The USA... why is your media so scared of sex compared to the UK.

[Parasondox]

Hello again and again and again Escapist,


Now come on lets talk about sex, let's talk about you and me, let's talk about sex. Okay I don't want to talk about you and me in that way but mostly why in certain US media, sex or even partial nudity is seen as "OH MY GOD NO NO NO, we must protect the children from sinful things". I remember the whole Janet Jackson super bowl "wardrobe malfunction" and how the next day she had to apologize to her fans, to the NFL fans, to the children, to the parents of those children had to go to church the next Sunday and pray to god for forgiveness and apologize to those who are offended by a woman's body. Okay most of those I made up (I think) but you get my point. One nip slip, that was caused by Justin Timberlake might I add, cause so much media hype that who ever did similar would be outed as a bad role model or something. I know some of the American people don't care cause it was only a mistake and that's it why do the media have to drag it on and on and on. We in the UK saw that incident as a "meh we see boobs all the time in our newspaper".
Similar with movies and TV, one piece of boob or butt cheek and the world goes mad with "we must think of the children" even though those films and programmes are aimed at an older audience.

Oh now hold on a second here, don't think you are getting away with this easily UK, my homeland. Rihanna was performing on the X-factor, wore something revealing but not nude or over the top but then the next day "Rihanna is sexualising music for young people", "She was wearing next to nothing doing sexy dance moves", "feminist are outraged blah blah blah". Firstly i'm not a fan of Rihanna nor into any new age HipHop, R n B etc. Secondly I believe a show like the X-Factor is an insult to music because it doesn't show the song writing side and the instrumentals that are used to create the songs. The show isn't creative, it's just filled with people singing songs that were already created for entertainment. My point is I understand we must "protect the children" but if you want to do that, then why are you letting them watch brain dead crap where contestants butcher a classic in the first place? Anyone remembers Madonna back in those day where she would anger the Catholic church because of sex appeal... and I think cause she used a black Jesus in one of her music videos and they got pisssssssssssssed. Sex and showing skin shouldn't be seen as evil and the "unholiest of sins"

Reason why I ask the main question is because I see and hear that the talk of sex is more feared in the US compared to UK. Some states want to ban sex education due to harsh religious reasons and teach abstinence instead. If a woman has an abortion (It's her choice by the way and no one should judge her on that) she's seen as a "baby killer" or worse abusive comments...

Okay I may have babbled on too much but i hope you get my point cause there is a lot to talk about snd would love to know your thoughts please. Just why is sex, nudity and just sex education seen as something to fear or cover up with in the media.

What ever your views on this please let me know and discuss freely. Thank You.

 

[Thaluikhain]

That is a very serious question, one that has no simple answer.

The idea of "protecting" kids (and, for that matter, people with certain forms of mental illness) from adult concepts makes a certain sort of sense in theory, but is massively counter productive in practice. The idea that people won't have sex if you don't tell them about is flat out wrong, the results of such a policy catastrophic.

 

[shootthebandit]

We are bad in the UK for tabbooing sex but america is a lot worse. I think i prefer a more relaxed culture like the netherlands (amsterdam anyway) where sex and soft drugs are very relaxed

Theres a lot we can learn from most european countries as far as sex is concerned

 

[Something Amyss]

To quote the documentary Eurotrip, America was founded by prudes.

I agree with Thaluikan that there's no simple answer, but I do think our religious puritanism has something to do with it. While the UK doesn't seem to be significantly less religious, you guys aren't as...Serious about it, I guess the term would be. Though we're not really serious, either. We just like to preach more.

 

[DoPo]

I...really don't know. Seems like an OK idea, but taken to extremes, I suppose. Then again, the media (US in htis case, but not only) does tend to take stuff to extremes - terrorism, for example, while a threat is not the all encompassing forever looming nemesis to all that is holy. I think the media as a whole needs to just chill out a bit.

Other than that, here is a somewhat relevant SMBC comic

Spoiler: SMBC

 

[Xan Krieger]

Because sex is a barbaric and illegal practice while violence is perfectly acceptable for day to day life or at least that's how the FCC sees it. You can watch a hundred people die horribly but not one of them will be vulgar about it. We really need to fix this stuff.

 

[senordesol]

Religious 'parent' groups have got the market cornered on rhetoric. "What's that? You want to expose our children to MORE sexualized content than they already are in this age of Victoria Secret models prancing around in their underwear? Is it not enough that every other teen idol is coming out with some sex tape or doing a strip tease on stage?" Nearly any argument after that point makes you sound like a porn peddler.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Well it WAS founded by puritans. I also think that its "rich" history of violence has something to do with it, but I couldn't tell you how exactly.

