Selling sex in the U.S.A.

[Rink]

Selling sex in the U.S.A.
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Posted: November 12, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern

© 2004 WorldNetDaily.com

"Weeeeeeeeeeeee are the chaaam-pions, mah frehhhhh-und …"

To triumphant strains of the "Queen" rock anthem, the paunchy, middle-aged male actor is jumping up and down in an ecstatic victory ritual – in slow motion yet, to immortalize the transcendent moment – delirious over his new-found sexual potency, thanks to Viagra.

"Oh no, not on Fox News?!" Click. "Let's see what else is on."

A middle-aged man and woman, presumably naked, lying in his-and-hers bathtubs on a mountain bluff, are cozying up to each other to the tender strains of jazz guitar music, while the announcer poses the towering question of our age: "When the moment is right, will you be ready?" For Eli Lilly & Co., the moment was right during the third quarter of the Super Bowl, when the drug manufacturer paid over $4 million to subject 90 million unsuspecting fans to this 60-second Cialis commercial. (Serendipitously, just a few minutes earlier pop singer Janet Jackson had warmed up the viewers by baring her breast during her strategically naughty half-time show.)

In the fierce battle for market share in what Wall Street analysts project will be a $6 billion-a-year market by 2010, Lilly spent over $100 million launching its competitor to Pfizer's Viagra, the market leader. To further penetrate the mass mind, Cialis's marketers even met with sitcom writers and Broadway producers to induce them to incorporate the sex-drug into their scripts.

Click.

An attractive brunette talking directly to the camera asks viewers if they "want to know a secret?" In this racier and more aggressive TV commercial than those of Viagra and Cialis, market underdog Levitra, made by GlaxoSmithKline, presents prime-time viewers – including millions of innocent children – with a sultry seductress reveling in how the drug's effectiveness has increased her partner’s desire to "do this more often."

"For him, Levitra works," she coos. "Just look at that smile."

Click, TV off.And all across the nation, from sea to shining sea, children look up at their parents and ask, "Daddy, what's 'an erection that lasts longer than four hours?'"

Such ads are inundating not just TV, but radio, the Internet, newspapers, magazines and mailboxes nationwide. They've become part of today's "mainstream" cultural landscape, along with Cosmopolitan and clones with their "Hot Sex Tips!" and in-your-face cleavage screaming from every grocery checkout in the country, not to mention ever-more-explicit TV and movie fare, ubiquitous spam e-mail messages hawking supplements to enlarge one's private parts, salacious condom demonstrations in public school classrooms, Howard Stern, MTV, swimsuits, the fashion industry, cars, children's toys – you name it, and it's been sexualized.

And that's just what's on the surface – the still-"civilized" world of titillation, temptation and tease – readily visible to all who turn on the television or drive down the street.

But scratch just a fraction of an inch beneath that veneer of civilization and you'll leave the world of entertainment and marketing and enter the world of hardcore sex, perversion, crime and self-destruction.

More on this Story (http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=41407)

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

How easy it is to spice up television, music, movies, and now commercials with sex. Hmmm, isn't hollyweird and the weirdos within always looking for "challenging, cutting-edge" material? With the ease they are able to SHOVE sex and sexual perversion down our throats, it seems to me what would be CHALLENGING and cutting-edge for the industry would be to try a piece on good old fasioned values, morals, decency, common sense, and good clean fun -- what a way for the actors/actresses to "stretch-themselves" with a thought-provoking and challenging role!

[DoctorDoom]

Unholywood's excuse is, "Well, the script requires nudity, sex, and foul language." They of course are strangely silent on why they accept so many scripts that require them. Still, for the latest crop of "stars", whose only talent is exposing themselves on camera for an audience of voyeurs, requiring actual acting ability would put them out of work.

The same applies to the "pop music" travesty. Britney Spears is the poster girl for the pervasiveness of sex as a substitute for talent. And they're too stupid to realize that when they cease to be sexually stimulating to the knuckle-dragging morons who are the majority of their audiences, they'll be out on the street, replaced by some other talentless wench with a Playboy body.

"No one ever went broke underestimating the taste of the American public."
-- Henry Louis Mencken

[Beowulf]

Let's not forget soap opera's these days. I've seen a few scantilly dressed women in these shows. Not much is said of it but directors often use the same excuse, "Sex sells," and it does most often.

