Date Posted: April 28, 2009 - Tuesday
Title: Just how screwed up are we about sex?
Current mood: annoyed
I watch a lot of cable TV. For the most part I watch movies, but when I have run through everything that is currently playing on the movie channels I move on to channels that have commercials. And I have come to the conclusion that we, as a nation, are terribly screwed up about sex.
Now this isn’t a real news flash. And it isn’t really a new revelation. But, you would hope, as we moved forward things would improve.
The Kinsey Report came out in 1948 and was followed up in 1953. Dr. David Ruben published his book in 1969 and updated it in 1999 (Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex, But Were Afraid to Ask). We have heard for years from Dr. Ruth Westheimer about sex. So there seems to have been a progression toward a more open and reasonable discussion about sexual matters, but for some reason we still treat the subject in a manner which is more fitting of prepubescent teenagers than reasonable adults.
This is more than evident in the role sex seems to play on television. Besides the sly and silly references in weekly situation comedies, the real evidence is in the commercials that fall between the juvenile sexual situations in the shows.
First came the ads for feminine hygiene products. Being a male I have no frame of reference, but I always thought they were insulting to women and the natural biological processes their bodies go through.
Then we had a brief flirtation with condom ads before the more conservative made sure they were pulled from the air.
Finally we had the embarrassing exposure of a former Vice-President advertising a male erection pill. And those ads have become even more ‘cutesy’, depicting couples sitting in bathtubs on the seashore or stealing away to some private island.
If any of you have had recent viewing experience on cable channels like the USA network or AMC you will have some idea of what I am talking about; especially on AMC. There is this grinning idiot who so coyly talks about the “male enhancement” pills he has been taking and there is his wife sitting next to him smirking and giving a not so subtle addition to his endorsement. This thing repeats about every seven minutes until you just wish he would develop some condition and die.
Then there are the ads for KY products. There is a his and a hers cream advertised and depicts a couple who want to engage in a physical act because their children are all out of the house. After a very juvenile depiction of what is supposed to be the climax to their adventure we see them again in bed, but they are still fully dressed. I just wonder how good this product is if they can achieve a sexual climax without even getting undressed. And then there is a gel or cream for female enhancement. In these the depictions of the female reaction is both silly and degrading; rockets launching, steam whistles going off, etc.
The last straw for me was a commercial on a national channel last night. It was for a feminine hygiene product and depicted “Mother Nature” ‘visiting’ a woman and asking her if she was “safe” because it was that time of the month. I don’t remember all the details of this because I was so stunned anyone would approach the subject in such a juvenile and silly manner. Again, not being a woman I cannot comment on the female perspective, but from a male perspective I was offended. It seemed so degrading to women.
Now I’m not raging against sex. I think it’s one of the greatest things two human beings can share. If I wasn’t an old, balding, unattractive specimen I would love to participate more in the activity. But, I do think we can come up with a more adult manner to depict this vital part of life if we are going to approach it in the national media.
This is the 21st Century and we should have advanced far enough as a culture to take an adult approach to adult subjects.
