The Pornification of a Generation

[naut]

Thank you Banquo, you put it much more eloquently than I ever could.



I don't see capitalism as the only reason behind the current growing trend of sexualisation. Though marketing, and cultural noise/pollution, can play a major, major role in decision making. After all that is what it is designed for, to get consumers to make purchases, to choose one product, or benefit, over another. A key question has to be whether pornification, or porn culture, is a fashion or a style? Is it something like bell-bottom jeans, something that lasts for a couple of years and fades away. Or does it linger, like tuxedos or cigars. My inclination is that it'll linger, because it is so profitable. Hormones and emotions are effective marketing. How does Michelin sell tyres? Not by advertising the quality of their product, but by instilling the fear that if you don't you risk the lives of your loved ones. How does Clearasil market itself? By telling you that without it you'll never get a date. The industry(ies) know they have a powerful tool at their disposal, so why wouldn't they use it? If I was to run a advertising campaign for my product, and I had to choose between emotional or cognitive marketing, I'd choose emotional marketing every, single, time. Simple.

But to blame it on the system is far, far to easy. Hell, I'd call that cultural suicide. Yet, isn't that what our society, this society, does anyway? They always find someone else to blame. Parent's should hold themselves more accountable. At the end of the day who spends the money, and makes the purchases, the parents. So why don't they ever stop and think, "Hmm, this is not exactly appropriate for my little Princess, I think I'll get something else." Yes, cultural pressure is being exerted on them, yes, they feel the need to satisfy a want. But, what want is it? It's not true want, it's a want for status, for acceptance. And again we come back to emotions. And yet, besides the fact that the parents control the money and the purchases their children make, (or at least they should), why is it that they aren't acting as influencers in their children's lives. Shouldn't they be working to be role models for their children? Perhaps they lack the time, or the effort, or they plain don't know how to. Yet, look at other issues, there are political movements for pretty much anything. But, before this thread I hadn't noticed much cuffufle at all. That's not to say that I advocate such an idea as parent's forcing their ideas on their children, or to quote Samuel Goldwyn, "If I want your opinion, I'll give it to you." Because in the end that's just as dangerous. But, parents should teach their children to question, to question and seek no matter who or what they hear something from. Sad though, it seems, that parents fail to do so, and misunderstand that it is their job to do so.

From personal experience you don't need to go to a shop to see the extent. Simply walk into a school. Walk in and look around. Here, at least we have uniforms. But, non-uniform days, you'd be lucky to see 20% of the girls wearing what my parents would label "respectable clothing". I'm not saying that every girl was wearing high heels and a miniskirt. But, short skirts and midriff "tube tops" are pretty much the norm. I remember hearing stories of the girls several years below myself being sexually active at the ages of thirteen and fourteen, and it was fairly obvious in the manner in which they acted and portrayed themselves that they were. I remember friends complaining that they were still virgins at the age of fifteen and sixteen. Complaining that it was some sort of disadvantage to them. Which, is complete rubbish, since at that age, for all the porn you may have seen, you are hardly able to have sex, let alone good sex. I lost my virginity young, and looking back it is fairly obvious that I was desensitised to it all. And, a lot of it has to do with the pressure from peers, and the lack of understanding by my role models, my mentors, that for us kids it was a big and confusing issue. I don't think they really grasped what it was we were facing. They didn't listen, or perhaps, rather they didn't want to listen. It wasn't until later, when I got some more adept mentors, who had lived a little, that I started to understand.

But, it's not just that. I've noticed how hard it is to get a lasting relationship. Yes I'm young, and yes I should be living a little. I get it. But, of the relationships I've had there's only three that I'd bother to label the girl involved as being my girlfriend. Three. People always say it's guys that don't want commitment, but is that really true? From personal experience girls, since the time I started being interested in them, seem to not want a real relationship. One example, my friends were trying to set me up with this girl they knew from Uni, an attractive girl sure. But, it's not that they thought we were a good match, or that we'd like each other. Their reasoning, and I quote one of my friends, "You'll have awesome sex." But, guess who said that, it wasn't a male friend it was one of my female friends. And who was doing the majority of the forcing, my female friends. Odd that we always assume that it's just the males who objectify women.



Oh, and I'm considering doing a Marketing Major, so in essence it's all my fault.