Now I'm going to get blasted for this but my feeling is if we don't like something, turn it off. Rink demonstrated this well in her post. Same for language and violence. I've turned off the TV or changed the channel many times on my son.
Censorship starts at home. I want to be the one who decides what my son will or won't see or hear, NOT the government.

[Peachdiane]

:claps: Beo. I completely agree. :)

[DoctorDoom]

Now I'm going to get blasted for this but my feeling is if we don't like something, turn it off. Rink demonstrated this well in her post. Same for language and violence. I've turned off the TV or changed the channel many times on my son.And no doubt the TV stations and advertizers lamented that you did it.

Do you wonder why all that crap is on the tube now? I submit it's because of that indifferent attitude toward the corruption of our culture.

"'You don't have to read it.' 'You can switch it off if you are offended.' These and other cliches... have been used to justify a situation where the tastes of a small minority have progressively infused the whole culture. On the assumption that no one's freedom is thereby impaired, violence and obscenity fill the media, despite the fact that this material does not reflect the choice of the average adult."
-- John H. Court

Censorship starts at home. I want to be the one who decides what my son will or won't see or hear, NOT the government.May I assume, then, that it doesn't matter how filthy or disgusting the "entertainment" industry becomes, as long as you can ignore it?

No one is suggesting government censorship, but simply ignoring the influx of sewage because it's not leaking through your doors is exactly why the flow of sewage is increasing.

Compare TV of 2004 with TV of 1954 and ask, "How did it get do bad?" A: it happened incrementally, one "It's only..." at a time.

[kate]

I know that my kids won't watch TV until I think they are ready to understand that not everything shown on TV is true/good/fact. And even then they won't be allowed to watch everything. I believe that the TV makes kids dumb. My Dad grew up without a television and he was fine with it and is still not watching more TV than news and a movie with Charles Bronson in it or some other old movie.He would never watch a reality show or anything. He said once "TV is for entertainment when you have nothing else to do, and even then it's smarter to read a book or get some sleep" I think he is more than right.

[thenotch]

Add this into the discussion about sex sells:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - J.Lo and Beyonce can take another bow. The booty-shaking stars have shaped the newest generation of mannequins, with hundreds of well-rounded plastic backsides appearing in shop windows across New York.

Bootylicious figures clad in tight low-rise jeans have spilled from the city's street fashion stores into more established labels.

"It's absolutely the trend," said Dwight Critchfield, creative director for mannequin firm Goldsmith.

"These mannequins look great, and there is a real sex appeal about them."

Full Story Here (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=583&e=1&u=/nm/20041112/od_nm/booty_dc)

Now.. skip ahead in the article to this line:
On the juniors' floor of Macy's in Manhattan, Guess jeans and streetwear label EckoRed display jeans on a fuller rear-end bottom-half mannequin, known as a pants form, opposite a large poster of J.Lo and her clothing label, while a DJ mixes hip hop and reggae to teen and 20-something shoppers.

So now it's ok to sell sex to our children?????
:flame:

[BarryG]

pornographers belong in jail, period.

[Rink]

And you wonder why I dont watch that much TV anymore?

I see those idiotic ads for Enzyte and I keep wondering, why they dont show that dorky grinnin guy with a permanent erection all over the place instead?

That would show exactly what that crap is for and show for all to see just what that stuff is for in graphic detail.

O one more thing, these dimwit ads keep making women happy that their men can perform more, even with the old lady of the enzyte ad, hate to burst their bubble but after a while of being pestered to death by horny men they just up and quit wanting it, and seeing this junk advertized on regular tv makes them cringe and wince because they'll know hubby dear will go out to get this so he can 'perform' again, knowing full well they will have to put up with the hassling for sex in their middle to older years.

not everyone wants to run on sex forever in a marriage, there's more to life in marriage than sex.

[nene]

Keep the escrement from our homes and raise our children properly...that is all we can do.

[Rink]

How though? when most regular prime-time TV is loaded full of this garbage?

Even fox news tv has it in their ads.

So how do you make them clean up their act when they wont do it for you, and wont listen to you?

