How sex in advertising has negative effects on societies perception of Term Paper - 1

How sex in advertising has negative effects on societies perception of beauty - Term Paper Example This "How sex in advertising has negative effects on societies perception of beauty" essay outlines the impact of the usage of sex images in advertisement on our society and our standards of beauty. In most of the current advanced societies, children spend more times in front of televisions and computers rather than in play grounds. â€Å"Research has shown that young children—younger than 8 years—are cognitively and psychologically defenseless against advertising. They do not understand the notion of intent to sell and frequently accept advertising claims at face value†. Children during their early developmental stages may not possess the ability to segregate between good and evil. Moreover, children also possess intrinsic thirst for sexual activities even though it may not be visible or identifiable to others. When a sex provoking advertisement is displayed in front of the children, they are getting a new knowledge or a wrong message which they will keep in the ir mind forever. For example, bedroom scenes are common in the advertisements of condoms and beauty products. These advertisements often portray males as the symbol of strength or stamina and females as the symbol of beauty or figure. Children watching these advertisements may develop a feeling that only stronger men and beautiful women are capable of enjoying sexual life. In their 2002 thesis, â€Å"Effects of Sex in the Media,† scholars Richard J. Harris and Christina L. Scott address the effect of visual cultures whose morals are affected by this advertising. They say a worldview that progressively reflects the perception of the media may be refined by repeated contact to a regular set of messages. As an example, they say â€Å"watching numerous sitcoms and movies showing teenagers being sexually active may cultivate acceptance of such a position in the viewer and thus weaken family- taught values against pre-marital sex.† So, the viewing of sexual images in adverti sing also distorts the moral values of teenagers, maybe even to the point of rebellion against the values their family taught them (Robertson, p.2) â€Å"Sex is used in commercials to sell everything from beer to shampoo to cars. New research is showing that teenagers' exposure to sexual content in the media may be responsible for earlier onset of sexual intercourse or other