SEX (in media)

[SillyBear]

Rihanna has just started charting her new song Cockiness. These are some of the lyrics:

"Suck my cockiness
Lick my persuasion
Eat my poison
And swallow your pride down, down

They mad at Rihanna game
Taking over your empire
She may be the queen of hearts
But I'm gonna be the queen of your body parts

No one can do ya
The way that I do
Boy I wa-a-ant
(Youuuuuu)
I love it, I love it
I love it when you eat it
I love it, I love it
I love it when you eat it
I love it, I love it
I love it when you eat it"

The song goes on and on like this.

Question time:

Do you think sexual context like this in popular music effects the behaviour of the average teenage girl? If so, do you think it is a positive or a negative reaction?

Do you think songs like this should be censored or banned like they would have been during the 1940s?

Discuss!

P.S: Could you please not quote me unless you really have to? I don't want to get 50 notifications of people saying something they could say without quoting the OP.

 

[BreakfastMan]

No more than rock/metal bands singing about sex effects the behavior of the average teen boy.

Not sure. Sex has always been a constant force in music for me, so I don't really have anything to compare it to.

No, it should not.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

It definitely has an affect on teenagers to some degree. Going through high school and having a younger sister showed me that. A negative reaction, I'd say. I'm all for sex between two consenting people regardless of marital status, but the way sex seems to be trivialized is a bit disturbing. This is just speculation, but I think that girls are being pressured into sex earlier because of the attitudes that permeate teenage culture. Attitudes that are reinforced by those kinds of songs.
Oh yeah, I oppose government censorship. Let the radio stations decide what they want to air.
I'd be less worried if kids were smart enough to remember to use protection.

 

[Tentickles]

I am of the opinion that poetry has left our lives... which is why those lyrics are so easy to read. I mean c'mon! Read these lyrics:

Hey everybody, did the news get around
About a guy named Butcher Pete
Oh, Pete just flew into this town
And he?s choppin? up all the women?s meat

[Chorus]
He?s hackin? and wackin? and smackin?
He?s hackin? and wackin? and smackin?
He?s hackin? and wackin? and smackin?
He just hacks, wacks, choppin? that meat

Butcher Pete?s got a long sharp knife
He starts choppin? and don?t know when to stop
All you fellows gotta watch your wifes
?Cause Pete don?t care who?s meat he chops

[Chorus]

Ever since Peter flew into town
He?s been havin? a ball
Just cuttin? and choppin? for miles around
Single women, married women, old maids and all

[Chorus]

Wakes up in the morning, half past five
Chops from sunrise to sunset
I don?t see how he stays alive
Meat?s gonna be the death of ole Pete, yeah

[Chorus]

The police put Pete in jail
Yes, he finally met his faith
But when they came to pay his bail
They found him choppin? up his cell mate

[Chorus]

That Butcher Pete is a crazy man
Tries to chop down the wind and the rain
Just hacks on anything he can get
Say, turn this record over, you ain?t heard nothing yet


It's on the surface about a murderer... but also about a guy who really likes getting some.

 

[Dandark]

Ban or censorship? Nah, you shouldn't do that.
Will it affect teens, I doubt it's going to turn them all into sex crazy maniacs. It cause more pressure for everyone to have sex as soon as possible but society already does a pretty good job of that so it doesn't really matter though.

She is going to get so much publicity for this though.

EDIT: Wait I have the answer. Stop listening to pop music

 

[Zen Toombs]

Long story short, censorship is very, very bad.

Also, sex is not a bad thing. We don't want little boys and girls making babies at the age of five [http://youngest_mother.tripod.com/], to remove sex from media would not stop that sort of thing. Our society tends a very repressed view on sexuality, which only serves to worsen the situation.

 

[Esotera]

There are laws against censoring songs just because of subject matter, but we really need to make a law that stops songs just because they really really suck. I mean seriously, who listens to something like that?

 

[VladG]

If a song can influence the sexual behavior of a teen, then there's a big problem. Not with the song, but with the parents and society in general.