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

This is the problem in a nutshell ... yes we can turn off the television, or change the channel, or mute the volume, but WHY should we have to? If the "family hour" is supposed to be FOR the family, why then are we bombarded by Victoria's Secret, Viagra/Cialis, Kotex, Ortho-tricyclene commercials between the "family hour" shows? Why do we have to sit thru commercials for "R" rated movies, for risque TV shows (which don't even AIR on the channel the commercial does), or previews of "adult" television shows (such as Desparate Housewives) DURING times when the "family" would be watching television. How do you turn OFF the commercials you don't even know are coming?

As evidenced by notch's post -- how do you guard a young son's eyes as you walk through the mall with all the scantily clad mannequins posed provocatively enticing customers to purchase their by-sex-sold wares? When waiting in line for a "G" rated movie, how do you explain to your daughter what "thong" underwear are because she asked why that young lady in the OTHER movie line (you know, the one for Nicole Kidman's pedophilia movie "Birth")had strings showing outside the top of her pants?

No, I DO practice parental censorship in my household -- but it has become SO pervasive, how do you protect and prepare for something when you don't know in what carnation it will show itself or what moment such behavior will show itself? I can't walk around with my hands over my children's eyes and ears forever --- I do belive the television, motion picture, and music industry have a duty and responsibility to be better managers of their behavior, as I am the behavior of my children.

[rudeguy]

Come on, y'all are letting your feelings get in the way of your common sense. Why is there sex on tv? Because there's a demand. The companies that payfor the ads that pay for the tv shows are very savvy businesspeople.

Do you really think successful corporations would put potentially offensive material on tv if they thought it would turn off the majority of their customers? Get real. Nothing is left to chance. Sex is there because people want it. The bottom line is those of you who are put off by today's tv content are the minority. More houses than ever have tv. Nobody's forcing those people to watch television, they watch because they like what they're seeing.
The 50s are over, get over it.

[Apollo5600]

The 50s are over, get over it.Who the heck brung up the 50s? You know what is going on is total BS, why should we tolerate such filth whatever year it may be?

Let me guess, we should just get over Jackson's (whats her name again?) "wardrobe malfunction" because it ain't the 50s anymore? To hell with her, and to hell with the rest of hollywood. The only reason why "people want it" is because we have allowed our society to get corrupted by it in the first place, it all must end.

As for the minority claim, I am quite sure there were quite a few americans pissed over Jackson's flash, I am willing to bet there is a large portion of Americans who would love to have clean tv.

[CzechPrince]

Rude guy I totally agree.

Look, no one is going to agree with everything on TV. These people are putting it on becasue there is a demand. If you don't want to watch it, Turn the channel, don't let your kids watch certain channels, or at certain times, or BLOCK them. Come on, I mean you cannot expect TV corporations to pander 100% to your moral beliefs. I mean honestly, it's VIAGRA, it is a HEALTH REALTED COMMERICAL--if your kid asks you, tell him/her you'll tell them when they get older, I know my parents did that. We have more problems in this country to worry about than a Viagra commerical, Christ.

[Apollo5600]

I know my parents did that. We have more problems in this country to worry about than a Viagra commerical, ChristThou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain Catholic.

Look, no one is going to agree with everything on TV. These people are putting it on becasue there is a demand. If you don't want to watch it, Turn the channel, don't let your kids watch certain channels, or at certain times, or BLOCK them.How can we do that when Filth is everywhere? Whether on the tv, or just walking through a mall?

Come on, I mean you cannot expect TV corporations to pander 100% to your moral beliefs. I am tired of the corporations pandering to those with no moral beliefs.

Rudeguy said:Come on, y'all are letting your feelings get in the way of your common sense. Why is there sex on tv? Because there's a demand. The companies that payfor the ads that pay for the tv shows are very savvy businesspeople.
You know, word has it the Passion of the Christ did pretty good in theaters.

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

Come on, y'all are letting your feelings get in the way of your common sense.WHOSE common sense? Whose common sense shows Victoria's Secret, viagra/cialis, ortho-trycyclene, and Kotex commercials DURING THE FAMILY HOUR????? Yeah, I'm supposed to predict DURING THE FAMILY HOUR just exactly WHEN an offensive ad comes on??

