I'd have thought that answer would be freedom, freedom to shoot up a school, freedom to have phones tapped, freedom to cheeseburger etc.
No Right Answer: America's Greatest Obsession Ever
- Thread starter Firefilm
- Start date
Recommended Videos
OMFG! Evil Smurf that is the cutest avatar picture ever!!
OT: I think America is more obsessed with violence than sex, as someone said earlier, it's so common in media it's almost white noise. While sex (not romance) is relatively scarce. I'd say we all think about sex a lot more than violence especially in real life as there's more detrimental consequences to acts of violence but finding someone attractive and having sex with them consensually is fantastic. We also tend to think or fantasise about sex more as we're always driven to breed as it's more or less the end purpose of us (in a primal animalistic way), violence is optional and most people will avoid it if not required for survival.
*break*
Evil Smurf that cute kitten is REALLY distracting in cuteness!!
*resume*
As per the show name I don't think there's a right answer but I think it has more to do with the vagueness of the question, lack of parameters and definition of the question than a lack of answer. Going by media content, violence. If we could register what people think about the most in a 24hr period it will be clearly sex.
OT: I think America is more obsessed with violence than sex, as someone said earlier, it's so common in media it's almost white noise. While sex (not romance) is relatively scarce. I'd say we all think about sex a lot more than violence especially in real life as there's more detrimental consequences to acts of violence but finding someone attractive and having sex with them consensually is fantastic. We also tend to think or fantasise about sex more as we're always driven to breed as it's more or less the end purpose of us (in a primal animalistic way), violence is optional and most people will avoid it if not required for survival.
*break*
Evil Smurf that cute kitten is REALLY distracting in cuteness!!
*resume*
As per the show name I don't think there's a right answer but I think it has more to do with the vagueness of the question, lack of parameters and definition of the question than a lack of answer. Going by media content, violence. If we could register what people think about the most in a 24hr period it will be clearly sex.
Going to have to go with "Sex". Americans are obsessed with sex and sexuality. Violence is simply a part of the culture, with low level violence being essential for most visual entertainment, be it simple slapstick comedy (both "real" and animated) to complex narratives based on violence (every cop show, most shows about ER doctors). One of the most prevalent American Myths is the Myth of the Gun; the Gun = Power to Resist Tyranny. That's just what America is.
Sex, on the other hand, is something that America has forbidden since centuries before it's inception. It's rooted in the religious fear of sexuality and the need to control it, to keep it out of sight and out of mind. Now that the religious power in America has faded to a shadow of its former power, sex is out in the open and Americans just don't know how to deal with it. In many ways when it comes to sex, America is like a 14yr old boy who's got a supply of hand lotion and a Costco cube of tissue paper, and whose parents have let him move into the near sound proofed basement. You just know he's down there wasting box after box, giggling with glee while there's a small part of his brain that keeps chanting "Chafing! Chafing! Chafing!" but so far, so good!
Sex, on the other hand, is something that America has forbidden since centuries before it's inception. It's rooted in the religious fear of sexuality and the need to control it, to keep it out of sight and out of mind. Now that the religious power in America has faded to a shadow of its former power, sex is out in the open and Americans just don't know how to deal with it. In many ways when it comes to sex, America is like a 14yr old boy who's got a supply of hand lotion and a Costco cube of tissue paper, and whose parents have let him move into the near sound proofed basement. You just know he's down there wasting box after box, giggling with glee while there's a small part of his brain that keeps chanting "Chafing! Chafing! Chafing!" but so far, so good!
Violence is the only thing that distracts innocent children from sex, so that's perfectly ok
Rated "M"... For "Minor"
cap Bunny Rabbit
EDIT: Oh c'mon, you snuck in more "Nice guy" debate by saying sex in advertizing and sexual clothing as the reason for it?
Rated "M"... For "Minor"
cap Bunny Rabbit
EDIT: Oh c'mon, you snuck in more "Nice guy" debate by saying sex in advertizing and sexual clothing as the reason for it?
I know for once, just once, I'd like to see a cover of a Cosmopolitan magazine (no I don't read it, but you see it in the grocery store checkouts all the time) that didn't have the word 'sex' on it. "Have the Best Sex Ever" "Sizzling Sex Secrets" "Hot Summer Sex" and so on and so on. You know, all this shallow emphasis on performance is really disheartening esp. for me whose never had sex. In fact it's really frightening for someone like me whose never had it!
