The media and American adolescent sexuality relates to the effect the media has on the sexuality of American adolescents and the portrayal thereof.
According to Sexual Teens, Sexual Media: Investigating Media's Influence on Adolescent Sexuality, adolescence can be divided into three different stages; early (ages 8-13 years), middle (ages 13-16 for girls, 14-17 for boys) and late (16 and older for girls, 17 and older for boys). Each stage focuses on different aspects of cognitive, physical, social and psychological development. Although not all teens develop through adolescence at the same rate, the stages usually follow a specific pattern. For teens in the early stages of adolescence, they are in the beginning stages of puberty. In this stage of adolescence, relationships begin to become important as well as their physical appearance. Middle adolescence is characterized by independence from their family and increased activity with their peers. This is the stage in which sexual activity may begin to occur. The last stage of adolescence the teenager begins to feel more secure in their bodies and their sexual behavior. With those aspects of adolescence in mind, media can play an important role in how teen shape their views about sexuality.
Researchers remain divided on the role of sexuality in the media on adolescent sexual health. The American Academy of Pediatrics has argued that media representations of sexuality may influence teen sexual behavior. However, some scholars have argued that such claims have been premature. Despite increasing amounts of sexual media, US government statistic state that teens have delayed the onset of sexual intercourse in recent years. According to journalism professor and media critic Jane Brown, the media is piquing teen interest in sex at ages younger than before. Brown argues that research has "found a direct relationship between the amount of sexual content children see and their level of sexual activity or their intentions to have sex in the future." However, the direction (and mechanism) of causality remains unclear.
Sexuality in the media
Some scholars argue that media in the United States is the most sexually suggestive in the world. According to that view, the sexual messages contained in film, television, and music are becoming more explicit in dialog, lyrics, and behavior. In addition, the messages may contain unrealistic, inaccurate, and misleading information. Some scholars argue that still-developing teens may be particularly vulnerable to media effects. A 2001 report found that teens rank the media second only to school sex education programs as a leading source of information about sex, but a 2004 report found that "the media far outranked parents or schools as the source of information about birth control."
Media often portray emotional side effects of sexuality, such as guilt and disappointment, but less often physical risks such as pregnancy or STDs. One media analysis found that sex was usually between unmarried couples and that examples of using condoms or other contraception were "extremely rare." Many of programs or films do not depict consequence for sexual behavior. For example, only 10% programs that contain sexual scenes include any warnings to the potential risks or responsibilities of having sex such as sexually-transmitted diseases or pregnancy. In television programming aimed at teens, more than 90% of episodes had at least one sexual reference in it, with an average of 7.9 references per hour.
However, government statistics suggest that since 1991, both teen sex and teen pregnancy have declined dramatically despite the media generally become increasingly sexually explicit.
Effects of the media on beliefs about sex
Some scholars feel that adolescents may turn to the media as a "sexual super peer" when they seek information about sexual norms and adult roles because of the lack of information about sexuality readily available to them. For example, in one study of 13-and 14-year-olds, heavy exposure to sexually-oriented television also increased acceptance of nonmarital sex. Another study found that teens overestimate how many of their peers are sexually active, a problem that is contributed to by the media.