Why is there sex on tv? Because there's a demand. The companies that payfor the ads that pay for the tv shows are very savvy businesspeople.It's much more cyclical than that -- and certainly not as cut and dry as your are asserting. Because of the demand, eh? Well media is considerably helpful in this area as they are responsible for DRIVING a lot of the demand. What say, they try for a YEAR to have and maintain decent TV for two hours a night ... bet their ratings would show people watching it! Have they even TRIED? Oh sure, maybe one show here one show there ... how about the popularity of Touched By An Angel maybe. They need to do it on a consistent basis, THEN they'll have a foundation on which to build the "we're losing ratings because people aren't watching" excuse.

Do you really think successful corporations would put potentially offensive material on tv if they thought it would turn off the majority of their customers?Yep, you betcha. What choice do we have? 'Course we ARE (collectively) getting better -- as evidenced by the backlash against Verizon for father-UNfriendly advertising.

Get real.I am, but I don't have to live in YOUR reality Buster.

Nothing is left to chance. If that were the case, the broadcasting of DECENT fare (commercials, tv shows, movies, etc.) would not only be on at least equal par with the smut, but it would also be evenly distributed between all the media outlets (music, movies, tv).

Sex is there because people want it. The bottom line is those of you who are put off by today's tv content are the minority. More houses than ever have tv. Nobody's forcing those people to watch television, they watch because they like what they're seeing.
The 50s are over, get over it.Just because one CAN do a thing doesn't mean one should (always) do a thing, nor does it make the thing right.

[kate]

rudeguy and Prince: If the TV is full of stuff I do not wish my children to see then I am allowed to say it. To me my child is on the first place of my prioritylist when it comes to "what to worry about". YES there are other things that are going wrong in the world but the TV is part of it and I will not shut my mouth just because people like you don't really care. If you think the TV doesn't have much of an influence on children then you are wrong. I have seen a documentary about this not too long ago.

The TV should not become a childs second Mommy. But at some age your child has several interests and if my kid would want to watch some show on TV that is completely harmless but each commercial break would be full of ads for viagra and whatevernot then i think i would be allowed to say my opinion about it. I think that's COMMON SENSE, rudeguy.

And yea I don't have a kid yet but it still concerns me when I think about what stuff our children have to face on TV day by day when all they really want is watch a normal show or cartoon.

[DoctorDoom]

Come on, y'all are letting your feelings get in the way of your common sense. Why is there sex on tv? Because there's a demand.Oddly enough, in all my 62 years of life, I don't recall any marches and protests in front of TV and film companies "demanding" more sex, violence and foul language. Ergo, where is your evidence of the "demand" that the excusers of smut claim exists at such a level that it must infuse our entire culture?

If there's a "demand" for that garbage on the tube, why are TV viewers abandoning the alphabet nets in droves? Why are the cable/satellite channels that offer a steady diet of it far less watched than Nickelodeon and other family programming?

If there's a "demand" for it in movies, why do family films consistently outdraw the trash? Name for me the sex & violence films that competed with The Passion of The Christ at the box office ($610 million worldwide), and 4.1 million DVDs sold on the first day of release?

And even if this highly questionable "demand" exists, what rationale is there for catering to it? There are certainly enough outlets of garbage to satiate the most perverted scumbags without filling the prime-time hours with it. Those who "demand" filth can easily find it. It's not necessary to saturate the entertainment media with it to appease them.

There's a "demand" for triple-X sewage. Shall we air that in prime-time just because some losers want to spank the monkey without paying for the smut? There's a "demand" for child pornography. How does 8 PM Sunday evening sound?

Catering to every sick "demand" is reducing American culture to utter depravity. The large majority of people are NOT "demanding" that garbage, but they are silent, content to turn it off. The result? The producers and distributors assume that silence = assent and continue lower the standards, and the advertizers, hearing nothing from the consuming public, continue to underwrite it.

What will it take to awaken the people? Queer porn? B&D? S&M? After all, there's a "demand" for them. Why was there an uproar when Janet Jackson aired her tit during the Super Bowl? There certainly must be a "demand" for bared boobs on TV.

The surest sign of a culture or nation in its death throes is the abandonment of moral standards. And when those who decry it are mocked, ridiculed and attacked, the demise is imminent.

