Portraying Sex on the Television - Essay Example

Running Head: SHOULD SEX BE ON THE TELEVISION? "RATED" ARGUMENT PAPER Should Sex Be On the Television? "Rated" Argument Paper (Your School Outline The thesis statement clearly indicates that there has to be some restrictions on the way TV show sexual materials The increase use of technology and wave of globalization can be held responsibly for the increased breakdown of morals. Majority of the people in the US and in the world support that there has to be some restriction in the way TV displays programs with sexual materials. Most programs with sexual contents should be aired at night Thesis statement There has been an increased use of modern technology in the world. As the concept of convergence of technology comes to a reality, there has been and effect of polarization of culture that has been coupled with the rising wave of globalization. Sex issues and bringing up of children has been a thorny issue that we should not allow the media to expose our children to sex in their early years. There has to be some restrictions concerning sex in the TV. Introduction In the recent past the wave of globalization has been taking the world with a storm and has affected all the corners of our lives. There have been many effect of globalization which has mainly resulted due to the reduced distance between the worlds. It has become easy for different people in the world to communicate with one another and to interact with one another. This interaction has been in many fronts. There has been increased interaction through tourism and through business. Under the above activities people from different areas come together and share their beliefs and culture. Therefore there has been increased mix up of culture in the world which has resulted to a common culture in the world. But perhaps the greatest interaction has been through the mass media. One of the factors that have led to increased rate of globalization has been the evolution of communication technology. The revolution has resulted to emergence of several technologies like the internet and mass media technology. The mass media has turned out to the main interaction center in the world. Just by turning on you TV and tuning to several channels one is able to experience different culture of the world. Therefore the mass media has helped us to know more about one another by learning the culture of different people. But at the same time there have been negative effect of this effect. This close interaction of people has led to the development of the common culture in the world where everything seems to be judged by one standard. There has been an evolution of a common accepted culture which has polarized the rich cultural diversity of the world. Loss of natural culture has also come with an increased breakdown of moral standards that have helped to govern the world for along time now. Therefore we can say that increase wave of globalization has been responsible for loss of moral values and standard which have been holding our societies together for along time. (Fialn, 2007) Television has been on e of the mass media that has been widely used to spread a neutral global culture. Through the television, viewers have been able to access information and at the same time learn about so many things Though playing a central role in informing us, TV has also played a role of spreading unethical moral behavior that have been having negative effect on the society especially the young children who are growing up. Being one of the most addictive leisure activities for young children, TV has been airing important programs that are useful for the growth of the children but it has also been airing programs that have been affecting their moral development. Therefore there is a need to regulate what is being aired in the TV in order to give children positive information only. Sex in the TV One of the debate that has been carried on to the new millennium has been the issue of sex in TV and the way in which the station have been paying little attention on the sexual content of materials that they air in their programs. There have been calls from many quarters from the government to the activist in a bid to have a clean decency law that will regulate what we see on TV especially on the effect that it has on our children. There has been increased showing of programs that have been containing sex materials which has increasingly worried the parent about the effect that these material have on their children. It has already been shown that children are negative affected by such material as they grow up. The effect is not only on the growth children but they also have an effect on grow up as well. The mass media is one of the most influential channels of information in the world and they have been affecting our minds and consequently our moral behaviors. (Darren and Duck, 2008) There have been many researches that have been conducted all over the world not only in the US that have come with mixed conclusion on the issue of sex and TV. There various conclusions that have been given by these researches have been based on the difference between the individual opinions on the issue. A recent poll that was conducted by the Gallup Poll showed that most of the Americans are usually offended by the sex materials that are showing on the television. They believe that entertainment industry should have corrective measures that will limit the number of sexual materials that are aired. For example, half of those who saw the Super Bowl halftime show replied that they were offended by the incidence which involved Janet and Justin Timberlake. The table below shows the response of Americans on the content of the TV programs and the way they are offended or not offended by the content. Adapted from: Jones, M. (2004). Most Americans offended by sex and violence on Television. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/10588/Most-Americans-Offended-Sex-Violence-Television.aspx on 13th May 2008 The above is an indication which shows that majority of the American are offended by what is aired in your TV. A whooping 58 percent indicate that they are offended by sex materials that are shown on our televisions. It also shows that it is only 41% which is not offended by the sexual material that are shown on TV. Other studies have revealed that most of those who are not offended by the content of the TV are those in the young age bracket and who are the main target of these programs. Therefore the TV programs are able to capture their target audience very well. This has been shown as one of the challenges that have been faced by efforts that have been put to regulate the time when these programs are aired. There have been proposition to air most of these programs at night but the TV also realizes that they will not be able to capture their target audience at this hour. Therefore it has become necessary to target the right audience for the programs. The study