Lecture Notes

Much of sexuality is influenced and shaped by popular culture, especially the mass media. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, the media are among the most powerful forces in young people's lives today. Watching television, playing video games, texting, listening to music, and searching the Internet provide a constant stream of messages, images, expectations, and values about which few of us can resist. For those concerned about promoting sexual health and well-being, understanding media's prominence and the role it plays in people's lives is essential. Advertising and all media uses sex to sell, promising sex, romance, popularity, if only the consumer will purchase the right product. In reality, not only does one not become sexy or popular by consuming a certain product, the product itself may actually be detrimental to one's sexual well-being, as in the case of alcohol or cigarettes. Media images of sexuality permeate a variety of areas in people's lives. They can produce sexual arousal and emotional reactions, increase sexual behaviors, and be a source of sex information.