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
-- Edmund Burke

No one could make a greater mistake than he who did nothing because he could do only a little.
-- Edmund Burke

The 50s are over, get over it.Typical clueless liberal "logic". The date on the calendar justifies the moral collapse of American culture. Kid, I remember the 50s, when the whole family could gather around the TV and be entertained without the fear of being exposed to garbage.

Your "argument" is worthless.

[CzechPrince]

Thou shalt not take the Lord's name in vain Catholic.
My apologies...but let's not act like you don't sin either, so cut the holier than thou sentiment.

How can we do that when Filth is everywhere? Whether on the tv, or just walking through a mall?
What is in the mall that is, "Filth"? Victoria Secret? It's a women's store. If it bugs you that much don't walk by it, but that does not mean that a busniess doesn't have a right to be there.

I am tired of the corporations pandering to those with no moral beliefs.
Maybe so, but you have options:
Find a television company that carries what you want for your family, or get certain channels you know will be suitable for your children.

Most of the things you find offensive for your kids, most of it is MTV and such, which they will watch when they get to be teen agers. I have friends whose parents blocked out certain channels until they were mature enough to watch it or ignore it when flipping through the channels.

[DesertFox]

There is no "demand" for sex on tv. Sex gets attention, always, because we're wired that way. Same with violence. Everybody crowds around a fight.

Generally, people will watch whatever's on the toob whether it's sexy or not.

[Suzie]

Some of us have turned to internet message boards rather than watching that stuff. But there are times it isn't any better. I guess we are going to have to give up entertainment all together to keep vulgarity and offensive images from our kids. Either that or make the kids wear blindfolds and earplugs anytime they are in the room with you while we watch TV or surfthe net. But people in general don't care anymore about what they say or where they are when they say it. If the general public is doing it all the time hollywood is really just reflecting how people represent themselves in real life everyday, because it is all too common anymore and that makes it hard to decide which came first, the entertainment ... or real life.

I do like that new series desperate housewives, I have became interested in the story line but the exposed flesh is way over done on that one too. I wish they would put it on later, I have been putting my son to bed 15 minutes before it comes on so I can watch it.

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

What is in the mall that is, "Filth"? Victoria Secret? It's a women's store. If it bugs you that much don't walk by it, but that does not mean that a busniess doesn't have a right to be there.Lane Bryant is a women's store too but you don't see window displays of mannequins with thong underwear and peek-a-boo bras on either now do ya? I'm not SAYING the business has no right to be there, I'm saying they should be respectful of parents walking through the Mall with their children, of ALL ages. They have no NEED to display such risque items -- those that are aware of Victoria's Secret will go in there anyway whether they have "sexy" window displays or not. It's about common decency and courtesy, respect for others and THEIR rights.

Maybe so, but you have options:
Find a television company that carries what you want for your family, or get certain channels you know will be suitable for your children.And how easy is that in a small town that offers ONE cable company? How about the fact that they offer exactly THREE cable packages -- basic (which includes VH1, Comedy Central, and SpikeTV), basic plus (which includes HBO, and basic plus plus (which includes HBO & Showtime). You are throwing out supposed options without knowing the reality that not ALL parents HAVE options.

Most of the things you find offensive for your kids, most of it is MTV and such, which they will watch when they get to be teen agers. It's not up to you to inform parents what their children WILL do when they grow up. You don't know every parent and you certainly don't know how they raise their children. You are making a generalized assumption about children/kids/teenagers -- it is that very attitude that prevents the right thing from being done in the first place. I suggest you go back and re-read Genesis ... God KNEW Adam and Eve were going to sin, but He didn't say, "Hey guys, listen, I know you're going to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, so I'll just make it easy for ya and give you a bite now." He said, "DON'T EAT OF FRUIT OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL!" Parents need to do a WHOLE LOT MORE saying NO, instead of assuming 'they're gonna do it anyway.'

I have friends whose parents blocked out certain channels until they were mature enough to watch it or ignore it when flipping through the channels.That doesn't mean that other honest, well intentioned parents block out channels completely (and indefinitely). You are missing the point. One can block out all the channels they want, but how does one (currently) block out the commercials? Why just this very afternoon my husband was watching the Nascar race, which he and my son enjoy together, and right in the middle of the race a commercial comes on for Cialis. What do you say to a 6-7 year old who asks "What's an erection that lasts 4 hours, Daddy?" (Praise the Lord my son is old enough now that this discussion, while still not one I or my husband feel we should be having in the middle of a Nascar race, is manageable.)

