Role of Media and Adolescent Sexuality

The mainstream mass media (television, magazines, movies, music, and the Internet) provide increasingly frequent portrayals of sexuality. We still know relatively little about how this content is used and how it affects sexual beliefs and behaviors.

The mass media are an increasingly accessible way for people to learn about and see sexual behavior. The media may be especially important for young people as they are developing their own sexual beliefs and patterns of behavior, and as parents and schools remain reluctant to discuss sexual topics.

Sexual talk and displays are increasingly frequent and explicit in this mediated world. One fifth to one half of music videos, depending on the music genre (e.g., country, rock, rap) portray sexuality or eroticism. Two thirds of Hollywood movies made each year are R-rated; most young people have seen these movies long before they are the required 16 years old.

Although teen girls' and women's magazines, such as Seventeen and Glamour have increased their coverage of sexual health issues over the past decade, the majority of advertising and editorial content in these magazines remains focused on what girls and women should do to get and keep their man.
The word sex is the most popular search term used on the Internet today (CyberAtlas, 2001). The Internet may have both positive and negative effects on sexual health.

Despite increasing public concern about the potential health risks of early, unprotected sexual activity, most of the mass media rarely depict three C's of responsible sexual behavior: Commitment, Contraceptives, and consideration of Consequences.

Media also should present information on the use of methods to avoid unintended pregnancies and STDs and their consequences. A few prime-time programs have done this. Promoting responsible and healthy sexual behavior by adults and adolescents may result in a greater percentage of wanted and well-spaced pregnancies, with improvement in the health and well-being of many children and their families.