Introduction
McFaul (p. 15) asserts that over the last decade, sex and violence has become a topic of discussion across various disciplines. For example, the film industry in United States has adopted sex and violence as a common theme to many movies (Donato, p. 4). “Sex refer to the act of having intercourse, while violence refers to abusive exercise of power on a person with the aim of violating, damaging or abusing somebody” (Storey, p. 1). On the other hand,” popular culture is defined as culture of the common people resulting from low or high culture influences” (Storey, p. 1).
Examples of Essays on sex and violence in popular culture
There are many essays that have been composed on the topic of sex and violence in popular culture. Some of these essays are practical, while others are unreasonable. One of the essays relating to sex and violence in popular culture that was accessed in this case was found to be very reasonable. This arises from the fact that it is not biased as it narrates of children being exposed to media programmes that are full of scenes of violence and people having sex (The New York Times, p. 7). In addition, it does not specify their gender identities making the essay not to favor either girls or boys. The author’s advice is that people ought to handle the two subjects carefully so as to protect the children. The essay is void of fallacies and contradictions and it uses a decent language to communicate its message.
The second essay assessed in this case was found to be quite unreasonable. This is because” it narrates of instances of sexy females being used in entertainment pastime” (The New York Times, p. 7). On the other hand, “males were represented as heroes who could do anything they wanted “(The New York Times, p. 7).
Fallacy is evident in the essay. Moreover, there is no explanation on how sex can contribute to fast growth. Additionally, the essay documents that sex can be visualized in different places. This statement is not clearly presented. The language that is used is also not clear.
The third essay by Alexander written in 1990 is reasonable as it is void of bias and shows that bias is dangerous both to the society and to the young people. In addition, the mother of the two young boys goes on and gives her own experience after watching some violent movie. The essay is very logical, for instance, “it clearly indicates that it is not always true that something is right because everybody is doing it”. This is clearly shown by the fact that,” even though all the friends of the sons have watched Batman and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the parents have refused their sons to watch it” (Alexander, p. 4). Additionally, there is no contradiction as most of the things written are what is happening today. Responsible language has been used in the essay. For example,” in explaining the parents’ concern on the well being of their sons, the essay states that the parents hope that their sons will not eat the forbidden fruit instead of just saying that they will not have sex” (Alexander, p. 3).
The third essay written by Alexander proves to be reasonably and responsibly written. This is because” apart from just stating that watching movies that are full of sex acts or violent acts is harmful to the young minds, the mother of the young boys goes ahead to give examples of her own experience after being exposed to violent movies for some time. She indicates that since then she has had some phobia of watching some programmes” (Alexander, p. 5). In addition, the parents are doing their part to prevent the young children from watching the programmes that are full of scenes on sex and violence as they understand the negative effects of these programmes to their children. However, they understand that they will not be with their sons forever, but they are doing their best for the time being to direct their kids in the right way so that when these kids leave them, they will be able to live responsibly. This shows that parents understand that if they tell their sons not to have sex, they will still have it since young people always want to experiment on the things that their parents advice them not to do. Additionally, the essay also indicates both the positive and negative side of the media. For instance, “there are some strong messages passed by the media on the issue of drugs. Moreover, the essay gives the possible ways of eliminating some of the media programmes that promote violence”, (Alexander, p. 7). It is also the most responsibly written essay as the parents show that they are responsible and are not ready to allow their sons just do anything because everybody else is doing it.
My stand concerning the argument in the most responsibly written essay
The argument is that when young minds are exposed to acts of violence, their minds are harmed and corrupted. It is evident that young minds are able to pick much information so fast and retain it for longer and if they are faced with a certain problem, they will apply what they saw either in the media or from their friends. For example, if they watch a movie concerning two friends who fight after disagreeing on something, they may think that this is the right solution in such a situation. Thus in future if they disagree with their friends, there is a high probability that they may resolve the issue by fighting.
My stand on sex and violence in popular culture
Sex and violence is a major theme in most media services currently. Therefore when young people are exposed to such information, they may also engage in either sex or violent acts. It has also been observed that most young people engaging in acts of sex and violence have been misled by most media materials. For example,” the case of seven teens who raped a 17- year old girl”, (Donato 7).provides an example of the effects of bad influence. They did that because they had seen such kind of acts in the media. Therefore, media in a larger percentage is the one that promote sex and violence among the young people. Additionally, some magazines contain pictures of people having sex in all manners and others engaging in acts of violence which are easily accessible to the kids. Thus out of curiosity they may be tempted by such scenes to practice what they see.
In order to intensify the fight against violence and sex, there should be some TV shows and programmes that encourage members to come and air their problems. These people should then be advised accordingly. Among the TV shows that promote good programmes for the young is” the Jerry Springer shows “(Dixon 1). Before parents allow young people to watch or listen to anything, they should figure out what values it is going to add to their lives. Finally, TV programmes that encourage young people not to engage in acts of sex and violence should be recommended and rewarded accordingly.
Works Cited
- Alexander, Charles. Show Business: A parent’s view of pop sex and Violence. N.d.
- Dixon, Mary. Trash TV? Salt Lake City Weekly: 1998.Print.
- Donato, Totaro. Sex and Violence: Journey into Extreme cinema. 2003. Print.
- McFaul, Jason. Critical thinking: a Shepherd’s guide to tending sheep. 2002. New Los Angeles: Kendall Hunt Pub Co. Web.
- Storey, John. Cultural and popular culture. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006. Print.
- The New York Times. Sex and violence in popular culture. New York: New York Times. N.d. Web.