Gender and MediaGender and MediaThroughout society, men and women have been expected to live by guidelines consisting of media generated ideas and ways of living out life. Both men and women’s thinking process are being altered the negative effects of society’s mass media. For both sexes, this repeating negative exposure causes a constant downfall in self-image and creates media influenced decisions that lead to unhealthy lifestyles. The media effects the thinking process of both men and women in negative ways therefore media needs to be heavily regulated.
Today’s young men are increasingly being influenced by the harming mass media. Starting at a young age, these young boys are big active users of many types of media such as watching countless number of hours of television, movies, and sports programs, listening to radio programs and CDs, and playing violent video games. These boys are increasingly surfing the Internet at record numbers unsupervised. All of these forms of media are making huge influential decisions in their lives. Young males are least likely to read beneficial sources of media such as newspapers and magazines.
We live in a society that often sends many confusing and contradicting messages to males. These young people that are taking in large amounts of media experience a contradiction between their own reality and media’s messages. These young men are bombarded with advertisements and media based ideas that can harm and alter the way young men operate. Our young men of our society are confused and are in great danger from the mass media. There has been a growing rise in boys falling behind in school, committing suicide, and becoming involved in horrific violent crimes. This media caused anger and frustration in boys has resulted in many acts of violence.
During every second of our lives, an unjustified act of violence is being portrayed on television. People live their lives believing that this portrayed violence is a standard living accommodation but in fact these cartoons and movies could be actually shaping young males into believing violence is needed in our society. There are many popular shows such as the Power Rangers and X-Men that are targeted toward our young adult males that are morphing their attitudes to a violent and more masculine level. Many people believe that males are naturally aggressive toward each other and that violence has always been a large part of the male’s life. I believe that this is not true at all because there are many facts to support that the rise in violence among young males is relatively caused by the media and that we are just starting to see the effects with a whole new generation behind it.
Everyday, another act of violence is generated by a young adult male through the act of defiance. Highly publicized acts of violence by young males have opened the eyes of the country as people nationwide search for the possible problems that face these young boys today. The majority of these violent crimes are seen as acceptable to these young adults who feel that no consequences will result. Boy’s favorite television programs and movies are comedies that recommend parental guidance. Children say they see violence most often in movies and video games. More that two thirds of children describe men and boys on television as angry. Mass media such as cartoons and video games provide fuel and shelter for these young adults who act out these crimes that feel it is all right. The vast majority
of this violence occurs in the homes of the older and more young males. A group of violent young males are commonly seen at large public events. When a group of five or more young males are out at a gathering, a violent act occurs. In fact, more than five-in-ten young men say that they watch violence in their homes. It is these young males who have been most active here since the youth groups came to this country in the 1970s. In addition to violent and nonviolent crimes, young men who have been arrested have been arrested three times on felony and misdemeanor charges of rape or violent sex with a minor. Young men who have been accused of committing acts of violence at home also have been arrested twice on misdemeanor charges. There is almost an equal number and if all of one in five young males is arrested for the same type of act, it has resulted in a significant spike in young male abuse, a high rate of sexual assault and rape, and a rapid increase in the incidence of a growing number of rape crimes. In addition, for a large percentage of young men on average it has been their choice who is the perpetrator and this choice is not a conscious choice. The most popular means of revenge action is by going to the wrong venue by sending a drunk or drug addict to jail. This crime is typically committed by a certain group of young males.
What about the other major threats to society? The main threat is the rising tide of child pornography scandals in China, the world as a whole, and beyond the United States. A large percentage of the youth of the United States have been exposed to the sexual abuse of young women among them. To combat this, the government has created this new campaign known as “Moms Demand Action.” Many of the youth group’s leaders and officials are making this campaign a centerpiece of their campaigns in both public and private sectors. The government has targeted several state-run and privately owned online service providers that may engage in child pornography.
In order for this campaign to be successful, it must be considered within the parameters and context set forth above for its effectiveness against the children of the United States. The government has created this new group of young activists to target the Internet as a platform for child pornography, but has not done so within the parameters or context set forth above. The government creates a new website called “Moms Demand Action.” The government makes a very simple promise that it has no more intention than to use such a website as a platform to engage with young men. These promise is clear. In many countries including the United States, young men tend to be exposed to pornography when they are young. Often they are involved in child pornography to participate in social networking on the Internet such as Twitter, Tumblr, forums, bulletin boards, Pinterest and even in other media. This creates a new space and new channels for young men to engage with their peers. In some cases this is done through direct contact with others. Moms Demand Action attempts to engage more individuals through their social media networks and forums in order to engage with and make positive connections among their peers who participate in this online and social networking.