I watched most of the super bowl on Sunday, and I became extremely plugged into all the sexual content of the commercials and Beyonce’s half time show. And I worried once again about the effects of such images on young boys and especially girls who were watching them.
This wasn’t on late-night TV, it was on the most watched sporting event in the world. Many of the commercials were incredibly sexual. One showed a woman, or sh0uld I say the lower half of a woman, walking provocatively forward towards the camera. You saw her high heels, long legs, and her mini-skirt. Talk about objectification!
There was also the one with the model kissing a nerdy-looking young guy; not sure what message THAT sent to boys and girls everywhere. But the main message set forth in many of the commercials was that if you want to be popular, have friends, and have fun, you need to be drinking, hot, thin, with a perfect body, and showing a lot of skin. That’s the picture of the ideal man and woman set forth.
I hope parents had conversations with their kids as they watched these ads, to give them perspective and to help them process what trash they were seeing. Talking to kids in this context has been shown to be protective, especially for girls. All kids need help in becoming media and image savvy so that they don’t just absorb the unhealthy messages seen in commercials, billboards, and magazines.
Well said Tim. I couldn’t agree more. We were at a party with parents of the same beliefs and we all kept telling the kids to leave the room. So sad…..
Bravo, Dr. Jordan….once again you have “hit the nail on the head”! I did take the opportunity during Beyonce’s show to educate our two middle school girls about the inappropriateness of her dance moves. What a shame that sex continues to sell the goods. Makes me wonder if those who “write” the productions even have a sense of family value?
…or better yet, morality?