Blog 4: Discussing Chapter 8's content

The issue presented in chapter 8 (sexual content on television commercials) is one that I found very interesting beyond the obvious nature of the content being discussed. I think this issue is one of the most pertinent in the book and was wondering why it was listed so deep into the book at chapter 8. I am not sure how the setup of the book came about. It is clear that the book is very well researched and if there is a specific order to the book that logically relegated this issue to a later chapter, I was previously unaware of such measures.

But I did notice that it was appropriately listed as the first chapter in the section 2 heading of sexualizing products. My point of all this being I found it to be the most fascinating chapter we've read yet. I credit this, among other great aspects of the chapter, to the statistical breakdown of television programs/sexual content per show/percentage of boys who watch and so on as seen in tables 8.3 and 8.4. In fact, the breakdown per network was also well researched as seen in table 8.2 which discusses the seconds of sexual content in certain areas.

As for the text itself, there was on single line that stuck out the most and really got me thinking. "While media scholars, parents, and politicians often talk about whether adolescent exposure to television is problematic, the discussions rarely focus on advertising."

I always thought that sexually explicit advertising was potentially harmful if not highly suggestive to young, impressionable minds. The way I see it, it's just a quick 15 seconds to 30 seconds of jokes and sexually-related dialogue which can be easily remembered. I guess I was in the minority. I suppose I was a little naive, but I'm not ashamed of that. I'm proud of my thinking and will continue to keep a watchful eye open when I'm around my younger cousins while watching television.