 

[Vault101]

I heard a bit...its quite different (I dont actually mind rihana)

 

[capper42]

Nothing worse than anything we've seen before. People have always grown up with sexually explicit songs. "Don't hang me up and don't let me down, We could have fun just groovin' around... I'll satisfy your every need, And I know you will satisfy me." A couple of lines from 'Let's Spend the Night Together' by the Rolling Stones, released as a single in 1967. Most of the generation before us don't seem too messed up from hearing songs like this as a child, and I'm sure those growing up listening to Rihanna will be fine as well.

S&M was censored on BBC Radio 1 anyway, with its named changed to Come On and the Chains and whips excite me bit taken out.

 

[BonsaiK]

No.

N/A

No.

That was easy.

 

[BonsaiK]

Oh, discussion, I nearly forgot. I get the implication of this thread that modern music is more sexualised and leading society downhill somewhat. What utter, utter bullshit.


Sexualised music has been around since forever.

Spoiler: lyrics for those too lazy to listen

Tired of bein' lonely, tired of bein' blue,
I wished I had some good man, to tell my troubles to
Seem like the whole world's wrong, since my man's been gone
I need a little sugar in my bowl,
I need a little hot dog, on my roll
I can stand a bit of lovin', oh so bad,
I feel so funny, I feel so sad
I need a little steam-heat, on my floor,
Maybe I can fix things up, so they'll go
What's the matter, hard papa, come on and save you mama's soul
'Cause I need a little sugar, in my bowl, doggone it,
I need a little sugar in my bowl
I need a little sugar, in my bowl,
I need a little hot dog, between my rolls
You gettin' different, I've been told,
move your finger, drop something in my bowl
I need a little steam-heat on my floor,
Maybe I can fix things up, so they'll go
Get off your knees, I can't see what you're drivin' at!
It's dark down there!
Looks like a snake! C'mon here and drop somethin' here in my bowl,
stop your foolin', and drop somethin', in my bowl

 

[similar.squirrel]

Teenagers are going to be hyper-sexualised either way. That's biological. I don't think a song is going to have any appreciable effect on that. I listened to shoegaze and math-rock [not the most sensual of genres] during my formative years, and I was still obsessed with sex.

 

[seraphy]

I never understand this view on sex. After all entertainment is full of violence and murders even, but that seems to be okay. But sex? Think of the children seems to be argument there.

I just think it is bit hypocritical, whining about something that is quite natural, when on the other hand trivializing violence and murders for entertainment.

 

[MassiveGeek]

Lol, no.

Censorship is idiotic, and the people who'll be listening to this and think that it's great are probably twelve and don't get what the fuck it's about anyway. If parents think it's inappropriate it's up to them to restrict their children, but don't fuck over everyone else just because someone's butthurt over a damn song.

Of course "the kids might be affected". But you're affected by everything, so that's a moot point.

 

[LetalisK]

snip

I didn't even think of the murderer angle on that song. I just remember playing Fallout 3 with the pipboy(?) radio on and having to pause for a moment when I realized what that song was about. "...the fuck?" was my reaction, I believe.

As for the song, it's tasteless, stupid, and Rihanna has destroyed any artistic credibility she had with garbage like this. Unfortunately, that's music. No, it shouldn't be censored, and yes it will probably have a negative reaction on young girls. They'll actually think it's good music.

And no, I'm not calling it bad because of the subject matter or even how crude it is(that's never been a problem with me anyway). It's bad because the lyrics are retarded.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Do you think sexual context like this in popular music effects the behaviour of the average teenage girl? If so, do you think it is a positive or a negative reaction?

In of itself, it has no real impact, it's when there is a trend of these sorts of things that it makes a difference.

Now, if you also had pop culture dealing with sexuality in a mature way as well, it wouldn't matter. As it is, yeah, our culture is promoting all sorts of bizarre and unhealthy things.

 

[Colour Scientist]

There have been songs about sex forever, in every single genre there is.
Some are more suggestive than others but that's all down to an individuals beliefs.

Saying this song is going to make teenage girls (why just girls?) into sex-crazed maniacs is like saying listening to death metal turns everyone into violent murder-rapists.

Besides, I don't get why people are so afraid of human sexuality.