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Gregor Etaryan
John Kubler
English 114B
8 May 2014
Medias Sexual Conformity
The influential impact of the media has grown tremendously and has defined todays
generation in a way with all these technological advances creating a new way people connect
with each other. With smart phones and televisions in practically every home, society has
become immersed in a world of screens and being controlled and manipulated by what they see
on these screens. Media has a certain image that is being portrayed to the society and that image
is a provocative one which entices the audience and grabs their attention. Media has impacted the
aspects of our everyday life by essentially becoming our everyday life and although the effects
have been noticeably seen all throughout, a generous effort has been placed on manipulation of
what the term proper means- when referring to women, because of the provocative and sexy
image they portray girls should have. With all the images and things that females see in the
media, they begin to loose themselves and their loss of identity obscures them. Media
manipulates the audience and shapes the minds of many females and females are treated as meat,
because of the way they are portrayed and society accepts that.
Media has started targeting girls at a very young age now and that develops a mindset
that gets stuck in girls minds all throughout their lives. The more girls consume mainstream
media, the more they are evoked to viewing other women as sexual objects and thinking that a
womens value is based on their appearance. A YouTube video clip by Cliff Martinez called The
Sexualization of Children depicts the way media has begun provoking females more and more
at their developmental stages of sexuality. The video clip showed that Victoria Secret had
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launched a new line for young teen girl underwear with slogans on them such as I dare you or
lets make out. What type of a message is that supposed to send to girls at a young age? At the
time they might not realize, but essentially they are being brainwashed into a sexualized society.
If women begin to view other women as nothing more than sexualized objects than how can men
not do the same? Females are being targeted at a young age to believe that they are sexualized
objects and that is why men begin to see females as a piece of meat. Another example of
shaming little girls of being sexy is in the show Toddlers and Tiaras. In the video clip it
showed little girls dressing up in the show in very provocative clothing and being judged in front
of a crowd. Yet again they are being looked as an object rather than a human being. Even little
toys that girls play, such as dolls, are dressed up in little to no clothes. Media puts an image in
females at a young age and that develops a mindset of being sexy and flirty and that is why it
leads men to seeing women only as sexy and flirty and nothing else.
Since media sets a standard image for society to uphold it is very difficult for anyone who
does not sustain these standards to fit in, because then they will not be accepted. The sexuality of
people is so open that if anyone does not fit in these standards than they are weird and not
normal. In the novel Persepolis 2 by Marjane Satrapi, a young female named Mariji goes from
a religious and cultural town to a western civilized area and she essentially begins to lose her
identity in trying to conform into a western society and at the same time stay true to her religious
background. Her roommate Julie at the time says to Marji, Oh, youre the pure, timid, innocent
virgin who does her homework. Im not like that. Ive been having sex for five years (Satrapi
28). Since Julie had grown up in a western civilization she was engulfed in the sexualized media
and society which has made her so open about her sex life. Marji on the other hand was closed
up and was more religious. Throughout the book it shows Marjis development and shows how
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she tried to conform into the society to be accepted, but realized it was not her true nature and
she was stuck in the middle trying to find herself. When she had returned home her girlfriends
where very judgmental to her when she had said that she had had a few experiences with men
and her friend angrily stated, So whats the difference between you and a whore? and Marji
had become very upset (Satrapi 116). Her friends had not been submerged in the Anglo
American views and that is why it was not understood by them. The point that is being made
here is that Marji had been totally transformed into a different person when she moved to a
western civilization. She had been surrounded by a society of sex and drugs and she had in a way
conformed to that, because if she didnt then people were going to tease her and make her feel
unwanted and everyone in society wants to be excepted so people conform. Now that she has
gone home, her friends do not really accept her and she is torn between fitting into two different
societies.