 

[schrodinger]

If I remember exactly, I was told once why the US loves its bucket of gore and bullets over the horrifying image of boobs and penises is "Violence on screen is not real compared to the sexual acts. The people being murdered can get up after the cut and walk away, but those you film the sex scenes are too real, too close to the real thing."
Which I had responded "you know, kids could more easily hurt/harm each other than potentially fucking like rabbits when witnessing a side boob."

It's also because of our religious roots with its ignorant teachings. Thankfully those kinds of teachings are being slowly, but surely smothered out with each passing generation.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Somebody needs to start importing copies of The Sun or Star across the Pond. That'll fix this shit. You open the paper and OH SHIT, TITS! WELL NEVER MIND THEN!

I still have no idea where this practice came about and why it is so generally accepted but fuck it, who cares?

Can I just say "lol America XD" and leave it there? You guys are fuckin' weird yo'. No offence :3

 

[Soundwave]

There's also a deeply seeded (seated?) misguided belief that being interested in sex is immature and something to be ashamed of.

I, honest to god, was just having a conversation last night with a guy, and the topic of sex came up. It was like that game where you attach "in bed" to the end of your fortune cookies? Except in this case, it was every sentence, and ended with "your wife, who you have been saving yourself up to this point for". He wasn't even kidding.

 

[nariette]

I think i prefer a more relaxed culture like the netherlands (amsterdam anyway) where sex and soft drugs are very relaxed

As a Dutchman, I can say that we are indeed very comfortable around sex and drugs. That doesn't mean everyone is doing it in an extreme way, Holland is actually one of the countries where drug use is low, and so are teen pregnancies. Because childeren are taught from a young age what sex, drugs and alcohol are, they don't feel the need to go overboard with them as they do in America. America seems to have the "if I don't tell my child about sex it won't participate in sex either" mentality. Which isn't the smartest idea when we look at shows like "16 and pregnant".

Which means that the problem that Americans are simply not comfortable around sexuality. Sex is something that is not normal, and it's a sin to show your sexuality. Which would explain the fact that simply 90% of the jokes in American comedies are about sex. Talking about sins, we are back at religion. "blame it on faith" is just too simple though. A start would be to include sexual education at school, by good teachers, before the childeren actually reach the age where they'll start doing these things.

It seems in politics that whatever you say, it will be used against in you and it will always upset someone. So I don't mean to generalize, and I know that there are a lot of Americans are mature, but I'm just looking at the big picture here. I don't mean to bring offense.

 

[Hagi]

It's like putting a giant red button in the middle of the room and only telling your kid to under no circumstances ever to press it and then leaving.

We all know what will happen.

Much smarter to tell children what will happen if you press it, what the risks are and how to use protection against those risks.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

I'm going to take a wild guess when it comes to this. The US flipped a coin (just like every other nation who "protects kids" from either sexual or, violent media) and the US got tails, meaning we have to protect the impressionable youth from sex, sexuality and, bare torsos. Chainsaw decapitations are just fine though, by any standard.

 

[jab136]

because our government is really, really stupid, and we are run by religious fundamentalists. also wykydtron, no offence taken, it is completely true. but honestly, comparing us to the UK isn't really fair, as you guys just initiated a nationwide lockdown on porn.

 

[SadakoMoose]

Because our Media is controlled largely by a handful of rich, white, men from old money. Subsequently, not only do these old money interests get to control the overall tilt of "mainstream culture", they also get to control what other countries see of us.
It is very bothersome.

 

[shootthebandit]

I think i prefer a more relaxed culture like the netherlands (amsterdam anyway) where sex and soft drugs are very relaxed

As a Dutchman, I can say that we are indeed very comfortable around sex and drugs. That doesn't mean everyone is doing it in an extreme way, Holland is actually one of the countries where drug use is low, and so are teen pregnancies. Because childeren are taught from a young age what sex, drugs and alcohol are, they don't feel the need to go overboard with them as they do in America. America seems to have the "if I don't tell my child about sex it won't participate in sex either" mentality. Which isn't the smartest idea when we look at shows like "16 and pregnant".

Which means that the problem that Americans are simply not comfortable around sexuality. Sex is something that is not normal, and it's a sin to show your sexuality. Which would explain the fact that simply 90% of the jokes in American comedies are about sex. Talking about sins, we are back at religion. "blame it on faith" is just too simple though. A start would be to include sexual education at school, by good teachers, before the childeren actually reach the age where they'll start doing these things.

It seems in politics that whatever you say, it will be used against in you and it will always upset someone. So I don't mean to generalize, and I know that there are a lot of Americans are mature, but I'm just looking at the big picture here. I don't mean to bring offense.

I was going to mention hollands low drug and teenage pregnancy rate but i wasnt sure i was 100% accurate. I think we can learn a lot from holland legalising and controlling drugs and prostitutes is better than people taking drugs and prostitutes illegal in an unsafe manner. The biggest problem is foriegners like myself who come to amsterdam and take advantage of this.

Not to mention holland is also very accepting of the LGBT community