Ellen Goodman's Aticle, “Countering the Culture of Sex”
Ellen Goodman, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist, and the writer of many books, published an article entitled, “Countering the Culture of Sex,” which appeared in The Boston Globe in 1995. Goodman makes the point that the media serves as a “cultural message maker.” Goodman’s uses of the rhetorical appeals are not blatant, but rather reserved throughout the article. Logos and ethos are very well represented as the topic needs both logic and credibility and to make its point. On the other hand, because this article does not pry into the feelings and emotions that are tied to the topic, pathos is not very well represented. This article could have been much more powerful if in fact pathos was incorporated more throughout the entirety.
As mentioned earlier, Ellen Goodman is a Pulitzer Prize winner for her acclaimed columns and the many other books she has published. Being the author of this article, “Countering the Culture of Sex,” Goodman’s target audience is very diverse, but her main intention is to reach: the Congress, the parents of teens, the teachers of teens, the Entertainment Industry, and finally the teens of America. Her purpose for writing this article is to increase the awareness of teen sexuality to the general public, informing especially the Congress and the Entertainment Industry. The consequences of teen sex need to be identified more in our society, incorporating sexual truth in advertising. When “sexual truth” is not portrayed correctly through the media, parents need to “counter the culture,” and talk with their children about what is right and what consequences actually do arise from teen sex. Parents should also eliminate some confusion of teen ...
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... her stand on the topic, but also to shed some light on reality—which is what she is supporting: reality in advertising.
Ellen Goodman’s article, “Countering the Culture of Sex,” has the purpose of informing the general public about the reality of teenage sexuality due partly to the negligence of the media. The structure combining problem/solution and cause and effect only helped her article, it could not have been done any more effectively by changing the structure. Her article is informative and while she got the point across, Goodman could have made this article stronger if only she would have correctly used the rhetorical appeals. Logos needs to be represented with some shocking statistics, which would have also supported ethos, and pathos could have impacted the reader if she would have touched on some deeper emotions involved with teenage sexuality.
For centuries, society has placed a remarkably large emphasis on protecting the young from the many perceived errors of growing up. Effective sex education is resisted in many locations across the country in favor of somewhat comical biblical suggestions for abstinence until marriage even while the majority of those targeted teens are viewing the world as a more and more sexual place. So many views are weaving in and out of teenagers' newly formed adolescent minds that any effective argument for responsible attitudes or analysis of sexual behavior in teens should be expressed with a certain minimal degree of clarity. Unfortunately, this essential lucidity of advice is missing in the short story “Where are You Going, Where Have You Been,” in which the misguided Joyce Carol Oates creates the character of Arthur Friend as a cliché personification of the inner demon of uncontrollably budding sexuality. Instead, the murky characterization of the antagonist presents nothing more than a confused and ambiguous view of the meaning of the story.
Deborah Tolman author of “Dilemmas of Desire” dwells on uncovering a wealth of feelings about sexuality from teenage girls who are faced with a lot of struggles in developing sexual identity and detached from their sexuality. One of her main argument is centered on the juxtaposition of media representations of girls as highly sexualized objects. For instance, “the urban girl is viewed as the overly sexual young jezebel. Latinas are often eroticized as exotic, sexually alluring and available.” (Tolman, pg.170). I agree with this statement due to simple fact that we are living in a highly sexualized cultural milieu and evidence of sexualization is seen through mainstream culture. Images such as Sarah Bartman depict African American/ urban portrayal of sexual imagery formed socio-historical
“Selling sex is illegal, but using it to promote economic growth is not.” (Sexualization and Sexploitation of Women in the Media; Rosery Films) What actually happened to our culture, people wondered? Has advertising gone too far? And are we being corrupted by sex? According Sex in advertising: Perspectives on the Erotic Appeal, in 2005, approximately one-fifth of all advertising used overt sexual content to sell its product. Society’s interest with sex and the advertising designer’s acceptance of it as an effective tool have served each other for the course of the twentieth century. And has always been separated on the extents to which sexuality can and should be used to sell. Advertising has become the single largest source of visual imagery in our social society. No matter where we look, we see advertisements trying to sell us things. Provocative advertising has been characterized as a deliberate attempt to gain attention through shock. (De Pelsmacker & Van Den Bergh, 1996) In 2007, The American Psychological Association sent out a press release to the media stressing the harmful effects of sexualizing our youth: “The proliferation of sexualized images of girls and young women in advertising, merchandisin...
