Media items related to gender, sexuality and the body Essay

Media items related to gender, sexuality and the body - Essay Example Sexuality is anchored on physical and biological differences that make males and females different. The media use their content with sexuality and gender to influence, educate or inform their audience. Sexuality in advertising entails the use of erotic or sexual words or phrases, images in advertising to appeal to buyers and increase the chances of selling the product. Analyses of media content indicate that most of the content presented portrays issues relating to gender, sexuality and the body with all of these displaying sexual activities explicitly or implicitly. For example, over 80% of all movies from a cable TV stations have sexual content. Over 50% of the music shown in the television portray sexual feelings and impulses with minority displaying provocative clothing and body movement that are sexually arousing. Sexual messages in most television shows are universally presented in a positive light towards gender and sexuality. In most media gender and sexuality has been exploi ted consciously and unconsciously in media items such as; advertisements, promotions, magazine articles, newspaper articles, blogs, and websites. The gist of this paper is to collect and analyse media items related to gender, sexuality and the body. Blog sexinadsmedia.blogspot.com, 2009, Sexuality in media/advertisement , viewed 18 April 2012, . This is a blog article which details the media use of sexuality in advertising, and it discusses a study carried on the use of sexuality in media. It is now news that sexuality had been used in advertising as early as 1800s when physical attractiveness and sexuality started having a great impact on society. Sexuality was used in advertisements in forms of wood carvings and other illustrations of attractive naked women, from the waist up. In 1885 W. Dukes & Sons Tobacco Company could insert trading cards featuring attractive and provocative women into tobacco packages (sexinadsmedia.blogspot.com. 2009, p. 1). Sexuality has from then proved to be substantially effective tool that can change the sales trend in many companies. The blog article refers to the most striking twentieth century advertisement by Woodbury’s Facial Soap, which was based on sexuality. The history of this company has it that in early twentieth century, its sales were plummeting, and it used a doctor’s face on wrapper as its advertisement tool. Later, the company switched to sexuality advertisements by inserting romantic paintings of, young appealing women, and immediately the sales escalated for the following years. Coupled with these images of sexuality was the sexual slogan â€Å"A Skin You Love to touch†, which has attraction and appeal to sexy women (sexinadsmedia.blogspot.com. 2009, p. 1). The blog article agrees with the fact that sexuality is a transforming tool depending on which product is being advertised. The study on the effect of sexuality in advertisements proves that sexy ads attract more people than nonsexual ones . In most sexuality advertising, 51% females are used, and only 15% males are used (Huston, Wartella & Donnerstein 1998). The twist of the writer is the fact that sexuality in general has become a controversial issue in print media advertising