Gallery Carre
What’s Wrong with Reporting on Sex? (Cory Silverberg)
Apr 18th, 2006 by Viviane
What’s infuriating and depressing about all this is that there is great writing and research being done not only in the area of sexuality and technology but also on almost every other facet of sexual experience. But instead of actually picking up a journal, or taking the time to ask a sex research something other than what they think of Jenna Jameson, we get this terrible “dumbing down” of public sexual discussion. By printing these non-stories, and not expecting more than lazy journalism, outlets like Reuters (and it is definitely not the only one to do this) are confirming that when it comes to sex, as long as we see some skin, that’s good enough. Just throw a few titillating stories about porn stars and a future where we’re all hooked up to machines for our orgasms, and we’ll call it a day.
A few comments:
Why do you find articles about sex in mainstream publications? Sex sells them! Newspapers don’t have the balls to print straight sex stories, unless they are wrapped in the guise of “news” from researchers. All too often, though, as the author points out, the writer veers into gratuitous porn references and other comments that are intended to titillate without informing.
I’m sure there is some serious sex research going on out there, but would the average reader wade through an academic publication when the results are published? And I’m sure the neo-Puritans who run the federal government have been cutting back funding for this sort of research.
That said, if anyone needs a subject for a sex study, let me know.
I agree wholeheartedly. The blogs have picked up where puritanical society has stopped. And based on the hits to my blog, the interest is there.
The government has always resisted getting involved in this area, and with the evangelicals getting ever more power over our lives, all we can expect to see are studies on the benefits of celibacy and prayer.
I ran through google the other day the key words “banning contraception” and was floored by the number of sites promoting this idea. The puritans are also on the net, doing what they can to bring society further in thier direction. But so long as we keep the First Amendment, they will not stop the spreading of idea.
(Of course, they would argue that our discussions about sexual freedom equate to topics not protected by the First Amendment).
hmmmm… so why don’t we create a magazine that focuses on sex in a manner that we feel should be done.
seperate the Perverted from the Sexual Enthusiasts
(not that there’s anything wrong with being a pervert, hehehe)