Medias portrayal of a sexy society has been leading to many sexual outbreaks over the
years. In a book, Female Chauvinist Pigs by Ariel Levy, the author shares some stories of young
females who have had public sexual outbreaks, such as of a middle-school girl [who] performed
fellatio on the high school boy sitting next to her on the school bus in Kingston, Massachusetts,
while their classmates watched (Levy 140). Why would any teen girl even think of doing this
act in public as everyone watched? This got me upset, because even if a girl is to do it, at least let
her do it in private and not while everyone watched. That high school boy viewed that little girl
as a sexual object and used her to his needs. More and more public sexual acts like that have
occurred and everyone hears about it and men began to want the same thing for themselves and
begin to view women as nothing more than someone they want to have sex with. Levy also
shared a girls thoughts that Sex was something you did to fit in more than something you did
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for pleasure and that is completely true in todays generation (Levy 154). That just goes to show
how far society has come. The effects of media not only intrigue the audience called society, but
also form the new mindset that is instilled amongst those around us. The control of society is
taken even further amongst those entrapped in what is called sexual society (a society based
off of the developed mindset of sex appeal). Twenty years ago if anyone had heard of these
stories everyone would be in shock, but to the people in todays society, it is just another story.
Society is rapidly changing. With more and more people coming out as being part of the
LGTBIQ movement it shows people that they can be whatever gender they want to be, whether
its being male, female, or transgender. Brandon Brice, a Washington Times reporter stated that
The states lawmakers approved a bill which permits public K-12 schools to allow transgender
students who feel like they belong in the opposite sex to choose which restrooms and locker-
rooms they use (Brice 1). This shows how far society has come in the acceptance of other
genders. When I was growing up this was not really a big issue in society and mostly everyone in
the community was straight, but in todays times a lot of people are coming out as being gay or
lesbian and even transgender. During my senior year in high school, more talk about gays and
lesbians came about and one student who was gay was picked on by so many people just because
he was not like everybody else. Just because he was different he was not accepted by the people
and especially in high school all everyone wants to be is accepted. That is why many people do
not come out of the closet and are pressurized into fitting in and that is because society does not
except people who are different. This shows the change in society and this also gives ideas to
many young females as to exploring and experimenting with different genders to see which one
they like most. Females are trying to discover themselves as they get older and they begin to
experiment sexually in order to try to figure out which gender they believe best fits them.
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In todays generation everyone I know is on their cellphones or some type of device in
which they connect with people. The social media world has changed the way people
communicate and interact and has forever changed society and the world. Social media sites such
as Facebook, Instagram or Twitter have changed the world and many people who communicate
on this communicate in a sexual matter. Many females post provocative photos which grabs
hundreds of guys attention and mainly every guy comments on the photo trying to hit on the
girl. Men view these girls as a piece of meat or a prize they could win. An app called Skout has
become very popular now and it lets you connect with the local people in your area. Every time I
go on this app guys are either posting status such as Hit me up sexy and horny girls or even
girls posting status saying Im horny and everyone jumps on them. When a girl posts a status
like that, so many guys message that one girl that it blocks her profile. Every picture that a girl
posts on that app, at least a good 15 or 20 guys comment on that girls photo and thats just one
girl. Its crazy to see how much society has changed. When surrounded by a sex craved society
one can only hold back so much until they themselves conform into society. People say that if a
person is raised right they will know right from wrong and will make the right decisions, but in a
society that is so controlling and demanding, how can someone make their own decisions
without being judged? Many people conform into society and do not really think for themselves
and are at a loss of who they truly are.
Medias image of sexuality being portrayed to both men and women makes an image in
peoples heads that a womans value only comes from their sex appeal rather than a person who
is strong and independent. If women can only see other women as sex objects then men are
definitely going to view women as a piece of meat and something they need to get their hands
on. Media has forever changed the way that society acts and thinks and will continue to
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manipulate the minds of people. With social media sites taking over, more and more people are
conforming into societys sexy image or at least trying too. Times have changed and will
continue to change and medias involvement in society will grow more and more and who knows
how far the sex appeal for humanity will go.



















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Works Cited
Brice, Brandon. "California's K-12 Transgender Bathroom Bill Sparks War on Privacy
Rights." Washington Times Communities. Washington Times, 4 Dec. 2013. Web.
23 Mar. 2014.
Levy, Ariel. FEMALE CHAUVINIST PIGS. PDF. Free Press, 3 Sept. 2012. Web. 23
Mar. 2014.
Martinez, Cliff. "The Sexualization of Children." YouTube. YouTube, 24 Apr. 2013. Web. 23
Mar. 2014.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis 2: The Story of a Return. New York: Pantheon, 2004. Print.