There used to be a foundation of decency in this country. Always erring on the side of goodness. Now it's anything goes, anytime. I know there are those that enjoy that piece of trash new show "Desparate Housewives" -- I do not begrudge them this. But to have commercials, pure moral decadence, running at times when CHILDREN would be watching is just downright WRONG.

Hollyweird NEEDS to take some responsibility, and in an effort to AT LEAST improve their appearance and standing in "red America" clean up their act.

[CzechPrince]

Lane Bryant is a women's store too but you don't see window displays of mannequins with thong underwear and peek-a-boo bras on either now do ya? I'm not SAYING the business has no right to be there, I'm saying they should be respectful of parents walking through the Mall with their children, of ALL ages. They have no NEED to display such risque items -- those that are aware of Victoria's Secret will go in there anyway whether they have "sexy" window displays or not. It's about common decency and courtesy, respect for others and THEIR rights.

It's not a corporations responsibility to do that! Victoria's Secret cators to certain types of women, obviously not you, and there is no problem with that. But if they pay the rent for that store, and they are abiding the law, they can put whatever they want out. It might be unethical, but that is the price for freedom, not everyone is going to agree with everything someone else does. Sorry, if you don't want your kids to see that, don't take them by there, walk to another store, or just don't take them to the mall until they are older.

And how easy is that in a small town that offers ONE cable company? How about the fact that they offer exactly THREE cable packages -- basic (which includes VH1, Comedy Central, and SpikeTV), basic plus (which includes HBO, and basic plus plus (which includes HBO & Showtime). You are throwing out supposed options without knowing the reality that not ALL parents HAVE options.

You can get basic cable and block out whatever channels you want, that is up to you. I can't help if you live in a small area, that is a drawback, limited choices, but you do have them. My mom's sister is a hardcore fundemenatlist and she lived in a rural area of TN--she didn't even have cable for years until my cousins got older for the same reasons as you.



It's not up to you to inform parents what their children WILL do when they grow up. You don't know every parent and you certainly don't know how they raise their children. You are making a generalized assumption about children/kids/teenagers -- it is that very attitude that prevents the right thing from being done in the first place. I suggest you go back and re-read Genesis ... God KNEW Adam and Eve were going to sin, but He didn't say, "Hey guys, listen, I know you're going to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, so I'll just make it easy for ya and give you a bite now." He said, "DON'T EAT OF FRUIT OF THE TREE OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOOD AND EVIL!" Parents need to do a WHOLE LOT MORE saying NO, instead of assuming 'they're gonna do it anyway.'

All I meant was most teenagers watch MTV, when they get to the age that they will be able to watch it they will be more informed, more mature, and responsible. I am not telling or informing you how to raise your kids, but this is America, and they will have American culture, and you will only be able to shelter them so much, becasue when they get older it is going to become harder and harder. And who knows, maybe the won't watch it, but if they do, it's not going to be the end of the world.

That doesn't mean that other honest, well intentioned parents block out channels completely (and indefinitely). You are missing the point.
That is up to the parent on what they do and censor their kids from. If I as an 18 year old want to watch MTV, I shouldn't have it completly removed from my cable lineup becasue of you, that is why you should either block it out or buy a package (if possible) that has what you want in it.

One can block out all the channels they want, but how does one (currently) block out the commercials? Why just this very afternoon my husband was watching the Nascar race, which he and my son enjoy together, and right in the middle of the race a commercial comes on for Cialis. What do you say to a 6-7 year old who asks "What's an erection that lasts 4 hours, Daddy?" (Praise the Lord my son is old enough now that this discussion, while still not one I or my husband feel we should be having in the middle of a Nascar race, is manageable.)

Are you serious, praise the Lord? So what? Erection. It's a medical term, Big Deal. Most kids don't pay attention to those type of words, and heck most cannot even say it and won't remember it the next day. If that happens, you tell your kid (this is what mine did) "I will tell you when you get older so let's not talk about it"--if having your kid hear the word erection is the worst thing you can think of or seeing a mannequin in Victoria's secret, you don't have much to worry about.


