3 - Distorting Sex and Gender: Influence of Sex on Youths in the Media

Prints, such as well-known magazines Playboy, FHM, Maxim, using sex as a central theme

The media plays a crucial role in commoditising the female body and promoting the ideal physical appearance, influencing what we adopt today as the benchmark for perfection. As is the case with desensitization to violence, flamboyant displays of these sexual images in magazines and advertisements create a similar desensitization to sex.

The sanctity of the female body is degraded in vivid implicit and explicit portrayals of sex in television and movies. Sex scenes invade platforms of media, especially movies and games – a commercial tactic too often camouflaged as a primal representation of emotions. The Media Development Authority of Singapore intervened and banned the game Mass Effect in 2007, because of its controversial sex scene depicting lesbianism but reversed its ban after an uproar from gamers.

http://www.joystiq.com/2007/11/14/mass-effect-banned-in-singapore-over-lesbian-scene/

Television series promoting promiscuity in a light-hearted manner, from left : Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, The Tudors, Desperate Housewives, and Sex and the Ciy

Movies focusing on the superiority of males while females take a backseat as damsels in distress.
(From Top-down, left to right) Spiderman, Thor, Batman Begins, Superman Returns, Iron Man 2, Green Lantern)

The portrayal of women in films as the softer gender also indirectly promotes the stereotype of females as "media representations tell us who we are, who we should be and who we should avoid" (MacKinnon, 2003, as cited in Robertson, 2010).  Women are often portrayed as weaker and inferior, leading to misogynistic views that cause feminists to flip. This is evident in recent superheroes movies, as seen above. Central characters are men saving the world while women take the backseat, often only seen as 'eye candies', merely for visual pleasure. 

An informative video about the detrimental effects of the image of women in the advertising world, with significant amount of real-world examples and a effective passionate speaker.

The bombardment of these materials on so many platforms observed above can increase sexual callousness towards women, trivialising assaults and distorting perceptions of sexuality. Social dynamics between genders become shrouded in inaccuracies and unnecessary stereotyping, promoting in women the compliance and acceptance of their gender as truly secondary and weak. “We become what we consume, media-wise" (Salzman, Matathia and O'Reilly, 2005).

Female-centric roles (Left: Kate Beckinsale in Underworld 2, Right: Angelina Jolie in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider) continue to embody the image of sex symbols. Notice the similarity with Megan Fox in FHM (centre)

However, there has been a substantial rise in female-centric roles in the movies, such as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider and The Underworld, where masculine character traits are shared. Media has constantly revived its portrayal of the sexes depending on societal and cultural trends of the time and does not totally stereotype the female gender.

Entertainment value is unavoidably catered to the preferences of its viewers. While female protagonists command a certain level of respect and leadership, they usually still do it with a show of flesh.

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References

Brown, J (2006). Sexual & Reproductive Health; Sexual content of media affects teens' sexual behavior. Health and Medical Week, April 27, 2006, p. 1651)

Robertson, E. (2010). Media gender stereotypes and interpretations by female Generation Y. Forum on Public Policy: A Journal of the Oxford Round Table.

Salzman, Marian, Ira Matathia, and Ann O'Reilly (2005). The Future of Men. New York, New York: Palgrave MacMillan.