Nudity As A Social Norm Essay

Improved Essays
Social norms vary greatly between cultures and geographic locations. Norms pertaining to etiquette or ethics are always altering. What used to be considered a social norm a month ago may not the case in the present day. There are a variety of factors that affect social norms, such as media, time, and cultural differences, just to name a few. These factors are taken into consideration when looking at the controversial topic of nudity. Media specifically has modified the social norm of nudity for years. Nudity in the United States has now become a rather important part of the American culture, and has only been emphasized through television, magazines, viral videos, and many other forms of widely accessible media. My hypothesis is that media is one of the leading factors as to why nudity has become social norm in The United States. Nudity is a very …show more content…
The consensus of the article found that there was a much higher amount of scandalous adds in text forms of media due to constant exposure (Paek and Nelson 18). In addition, the journal article, “ Sexual Content on Mainstream TV Advertising: A Cross- cultural Comparison” Amir Hetsroni analyzes the differences between the past and present TV adds and how it has affected the overall perspective of nude tolerance (Hetsroni). Likweise, the journal article, “ Understanding the Role of Entertainment Media in the Sexual Socialization of American Youth: A Review of Empirical Research” Monique Ward discusses how the high volume of sexually driven, and revealing content lying within different forms of media can generate acceptance of sexuality and nudity in general (Ward 347). Mass media’s portrayal of nudity also accelerates sexual activity at a younger age. In the journal article, “ Impact of the Media on Adolescent Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors” Liliana Escobar-Chavez et al studies how nudity in media influences the youth’s attitudes and behaviors about sex

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In February 15th, 2003, the episode of a long-running ABC TV show “NYPD Blue,” “Nude Awakening” has premiered, and became controversial, due to a scene involving nudity. Over the last few years, the terms “indecency” and “obscenity” has been defined and redefined, in order to create proper regulations on programs’ usage of mature content on television. This rule has become more prominent in primetime programs, but not in cable programs since they depend on subscriptions. Ever since cable was introduced, primetime had to frequently compete with cable because the primetime shows had shown decline in ratings as a result of cable’s success. This is partially due to cable’s incorporation of adult content that can’t be often presented on network programming, primarily during daytime and evening.…

    • 595 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    According to Lisa Tasliki's work, she argued that moral panics are caused by the rapid development of social change and also effected by technological development. The author thinks that involving the gender of girls through the positive account of childhood and its contract with popular media. In addition, the author discussed that children can use online technologies to get information, but it did not give a standard to divided sex information into age account which means that children get the same things with adults. To avoid that kind of question, the author discussed that children to use the online technology should train themselves to make the right decision through the technologies of subjectivity. Also, Tasliki point out media enhances the development and knowledge of sex education for young…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On the television, in the movies, or even breaking news stories in the paper, online, or on news programs. This idea is what the article “That’s Entertainment?” by Michael Medved makes a point of. Some people don’t really know us or our culture, but they still make assumptions by what they saw in an over-glorified sexualized savage movie they saw two years back, assuming that it is the norm for every person of our country. Through the uses of devices and styles such as Aristotle’s appeals, imagery, overall layout…

    • 2038 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    In present day of American culture, nudity is still something that a person does in the privacy of their home and not in public. While other cultures accept nudity, in America, nudity is a sign of something sexual and negative (Cowell 2007). In the media, Americans will censor any naked part of the body and in schools there are rules that a student should not show a certain part of their body. Some states in the US have laws where a person must be wearing clothes in public locations, yet if an American is nude then the American will be ticket. When Americans see a naked body the first instinct is to avoid seeing the naked body by turning away and covering the eyes, which is exactly what Miner wrote in his essay.…

    • 1113 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In “TV’s Negative Influence on Kids Reaffirmed” by Jeffrey M. McCall, he warns parents that too much television is bad for your kids. McCall says that recent studies confirm that kids who are saturated with television are damaged in many ways. McCall also states that kids who absorb a lot of media whether it be television, video games, or the internet are less likely to do well in school, less well-adjusted socially, and more likely to be overweight than kids who are low users of media. A separate study at the University of North Carolina found 12- to 14-year olds who watched television with high sexual content were twice as likely to have intercourse by age sixteen. McCall argues that television is a cultural legitimizer for kids and teen…