There used to be a foundation of decency in this country. Always erring on the side of goodness. Now it's anything goes, anytime. I know there are those that enjoy that piece of trash new show "Desparate Housewives" -- I do not begrudge them this. But to have commercials, pure moral decadence, running at times when CHILDREN would be watching is just downright WRONG.

Hollyweird NEEDS to take some responsibility, and in an effort to AT LEAST improve their appearance and standing in "red America" clean up their act.
Kids watch TV 24/7, every kid watches it at differnent times. I dont know what times you consider, "Family Time", and I have never heard of that show, but it sounds like another stupid reality one.

[Apollo5600]

My apologies...but let's not act like you don't sin either, so cut the holier than thou sentiment.
I did not say I never sinned, I do every day.

By the way, why are you appologizing to me for? You did nothing to me.

[Apollo5600]

It's not a corporations responsibility to do that!
Do people still get arrested for indecent exposure or whatever it's called? Or is that protected under the 1a?

The thing is the standards have been lowered, and we continue to allow them to be lowered because people like you say "just turn the channel if you don't like it". How can we do that when it's in the streets, commercials, and everywhere else we continue to allow it? These things have an effect on the children, I myself was highly corrupted by it and was dead in it for a long time, same with my brother and everyone else I know, had I not a mind I would not of found Jesus and I'd be headed to hell.

[CzechPrince]

Do people still get arrested for indecent exposure or whatever it's called? Or is that protected under the 1a?
There is a huge difference between a mannequin with a thong on in a glass window and someone running around naked, so no that is not protected, although I would think it be really funny if I saw someone running around naked ;)

The thing is the standards have been lowered, and we continue to allow them to be lowered because people like you say "just turn the channel if you don't like it". How can we do that when it's in the streets, commercials, and everywhere else we continue to allow it? These things have an effect on the children, I myself was highly corrupted by it and was dead in it for a long time, same with my brother and everyone else I know, had I not a mind I would not of found Jesus and I'd be headed to hell.
I don't think standards should be lowered, I just don't beleived in censorship for the most part. Freedom is a great thing, but with it comes things we don't agree with and things we do. What needs to change is the people and our culture.

[Riverboat]

. . . Nicole Kidman plays Anna, a young widow who thinks her deceased husband has been reincarnated – into the body of a 10-year-old boy. Thus, one scene depicts Kidman tenderly kissing the boy on the lips. Another scene has her asking the boy – played by 11-year-old Cameron Bright – if he has ever had sex. I can tell you right now where this is headed. Substitute HER for HIM in the quote and figure it out. Make sure a bucket is handy.

[HomeschoolrsRUs]

It's not a corporations responsibility to do that! Victoria's Secret cators to certain types of women, obviously not you, and there is no problem with that. But if they pay the rent for that store, and they are abiding the law, they can put whatever they want out. It might be unethical, but that is the price for freedom, not everyone is going to agree with everything someone else does. Sorry, if you don't want your kids to see that, don't take them by there, walk to another store, or just don't take them to the mall until they are older.

We're talking about freedom, right? Freedom means the ability to do something WITHOUT INFRINGING UPON THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS. Victoria's Secret does not HAVE to put disgusting displays in their windows (nor does Abercrombie & Fitch). Do they have the "right" to, yes. But having the "right" to do something DOESN'T make it right. YOU might think it's no big deal, but THAT is how this country got in the mess it's in now ... incrementalism. You take all these "isolated" incidents one at a time, sure, no big deal. But after a while, they all begin to add up. Children are like sponges, they are only able to soak up what is around them. You surround them with filth, they will then be filled with filth, and filth is what comes out.

You tout yourself as a Catholic, are you not familiar with God's Words:
<SUP>PHP 4:8</SUP> Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.


You can get basic cable and block out whatever channels you want, that is up to you. I can't help if you live in a small area, that is a drawback, limited choices, but you do have them. My mom's sister is a hardcore fundemenatlist and she lived in a rural area of TN--she didn't even have cable for years until my cousins got older for the same reasons as you.

None of this would be necessary if networks established a rule of decent behavior. We should ALWAYS err on the side of caution -- some parents may NOT be able to block out channels. Again, nothing is harmed by waiting until later times to air such "adult-fare" or if window displays and ad campaigns take in to account just WHO might be effected by their "work," and be a little sensitive to others.