Gonna have to say it's really more of a competition between food and violence, given that sex is most often hidden away as if it's something to be ashamed of. Game of thrones having it and being proud about it was such a novelty that it was actually brought up.
Plus y'know, Americans and guns so the violence in the media has a far more damaging real life parallel even if there isn't a direct cause-effect link, it still shows that the culture itself is inundated with way too much violence.
Plus y'know, Americans and guns so the violence in the media has a far more damaging real life parallel even if there isn't a direct cause-effect link, it still shows that the culture itself is inundated with way too much violence.
I think the biggest misconception in this video is that these two things are separate. They are in fact the same thing. Violence is there to get sex.
I'll bite. Violence: pretty much always bad. You intentionally hit somebody under anything except very special circumstances (for example martial arts training between people who know what they're doing and have precise control, two man-men best friends having a bromantic and non-serious slap fight, etc.) and you've done something horrible.
Sex, on the other hand, is not nearly so clear-cut. The worst part about it seems to be the prevalent idea that being in any way sexual somehow always harms a woman, that a woman is always definitionally being exploited by either having sex with somebody or being looked at in too sexual a fashion (generally speaking if the partner/viewer in question is a man it tends to set off this alarm much more readily). That men take/buy/rent, women give/sell, and if women render sex too cheaply then they're being taken advantage of. This alongside the underlying assumption that sex is always solely an economic exchange would seem to imply that the only women who don't get taken advantage of are prostitutes, porn stars or golddiggers; which I find questionable at best.
Gonna go out on a limb here: it is possible for a two people to want to have sex with each other and for it to be a nice experience for both of them. It is possible for a woman to be looked at in an appreciative way in regards to her sexuality without also being debased. But while there is a nice way to bone somebody you care about as thoroughly as you can, there is no nice way to punch somebody you care about as thoroughly as you can. The idea that there is a nice, good, noble way to beat another human to death is, from my perspective at least, a clearly much more damaging thing than an especially focused interest in sexytimes.
Sex, on the other hand, is not nearly so clear-cut. The worst part about it seems to be the prevalent idea that being in any way sexual somehow always harms a woman, that a woman is always definitionally being exploited by either having sex with somebody or being looked at in too sexual a fashion (generally speaking if the partner/viewer in question is a man it tends to set off this alarm much more readily). That men take/buy/rent, women give/sell, and if women render sex too cheaply then they're being taken advantage of. This alongside the underlying assumption that sex is always solely an economic exchange would seem to imply that the only women who don't get taken advantage of are prostitutes, porn stars or golddiggers; which I find questionable at best.
Gonna go out on a limb here: it is possible for a two people to want to have sex with each other and for it to be a nice experience for both of them. It is possible for a woman to be looked at in an appreciative way in regards to her sexuality without also being debased. But while there is a nice way to bone somebody you care about as thoroughly as you can, there is no nice way to punch somebody you care about as thoroughly as you can. The idea that there is a nice, good, noble way to beat another human to death is, from my perspective at least, a clearly much more damaging thing than an especially focused interest in sexytimes.
I think it all comes down to context and how it's being used.
sex - pleasure/life, great. Objectification/defacing/falsification, not so great
violence - plot/venting frustration, great. Objectification/over-glorification/depression not so great
violence and sex together I think is the greatest, but how often it goes together without basis.
sex - pleasure/life, great. Objectification/defacing/falsification, not so great
violence - plot/venting frustration, great. Objectification/over-glorification/depression not so great
violence and sex together I think is the greatest, but how often it goes together without basis.
That is not even remotely how it works. Firstly it's 4 years. Secondly the major republican and democrat are chosen through primary elections. And lastly, YOU DON'T HAVE TO VOTE FOR EITHER OF THEM! My sister voted Libertarian in the last election. So no you do not have to pick between the lesser of two evils.KaZuYa said:
Congratulations on picking the sexy topic but I found the debate really weird without a discussion of the actual end state the act leads to. Violence leads to pain and killing... even in moderation it can, at best, prevent worse pain and death. It has no positive end state in modern society at all. Sex can lead to objectification and rape at worst but its kinda needed for the continuation of humanity.
Both are basic human instincts but since one is far more beneficial than the other and if were talking about which obsession is worse than I think that does come into the argument. America's greatest and most unhealthy obsession is with violence not sex. Also if one were to grab any newspaper and flip through the pages counting instances of both, violence would come out on top every time. Whether discussing it from a perspective of their relative merits or their proliferation it seems a bit of a non-argument and I will never understand why american culture continues to be so scared of the evils of sex and accepting of the entertainment inherit to other peoples suffering.
(I guess what I'm saying is that I want more porn in my video games... lets have adult street fighter sex edition)
Both are basic human instincts but since one is far more beneficial than the other and if were talking about which obsession is worse than I think that does come into the argument. America's greatest and most unhealthy obsession is with violence not sex. Also if one were to grab any newspaper and flip through the pages counting instances of both, violence would come out on top every time. Whether discussing it from a perspective of their relative merits or their proliferation it seems a bit of a non-argument and I will never understand why american culture continues to be so scared of the evils of sex and accepting of the entertainment inherit to other peoples suffering.
(I guess what I'm saying is that I want more porn in my video games... lets have adult street fighter sex edition)
Obsession? From an external point of view of the U.S, it IS violence, from the many movies and television shows, to the very well known army glorification.
Sex on the other hand is seen as a "bad" thing, as much as a very good advertisement technique. Having a sex scene will most likely make whatever the movie/game/show instantly mature, while violence will not (depending on the level thou).
Sex on the other hand is seen as a "bad" thing, as much as a very good advertisement technique. Having a sex scene will most likely make whatever the movie/game/show instantly mature, while violence will not (depending on the level thou).
I feel that violence is more of an obsession than sex. Because, while we do stress details about sex and go to absurd lengths to stop it while also glorifying it, we happily consume all source of awful violence to the point we don't even care. When's the last time you watched one of the 500 murder mystery shows and felt bad for the victim? I don't mean like 'oh, that's awful,' but instead were like 'holy shit, what kind of monster would do that to a human being?' Criminal Minds has a few of these that I've seen that were just so bad. And this is a public show that kids can watch without parents getting up in arms about it. However, one nipples appears on public television? WHAT THE FLIPPING JIMMINY IFHSAHDIWQJDIWNCIEWFHDWISD!?
That's the problem. Sex is an obsession. But sex, by itself, isn't a bad thing. Objectification is. Self-image issues (which aren't tied directly to sex, but instead to sexuality in my opinion, if that makes sense) are bad. Rape is one of the worst things one person can do to another (though one could make the argument that rape normally involves violence as well). But sex in general isn't bad.
Violence is normally considered bad in pretty much any case. Except sports for some reason... which makes me realize something. American's obsession with violence isn't only in television shows and in games. It's in our sports too. The number one sport in America is a bunch of guys attacking each other while trying to get the skin of a pig from one place to another. It seems fairly violent in it's nature.
I think both obsessions aren't good. But I feel the obsession with violence is stronger than that of sex. That doesn't mean that I think the obsession with sex isn't worse. I feel the pull towards violence and our general obsession with it is stronger.
That's the problem. Sex is an obsession. But sex, by itself, isn't a bad thing. Objectification is. Self-image issues (which aren't tied directly to sex, but instead to sexuality in my opinion, if that makes sense) are bad. Rape is one of the worst things one person can do to another (though one could make the argument that rape normally involves violence as well). But sex in general isn't bad.
Violence is normally considered bad in pretty much any case. Except sports for some reason... which makes me realize something. American's obsession with violence isn't only in television shows and in games. It's in our sports too. The number one sport in America is a bunch of guys attacking each other while trying to get the skin of a pig from one place to another. It seems fairly violent in it's nature.
I think both obsessions aren't good. But I feel the obsession with violence is stronger than that of sex. That doesn't mean that I think the obsession with sex isn't worse. I feel the pull towards violence and our general obsession with it is stronger.
Allow me to propose a social experiment: would you sit down and watch a movie rated PG-13 with your pre-teen child? What if it involved the hero casually shooting and killing a faceless villain? Would you watch Die Hard with a ten-year-old boy?
Next, would you watch a totally non-violent realistic porno with the ten-year-old boy? Assuming there's nothing weird about it: no giant dildos in ear canals or midgets blowing donkeys. Just normal, real, sex.
Now, say it's a couple years later, would you rather your boy engage in murder or sex? We Americans have this massive taboo around sex as being inappropriate and therefore more desired and we seem to be only too happy to perpetuate this taboo. Meanwhile our national gun related death rate is about 20 times the global average and nobody bats an eye. The question is: how do we define obsession? Common practice or unspoken desire?
Next, would you watch a totally non-violent realistic porno with the ten-year-old boy? Assuming there's nothing weird about it: no giant dildos in ear canals or midgets blowing donkeys. Just normal, real, sex.
Now, say it's a couple years later, would you rather your boy engage in murder or sex? We Americans have this massive taboo around sex as being inappropriate and therefore more desired and we seem to be only too happy to perpetuate this taboo. Meanwhile our national gun related death rate is about 20 times the global average and nobody bats an eye. The question is: how do we define obsession? Common practice or unspoken desire?
The problem isn't sex OR violence, it's people's attitudes. If people complain that porn isn't like real sex...WELL IT NEVER CLAIMED TO BE!
There's probably a few cops that moan about police procedure in the Die Hard movies, but no one pays them any mind because there's an intended disconnect for added drama in certain forms of entertainment. Sometimes a movie or show e.g. The Wire, will come along and go the gritty, 'real' route, but any rounded individual can see whatever the specific type of media is trying to be.
We (Western Society) are not becoming disillusioned,or misaligned, or even corrupted....we are becoming ENTITLED!
The world doesn't owe us anything, and it never did.
Parents, teach your kids what's real and what isn't, media didn't fail your kids, YOU did.
Adolescents, focus more on whats real and whats entertainment and quit being offended all the time.
Adults, try to direct your opinions, time & money towards dealing with REAL issues, help to elevate REAL people and ridding the world of REAL pain.
There's probably a few cops that moan about police procedure in the Die Hard movies, but no one pays them any mind because there's an intended disconnect for added drama in certain forms of entertainment. Sometimes a movie or show e.g. The Wire, will come along and go the gritty, 'real' route, but any rounded individual can see whatever the specific type of media is trying to be.
We (Western Society) are not becoming disillusioned,or misaligned, or even corrupted....we are becoming ENTITLED!
The world doesn't owe us anything, and it never did.
Parents, teach your kids what's real and what isn't, media didn't fail your kids, YOU did.
Adolescents, focus more on whats real and whats entertainment and quit being offended all the time.
Adults, try to direct your opinions, time & money towards dealing with REAL issues, help to elevate REAL people and ridding the world of REAL pain.
I don't think the world is too obsessed with sex but I do think violence is far far too overexposed and glorified in media. I don't know how it can really be fixed though, I'm not a fan of censorship or creative limitations so who knows.
As for how people think and act based on the media they are exposed to. Well that's less to do with the media itself imo and more how said media is messaged. A magazine with a picture of some pretty celebrity saying "look how pretty she is" is relatively harmless but if that's then followed up by: "here's 5 tips on how you can look like her too!" is when it all goes wrong and girls in particular start getting stupid ideas in their heads.
One of my ex girlfriends back in highschool was utterly obsessed with her perceived imperfections and I thought she was absolutely beautiful, but no matter how many times I told her this she would continue to think she was ugly, and worthless because of it. Her obsession wasn't a result of sexual media but that said media seems to always come hand in hand with the BE LIKE THIS OR ELSE message.
Just, better management all around is required. Porn sites need better systems for keeping kids out of them, magazines need to stop telling women how to look and adverts need to stop using sex so blatantly to sell things so often. Internet ads in particular are just getting depressing with how desperate they seem to be for clicks now.
As for how people think and act based on the media they are exposed to. Well that's less to do with the media itself imo and more how said media is messaged. A magazine with a picture of some pretty celebrity saying "look how pretty she is" is relatively harmless but if that's then followed up by: "here's 5 tips on how you can look like her too!" is when it all goes wrong and girls in particular start getting stupid ideas in their heads.
One of my ex girlfriends back in highschool was utterly obsessed with her perceived imperfections and I thought she was absolutely beautiful, but no matter how many times I told her this she would continue to think she was ugly, and worthless because of it. Her obsession wasn't a result of sexual media but that said media seems to always come hand in hand with the BE LIKE THIS OR ELSE message.
Just, better management all around is required. Porn sites need better systems for keeping kids out of them, magazines need to stop telling women how to look and adverts need to stop using sex so blatantly to sell things so often. Internet ads in particular are just getting depressing with how desperate they seem to be for clicks now.
I would say violence is the bigger obsession. Violence has gone beyond just being in within American (hell, this applies pretty much everywhere)media, it has become media itself. Violence, when you think about it, is a terrible thing, humans harming other humans being is detrimental to our species, yet it is so heavily ingrained within our media and it is just accepted as the norm, that there is nothing wrong with it being this way.
Violence barely budges the ratings on any form of media, hell, there actually pressure on content creators to include it because it will actually boost ratings/interest. Violence has surpassed being desired, it has become a necessity, despite how regressive the obsession is we refuse to change.
Sex on the other hand, is actually a requirement for the success of our species. Yet just the idea of including it in our media causes an explosion of fear within society. Sex is natural and necessary yet the vast majority of people will fight tooth and nail against its presence in any form of media. There is an obsession with sex, though it is primarily because of the way it has been presented to us, people will react very strongly to something rare or considered to have not have been supposed to happen. The reaction is stronger but the actual obsession pales in comparison.
The obsession with self image is connected to the obsession with sex, but they are not the same, they over lap and are a part of each other but they each have other elements outside of the other, there is just a brief over lap really.
The obsession with sex is further diluted by the various issues associated with it, such as:
* The trivialization of sex (it IS important/serious)
* The over dramatization of sex (not THAT important/series)
* The fear of sex (STD's and teen pregnancy, oh my!)
* Issues regarding sexuality (straight, gay, bi, tran)
* Objectification (leaving this one at that)
* Etc (the rest!)
There are that many individual aspects of the sex obsession and the varying views and opinions on each of them that is just a big weird mess, we barely know what we think we might possible consider potentially fear any more.
Says something about human nature really, or perhaps just western culture (that eventually spread out to other directional hemispheres), that we actively seek and immerse our selves with the destructive violence obsession, yet we shun and revile the beneficial sex obsession.
What is to blame? religion is a corner stone of many cultures and many of them promote these same values (violence = good, Sex = bad UNLESS YOU DO FIRST), could be some sort of conspiracy that someone/s has been conditioning humans to follow a path of self destruction but that seems unrealistic due to the scope and the fact that the people/s pulling the strings gain nothing from it. Maybe it's a reaction built into our DNA to help us control our population, some other animals do similar things so this could be it. Maybe were all just terrible people who enjoy other's suffering. Maybe its some other thing, but definitely probably one of the things that I already mentioned because I am out of idea.
Violence barely budges the ratings on any form of media, hell, there actually pressure on content creators to include it because it will actually boost ratings/interest. Violence has surpassed being desired, it has become a necessity, despite how regressive the obsession is we refuse to change.
Sex on the other hand, is actually a requirement for the success of our species. Yet just the idea of including it in our media causes an explosion of fear within society. Sex is natural and necessary yet the vast majority of people will fight tooth and nail against its presence in any form of media. There is an obsession with sex, though it is primarily because of the way it has been presented to us, people will react very strongly to something rare or considered to have not have been supposed to happen. The reaction is stronger but the actual obsession pales in comparison.
The obsession with self image is connected to the obsession with sex, but they are not the same, they over lap and are a part of each other but they each have other elements outside of the other, there is just a brief over lap really.
The obsession with sex is further diluted by the various issues associated with it, such as:
* The trivialization of sex (it IS important/serious)
* The over dramatization of sex (not THAT important/series)
* The fear of sex (STD's and teen pregnancy, oh my!)
* Issues regarding sexuality (straight, gay, bi, tran)
* Objectification (leaving this one at that)
* Etc (the rest!)
There are that many individual aspects of the sex obsession and the varying views and opinions on each of them that is just a big weird mess, we barely know what we think we might possible consider potentially fear any more.
Says something about human nature really, or perhaps just western culture (that eventually spread out to other directional hemispheres), that we actively seek and immerse our selves with the destructive violence obsession, yet we shun and revile the beneficial sex obsession.
What is to blame? religion is a corner stone of many cultures and many of them promote these same values (violence = good, Sex = bad UNLESS YOU DO FIRST), could be some sort of conspiracy that someone/s has been conditioning humans to follow a path of self destruction but that seems unrealistic due to the scope and the fact that the people/s pulling the strings gain nothing from it. Maybe it's a reaction built into our DNA to help us control our population, some other animals do similar things so this could be it. Maybe were all just terrible people who enjoy other's suffering. Maybe its some other thing, but definitely probably one of the things that I already mentioned because I am out of idea.
clearly, violence is more damaging for society then sex because
violence leads to death
sex leads to (life?) well children...
and
violence typically feels bad (painful) for atleast someone involved
sex generally feels good (or so im told, *virgin*) for most people involved
violence leads to death
sex leads to (life?) well children...
and
violence typically feels bad (painful) for atleast someone involved
sex generally feels good (or so im told, *virgin*) for most people involved