never studied public health related issues before, this unit has significantly interested me and I aim to continue further developing my understanding of health related issues.

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">References // <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2012). 4102.0 - Australian Social Trends, Jun 2012. Retrieved 02.10.13 from [|http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Lookup/4102.0Main+Features10Jun+2012]

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Blurred lines becomes biggest-selling single of 2013. (2013, October 3). //BBC Radio//. []

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Brody, J. (2006, January 31). Children, Media and Sex: A Big Book of Blank Pages. //The New York Times.//

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Brown, J. D. (2002). Mass media influences on sexuality. //Journal of Sex Research//, 39(1), 42–45.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Drake, T. (2008). Teens Imitating Television. //National Catholic Register//. []

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Finkelhor, D., Ormrod, R., & Chaffin, M. (2009). //Juveniles who commit sexual offences against minors//. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile and Delinquency Prevention.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Freedman, M. (2013, July 1). MIA: Before You Sing Along With This Catchy #1 Hit, You Might Want to Know This. //MamaMia//. <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%; line-height: 1.5;">[]

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Golan, O. (2013). Women Degraded and Used as Commodities: The Terrible Impacts of the Objectification of Women. //Melinda Tankard Reist//. []

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Hawk, S., Vanwesenbeeck, I., de Graaf, H., & Bakker, F. (2006). Adolescents’ contact with sexuality in mainstream media: a perspective. //Journal of Sex Research//, 43(4), 352 - 363.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Hutton, L. (2012). The M2 Generation: Are Your Kids Too Dependent on the Media? //familyeducation//. []

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Moore, A. (2012). Sexual Content in Movies May Predict Teen Sexual Behavior. //Medical Daily//. http://www.medicaldaily.com/sexual-content-movies-may-predict-teen-sexual-behavior-241407

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Primack, B., Gold, M., Schwarz, E., & Dalton, M. (2008). Degrading and Non-Degrading Sex in Popular Music: A Content Analysis. //Public Health Reports//, 123, 593-600.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Rich, M. (2005). Sex Screen: The dilemma of media exposure and sexual behavior. //Pediatrics//, 116(1), 329-331. doi: 10.1542/peds.2005-0355F

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Skinner, R., & Hickey, M. (2003). Current Priorities for Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health in Australia. //The Medical Journal of Australia//, 179 (3), 158-161.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Strasburger VC (1993) Adolescents and the media: five crucial issues. //Adolesc Med//. 4:479–493.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Su, E. (2010, November 3). Speech! //Sex Education is Rape Prevention.//

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Su, E. (2010, October 29). Power of the Penis. //Sex Education is Rape Prevention.//

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. (1996). The 1996 Kaiser Family Foundation survey on teens and sex: What they say teens need to know, and who they listen to. Menlo Park, CA: Author.

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Thomas. (2013). Teach Content! (But What Good is Teaching Content?). //Yes Means Yes Blog//. []

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">Zimmerman, A., & Dahlberg, J. (2008). The Sexual Objectification of Women in Advertising: A Contemporary Cultural Perspective. //Journal of Advertising Research//, 71 - 80. doi: 10.2501/S0021849908080094

//<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 140%;">Reflections I have responded to: // <span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">1. http://healthcultureandsociety2013.wikispaces.com/share/view/64695532

<span style="font-family: Georgia,serif; font-size: 110%;">2. http://healthcultureandsociety2013.wikispaces.com/share/view/64695846