All I meant was most teenagers watch MTV, when they get to the age that they will be able to watch it they will be more informed, more mature, and responsible. I am not telling or informing you how to raise your kids, but this is America, and they will have American culture, and you will only be able to shelter them so much, becasue when they get older it is going to become harder and harder. And who knows, maybe the won't watch it, but if they do, it's not going to be the end of the world.


And why should I have to shelter them at all? If everyone practice common decency, AT LEAST in public, there would be no need for shelter. The WORLD forces us (as parents) to broach subjects that children are not ready to handle, are not equipped to fully understand, and they should not have to deal with (yet). The world infringes upon MY rights to raise my children as I see fit. What you are saying is THE WORLD is right, they have the right to be disgusting, despicable, degrading. But, Heaven FORBID, I try to SHIELD my children from such filth -- for after all they are MY children -- I am now a fundamentalist whacko because I don't want my children's mind filled with perversions of every imaginable kind.

That is up to the parent on what they do and censor their kids from. If I as an 18 year old want to watch MTV, I shouldn't have it completly removed from my cable lineup becasue of you, that is why you should either block it out or buy a package (if possible) that has what you want in it.


I'm not advocating that it be removed or withheld from those who wish to watch it. But the DECENT thing to do would be to have a basic cable package that is NOT overtly offensive, at least certainly NOT filled with channels that are KNOWN to broadcast offensive language, sexual content, and inappropriate subjects in mixed company. Those other channels should be premium channels, you want it, you pick them to ENHANCE the basic cable package. But now the PERVERTS are dictating what is offered. Why can't you see the difference. Asking for basic common decency hurts NO ONE'S rights.

Also, is it too much to ask to air inappropriate-in-mixed-company commercials at a later time? You know, there are no more cigarette commercials -- why is that? Cigarettes are legal. Cigarettes are available to adults at any time during the day and night. Why can't ads on the telly be directed at them? How is it that THIS type of censorship is not only accepted, but encouraged and promoted, while to ask for a bit of decency in their advertisement program is too much to ask?

Are you serious, praise the Lord? So what? Erection. It's a medical term, Big Deal. Most kids don't pay attention to those type of words, and heck most cannot even say it and won't remember it the next day. If that happens, you tell your kid (this is what mine did) "I will tell you when you get older so let's not talk about it"--if having your kid hear the word erection is the worst thing you can think of or seeing a mannequin in Victoria's secret, you don't have much to worry about.

The key words here are in bold -- they are MY KIDS. The advertisers are taking my role and responsibility out of my hands by advertising this ca-ca. I don't care if you teach your children about erections, but by golly I don't have to until I feel my children are ready for that type of discussion. I certainly don't think six years old is the appropriate time -- but what does one do in the scenario I presented. The point is, it is MY responsibility to or not to, and the timing should be left up to me as a parent. NOTHING is harmed by waiting to air this type of commercial at a later time when smaller children would not be watching television. A little common decency is NOT too much to ask!


Kids watch TV 24/7, every kid watches it at differnent times. I dont know what times you consider, "Family Time", and I have never heard of that show, but it sounds like another stupid reality one.
I'm sorry but I don't buy into your theory. I would say the majority of parents put their smaller children to bed by 9pm. I have always considered the "family hour" (actually 2) to be between 7-9pm. But those types of commercials shouldn't air in the daytime either when (smaller) children could be watching.

We ALL have a responsibility to each other to AT LEAST be decent. I don't give a rat's patoot if you want your children viewing filth, filling their little minds with perversion, but I do, and MANY Americans do too. I assert that if given the CHOICE, decency would rule out over trash. We should always reach up for the best within our grasp, instead of playing down to the worst amongst us.

[Suzie]

There are a lot of shows that throw in useless sex scenes strictly for that purpose. I used to like to read the romance novels when I was younger but I rarely have time to read anything these days. I think that they would have a good story without all of that on Desperate Housewives it's a big hit so they say, I watched it the first night it was on and now I need to find out why that woman killed herself and what the guy across the street is up to, so they could have shows that "sell" without this I think. But it seems like they have to throw that into every thing, I would prefer they stick to the plot. But I don't agree that sex is all that will sell something. The mystery alone would keep people following.