also reveals that the issue of homosexuality which has been another thorny issue on the debate. Homosexuality also falls under offensive sexual materials that have offending viewers. The sexual content of the TV has been shown to be vested in many ways. There has been the use of violence scenes of rapes, actual sex materials like nude bodies, sexual language which has been used of late in most programs in order to hide the real sexual content of the program. In America some of the most controversial sexual materials that have been aired include the 2004 Super Bow half time show which featured Janet Jackson and the November Monday Nite Football Skit which feature desperate housewives star Nicolette Sheridan and Terrell Owen. However in the two incidents there has been considerable number of people who replied that they were not offended in any way by the sexual materials in the incidence. What can be done? From the data that have been collected it has been shown that 94% of the Americans have never called a TV station or a radio station to complain that they have been offended by what was shown in their programs. The same percentage has also not contact the government agent to clarify that they have been offended in the same way. Therefore there has been mixed reaction on the sex material in the TV that we cannot call for a ban on all what is being aired. However a majority of the Americans i.e. 68% comment that the entertainment industry and the TV produces must come with touch with the moral values of the society since they are also a part of the society. The same way your child will be affected is the same way the child of the producer will be affected. This percentage has clarified that TV producers and other entertainment industry has not been in touch with the need to regulate the industry according to the moral values of the society. It has also been shown that more that half of the population believes that the FCC has to be strict in order to control the amount of sex and violence that is aired by the TV. Therefore in finding a solution to the problem we are confronted by two situations. That of banning the programs completely or that of taking other options that can help us to deal with the problem. The “other” option apparently holds so many options that can be used to deal with the problem. There have been several propositions that have been made on the option of others that can be implemented. The current use option under this is putting of age restriction on every program before the start of the program. This is aimed at creating awareness on the parent while watching the TV so that they can take the appropriate action on their children. However this has been used for along time and it is not creating the needed effects on the children. There is a need to come up with stricter method other than that. This is in the knowledge the parents are not always with their children and there are many times which children will be watching TV in absence of there parents. Therefore this method cannot be used effectively to curb children from the rising media sex images. There are majority of the population that has replied that there is no need to ban programs from the TV that contain sexual materials. The proposition for banning these programs has been made as the lasting solution that can help to deal with the problem once and for all. In this case there has been the need to deal with the problem rather than providing some solution that don’t work but there is a good number of Americans who don’t see the need for banning these programs. This can be well illustrated by the following research finding.   Too Much on TV?   Too Much Yes, Ban Violence 66% 36% "Reality" TV 65% 18% Cursing 58% 41% Televised Plastic Surgery 51% 21% Sexual Content/Nudity 50% 41% Homosexuality 50% 35% Drug/Alcohol Abuse 46% 33% Adapted from: Regan, T. (2005). Americans: Too much sex and violence on TV- but government overreacted to Janet Jackson “Malfunction”. Retrieved from http://www.srbi.com/time_poll_tv.html on 13th May 2008 This shows that there are more people who don’t feel the need to ban the program since there are different criteria that we use of evaluate the sexual content of any program. In this case the way you will offend by a program is not the same way another person will offended by the same program. The other proposition that has been given on the issue of airing of sexual material has been to change the time that program are aired. This has been with the agreement that there has been a split on the public opinion on whether or not to ban sexual content of the TV. Since majority of the viewer feel that these program should not be banned, then there has to be another way that we need to use in order to regulate the way there are aired. The issue of airing time had been proposed earlier indicating that these programs should be aimed at night when the children are asleep. This is because children have been shown as most addicted and also most affected by these programs. The following is a public opinion on the issue. Allowed Before 10 PM?   Ok, Anytime Ok, After 10PM1 Never, OK Implied fictional sex 34% 73% 24% Kiss between same sex couple 24% 52% 45% Advertising/reference to sexual potency drugs 21% 63% 34% Bare buttocks 19% 58% 39% Bare breasts 11% 50% 47% Frontal nudity 8% 49% 49% Adopted from: Regan, T. (2005). Americans: Too much sex and violence on TV- but government overreacted to Janet Jackson “Malfunction”. Retrieved from http://www.srbi.com/time_poll_tv.html on 13th May 2008 The above shows that there is overwhelming support for airing the programs after 10 pm when most of the children are asleep. This is an indication that there is need to put some restriction on the programs rather than banning them. This is because there are some grown up adults who enjoy these programs. Conclusion Therefore we can say that although many people feel offended by these programs, not many are willing to have them banned from the TV. However due to the effects that they are having on the children and young people, there is need to put some restrictions on the program to ensure that they are not accessed all the time by children. Here the option of regulation the time when these programs are aired comes strongly with majority support. Reference Darren, D. & Duck, S. (2008). Has sex, language and taste on TV gone too far? Retrieved from http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,23621589-5006022,00.html on 13th May 2008 Fialn, S. (2007). Teen oral sex case should be over by now. The Legal Analysis, June 2007 Jones, M. (2004). Most Americans offended by sex and violence on Television. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/10588/Most-Americans-Offended-Sex-Violence-Television.aspx on 13th May 2008 Regan, T. (2005). Americans: Too much sex and violence on TV- but government overreacted to Janet Jackson “Malfunction”. Retrieved from http://www.srbi.com/time_poll_tv.html on 13th May 2008 Read More