If you were to think of all the things that are backwards in our society today, the one truly most bizarre has to be the dissimilarity in acceptance towards the viewing of sex and violence.
Violence has been portrayed as the more dominant of the two for decades in movies, television, music, sports, video games and other facets of popular culture. The only outlet sex can positively claim as its own would be the internet and that is only but fifteen years old (and unregulated).
So why is violence so much more at the forefront in our collective culture? Have we become so desensitized to violent acts in our media and everyday lives that we pretend to relate to it even more than sex? If someone enjoys viewing nudity, sex and/or pornography they are often labeled as “perverts”, on the other hand if someone enjoys watching an action movie or boxing match they would in all likelihood be considered “normal”.
Violent acts of any sort are illegal with the exception of self-defense. Sexual activity of almost any kind is legal in the western hemisphere. Violence is most often associated with hate, while sex is usually coupled with love. With both emotions being the opposite of each other, love is clearly the more positive and yet daily doses of violence is normally what we see at every angle.
Some forms of media, mainly network television still see sex and nudity as a taboo thanks in large part to the Federal Communications Commission of the United States. The FCC implemented tighter rules with stiffer fines after the media manufactured a national uproar when someone’s nipple was shown. Remember Janet Jackson? They did nothing to limit the levels of violence shown. I guess because they consider violence to be morally superior.
The fact is most people other than religious conservatives do not have a big problem seeing people in the flesh. I for one would rather see a breast or a penis here and there other than watching a fictitious man get dissected to find a fictional cause of death over and over. After all, who doesn’t enjoy a good penis now and then? Think about how funny and interesting a television commercial could be with a penis in it instead of the dry and boring models we see with a little bit of sex appeal.
We speak and joke about our private parts and sex in general in all forms of media just about all the time, but somehow putting a picture to those images on a screen still seems to offend. Out of sight, out of mind? Not really. At least HBO can show T & A when needed. Imagine sex and the city had no nudity, how believable would it be then? But I digress.
I’m not sure whether watching violence or sex can affect society as a whole. After all it’s up to our parents and all of us to know what’s decent which I believe is my point. The censorship and regulation of sex and nudity, but not violence or hostility by the FCC and other government tools like them leads me to believe that it’s better to make war and not love (which might be their point).
If we did away with these regulations and organizations and trusted more in us to think for ourselves to decide right from wrong, we as a society would be far more free and well off… at the very least I could see that penis commercial.