    • 504 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Breaking Societal Norms

    • 67 Words
    • 1 Pages

    Different people have different understanding of societal norms. It is an option for people breaking or obey societal norm, we do not have the right to meddle other person’s option. The reason why people are breaking societal norm, because they think it is not perfect enough and unfair for some of the people. In order to achieve personal goal, societal norm would be barrier to stop…

    • 67 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Television influences the health and behavior of adolescents. Television is describe as an electronic device which deliveries moving images and sound from a source to a receiver (Britannica, 2016). Adolescents’ not only have access of watching live television but have the capability of digital video recording (DVR) service. DVR service allows shows to be downloaded for viewing at a future date and time (Encyclopedia.com, 2016). Television can be a positive or negative learning source.…

    • 1363 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In America today, we see a lot of Television shows that blur or censor specific content, specifically nudity and foul language. In other countries and communities around the world censorship of the human body and language this would seem out of the norm. In Germany, television displays almost no censorship and nationally broadcasts frontal and back nudity without hesitation. Westernized thoughts and idealism of what is proper and acceptable behavior on broadcasted entertainment tends to be divided when it pertains to the human body.…

    • 345 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This social norm appears in books, movies, TV shows, pretty much every form of media imaginable, despite there being little actual evidence of it…

    • 271 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Reality TV In The 1970's

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Reality TV has been around since the late 1940’s when Allen Funt headlined a show called Candid Camera. This was followed in 1950 with a show named Truth or Consequences. The 1970’s had programs called Real People and That’s Incredible. These shows were, for the most part, considered wholesome entertainment that the entire family could watch and were quite tame in comparison to what is on television today. Reality TV exploded in the 2000’s and it remains one of the most popular genres in television.…

    • 1204 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Boyhood Organized Sports

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages

    “Boyhood, Organized Sports, and the Construction of Masculinities” written by Michael A. Messner discusses the sense of identity placed upon boys at a young age that coincides with sports. Messner interviewed former professional athletes to understand the masculinities of sports on a more micro level. His article argues that organized sports are gendered institutions that are only there to make boys more masculine. This article argues that point very well though displaying the experiences of the retired athletes and how they became interested in sports, though his study may be considered a bit outdated in this day and age. Messner’s research from 1983 to 1985 came to the concussion that most American men did not considered boys men until…

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The idea of school dress codes being sexist and encouraging rape culture has become very popular across school districts. There are stories about protests and strikes all around the country. I have witnessed these “dress code violations” and from what I witnessed, none of these girls were in the wrong. There have been too many times that young ladies get dress coded because what they are wearing is a “distraction” to young men. These boys need to be taught self control and I should not get punished because I was dressing comfortably for the weather.…

    • 1241 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The purpose of this study is to examine how the media portrays parent-child communication about sex and the role that family structure plays in the communication between the parent and child. This area of study is important to examine as we know that the media can shape the perspectives of individuals, however it leaves us to question to what extent the media shapes conversations about sex within a family unit. We may often take for granted how our opinions are influenced by media and that we, as a society, might not acknowledge their full impact on family communication. Our hope in conducting this analysis of a television show is to discover how and why parent-child communication about sex occurs and how that relates to the family structure presented in a television show that has aired in the past 10 years. Given our limitation on time and resources, we used the Netflix database to find potential shows that could provide multiple examples of parent-child communication.…

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Media tends to emphasize youthfulness, beauty, as well as physical and emotional health. The potential influence children are exposed to through the media makes a profound impact on the attitudes of adolescent toward the…

    • 1621 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Gender roles in the media influence society greatly. Media has the ability to portray genders in ways that they really do not act in real life and American society. Even with reality shows, individuals in the shows put on an act in a way to persuade the audience’s mind to keep them watching. For this assignment I chose to watch two different shows that were on ABC Family. I was quick to learn that the “family channel” is not so much for the family.…

    • 1428 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays