Sex

Teenagers whose iPods are full of sexual lyrics start having sex sooner then those who prefer other songs, a study has found.

Whether it's hip-hop, rap, pop or rock, much of popular music aimed at teenagers contains sexual overtones. Its influence on their behavior appears to depend on how the sex is portrayed, researchers say.

Songs depicting men as "sex-driven studs", women as sex objects and explicit references to sex acts are more likely to trigger early sexual behavior than those where sexual references are more veiled and relationships appear more committed, the study found.

Teenagers who said they listened to lots of music with degrading sexual messages were almost twice as likely to start having intercourse or participate in other sexual activities within the following two years as were teenagers who listened to little or no sexually degrading music.

among heavy listeners, 51 percent started having sex within two years of the start of the survey, versus 29 percent of those who said they listened to little or no sexually degrading music. Exposure to a lot of sexually degrading music "gives them a specific message about sex", said the lead author, Steven Martino, a researcher for Rand Corporation in Pittsburgh. "Boys learn they should be relentless in the pursuit of women and girls learn to view themselves as sex objects", he said. "We think this really lowers kid's inhibitions and makes them less thoughtful about sexual decisions."

The study was based on telephone interviews with 1461 participants aged 12 to 17. Most participants were virgins when first questioned in 2001. Further interviews were conducted in 2002 and 2004 to see if music had influenced their behavior.

The study appears in the August issue of Pediatrics.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The above was published by Australian Associated Press today and I unfortunately cannot say these results are surprising. Time and again I have been told by people 5 years or more my junior that sex is trendy, doesn't hurt anyone and is just a barrel of fun. It's the grown up thing to do, so that makes it cool to do it, talk about it and show as much promiscuity as possible.

Bull-fucking-shit.

Sex is meaningless without a relationship, and unless that relationship means something to you more then getting your rocks off then sex (as far as I think) is off the menu. Maybe I'm just old-fashioned, but the act of going with someone for the purpose of self-pleasure is extremely selfish.

I was at the pub two weeks ago with my good buddy. He told me that all these people here were out for their own enjoyment, looking to pleasure themselves and have fun. Nothing wrong with that at all. But sex is one of those human things that will mess with your emotions. Hindsight is the only way to be sure you are thinking with your head not your genitals, and if you don't know which is which and you just happen to be in a relationship then I can tell you now there is going to be trouble along the way.

Want to avoid that confusion? Sex comes after love. Don't use it to kid yourself and don't use it as a substitute for romance. It will only end in tears. I'm not trying to be condescending or lecturing, but what ever happened to that idea of putting an old head on young shoulders?