SEX!!

Sex. This is a subject that seems to remind everyone I’m a Christian. I know exactly when sex is brought up because someone will always says, “Oh Olivia, you’re not allowed to listen to this,” or “Olivia, you can’t see this,”(Side note: I’m twenty-six and I’m being told I’m not allowed to listen or see things I have no interest in hearing or seeing, by people sometimes younger than me. Madness.) If the idea is to try and “save” me from “dirty” conversations that might “ruin” my “innocence” then they are already too late. Advertisement, music, film and TV, in fact everything I see and hear, has been doing it for years.

I mean, it doesn’t interest me people talking about sex. Why should it? And why would it make me want to buy something? We’ve all seen perfume adverts, some in fact, I’ve felt a little red in the cheeks watching with my parents in the room, Gucci Guilty — certainly felt guilty. I was surprised by Kellogg’s late night advert (a man and woman are implied to be getting ready to sleep together when the woman goes away to “ready herself” and he turns the light on to see the room is filled with dolls — horror movie dolls — and goes to leave when he spots Kellogg's Crunchy nut on the side and decides to stay anyway) why would that make me want to buy their crunchy nut cereal? “Moneysupermarket.com” have an advert of action men dancing who rip their clothes off . They’re not real people but they’re sexualising childhood toys. And, I know from experience that TRESemmé doesn’t make your hair look like that without any aid from hot tongs — plus, it looks like they have draft issues. KFC love to focus on the mouth and lips when showing how delicious their chicken is. Even Domestos can’t do an advert without “sexy” tattooed men.

But why do they all use these connotations in their adverts? Well, you see. You remember them. Every hair product advert will contain a beautiful woman, possibly in the act of washing her hair. Just to prove this, here’s a little test: a woman showering naked under a waterfall, what is this advertising? “Herbal Essence”. We know it because these associations stick in our mind. Is that a bad thing?

Sex is a funny subject. There seems to be a divide between whether it’s good or bad. Well I don’t think there is anything wrong with it, but there’s a time and place. One that doesn’t involve cereal or car insurance or even toilet cleaner.

This way of advertising shows the focus of our attention. Don’t believe me? Here are some graphs in relation to the growth of explicit content in our films (and that’s from 2014). As people, we are so desensitised to sex that we don’t even realise we see it, hear it, and sing along to it everyday. One of the biggest hit songs last year was “Despacito” sang in Spanish by Luis Fonsi, Justin Bieber and Daddy Yankee, is so far from innocent. You should google translate those lyrics. Justin Bieber definitely isn’t all about “Baby, Baby, Baby ooh,” anymore. It’ll open your mind a little about what you’re actually singing. I bet you won’t even let your children, or little brothers and sisters sing along to it anymore. After I googled it I decided I wouldn’t sing along to songs not in my native tongue, unless I knew what they were singing. You see it’s so easy to absorb this and normalise it, especially when we don’t know what we’re listening to, or seeing.

Did you ever as a kid watch a program or film and then again as an adult and say, “oh, I get it now,” or “I don’t remember that being in there?” It’s because the “innocence” has gone, your eyes are opened. You’re privy to the dark secrets that are not really very well hidden. Sometimes it’s in plain sight and with a more aware perspective. And now that it’s there in your head, is hard not to un-think it. I will never be able to un-think Pinocchio wearing a pink thong. Thanks Shrek.

I remember, one time, being a part of a conversation, talking about jam doughnuts. In a matter of only a few words and dirty laughs the jam doughnut became a symbol for something else, something I wouldn’t want to eat, ever. Now I have to push that out of my mind whenever I fancy a jam doughnut (which, to be fair, isn’t very often). Growing up my mind has been exposed to things I wasn’t searching for, but have morphed how I view the world. But that is it, everything that is used in films and various advertising and music, exposes unknowing minds to content that once is in our minds is hard to get out. If you leave weeds long enough they’ll take over the garden, and all you’ll see are weeds. To me, these things are weedy, unnecessary and pointless.

Why is it such a big part of our media? Why is it even in there? That isn’t a rhetorical question, or a question I’m going to answer. I literally do not understand the purpose of it? Why should sex be shared with a whole cinema of people. You wouldn’t live stream your bedroom antics (though I’m not one to judge if you do). So why do we have it portrayed in movies, adverts, songs, e.t.c.?

However, with that said, explicit pictures and pornography is so readily accessible that sex in advertising isn’t as prominent anymore, and companies can use other ways to advertise. But sex in advertising will always be there, because, sex sells. How do I know? It’s everywhere and everyone talks about it, “Close your ears, Olivia,” (not entirely sure that is possible).

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