Homeopathy is natural form of medicine that has been around for over two hundred years. Homeopathy works by treating a symptom with the “principle of similars”.“We should imitate nature...a drug with power to provoke another, artificial disease, as similar as possible, and the former disease will be cured: fight like with like.” (Hahnerman) Homeopathy works by treating a symptom with the “principle of similars”. This means to give a substance that will elicit a healing response. Over the past couple of years, it has been discovered that conventional medicine has serious side effects which can harm a person’s health. Homeopathy was found to be a solution to this problem and can have many positive effects on a person’s health and their lifestyle.
Animals are used today for many sources of protection, food, clothing, transportation, sports, entertainment, and labor, but millions of these animals die each year from abuse. “Most of the reasons that people give for denying animals rights are: animals do not have souls, god gave humans dominion over the animals, humans are intellectually superior to animals, humans are intellectually superior to animals, animals do not reason, think, or feel pain like humans do, animals are a natural resource to used as humans see fit, and animals kill each other” (Evans). It all started in the nineteenth century, when people began abusing animals by beating them, feeding them poorly, providing them with no shelter or poor shelter, left to die if they were sick or old, or by cruel sports. Most of the organized efforts to improve human treatment of animals all started in England. Around the 1800s, there was signs of rising concern for animal welfare in the United States.
Today’s doctors stand overly dependent on chemical pharmaceutics when drafting treatment plans for patients. Physicians should first endorse treatment plans involving natural, homeopathic medicines, especially when aiming to solve miniscule health issues.
...ers, Kim. Sexual Teens, Sexual Media: Investigating Media’s Influence on Adolescent Sexuality. Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002.
There are many animal owners that believe abusing it is the only way to control and train it (Nine Reasons for Animal Abuse). This not only includes animals that are pets, it includes the ones that are in the performing business (Nine Reasons for Animal Abuse). Trainers that do not properly know how to get the animal to act as they want may result in using physical harm to initiate fear, and this will “teach” the animal to do as it is told, so it does not have to risk being abused all over again. As another reason as to why a person may not think of animal cruelty as something serious is due to what the philosopher Raymond G. Frey of Bowling Green State University had to say on the issue. His argument is based around his belief that because animals are not human, they do not have moral rights (The Animal Rights Debate). He also goes on to say that their lives do not have the same moral values as the lives of humans due to another belief that he possesses, which is thinking an animal does not undergo the same emotional and intellectual experiences as a human would (The Animal Rights Debate). While there are some that do not believe that animal cruelty is a serious issue because they have placed their trust in what Raymond G. Fray has said, there are others that simply think animals are a lower form of life (Missimer). These people conclude that
“There can be many reason for animal cruelty, like any other form of violence, is often committed by a person who feels powerless, unnoticed, or under control of others. Some who are cruel to animals copy acts what they have seen or that have been done to them, others see harming an animal as a safe way to get revenge against--or threaten-- someone who cares about that animal”. (“Animal… Statistics”) Concerns towards abusing animals have gone up in the past. Although there are not many cases on animal abuse, many have occurred. Abusers are charged with Criminal Animal Abuse and then sentenced to life in prison. Some animals that are physically abused are sometimes rescued by Animal Control, and are taken it to an animal shelter. However, many shelters have not had the space to keep the animals so the workers would have to put them down (Carol Roach). Researchers have shown that the main animals getting abused are dogs, chickens, horses, and livestock (“Animal...
The most trending music genre gets a lot of listeners because of its the discrimination. As the songs and advertisements gain followers, it starts to become realized by the citizens. Pop culture artists sing about drugs, alcohol and women. The portrayal of women by these composers is dreadful because it degrades the significance and importance of their existence. Pop culture has always been a home for gender domination and discrimination. It is becoming increasingly “pornified.” As Valenti quotes, “After all, while billboards and magazines ads may feature a ripped guy from time to time, it’s mostly women who make up what sexy is supposed to be. And it’s not just sexy-it’s straight-up sex” (Valenti, 44). The pornography has been a part of the culture and has been accepted by younger women. Feminists have argued that this has increased the inculcation of “raunch culture” in the lives of younger women who fall into it as they feel it empowers them. However, it is a kind of faux empowerment. This illustrates that the media is promoting and utilizing pop culture to change the social norms in an attempt to instruct women on their role in the society. In essence, pop culture with its propaganda desires to change women’s view on nudity until it can become inherent in American culture, and thus eliminating opposition to benefit pop culture in the long run. Valenti persuades her readers by saying, “ the ‘show’ is everywhere. In magazines like Maxim and Playboy. And in the insanity of Girls Gone Wild, with teens putting on fake lesbian make-out sessions so guys will think they’re hot.” Levy also mentions a character, influenced by raunch culture and a reader of Playboy magazines, named Erin who is piqued her curiosity and provided her with inspiration because of this culture. Erin says, “There’s countless times in my life where I know I’ve turned people on just by showing off (by putting on a
Every day in the United States animals are beaten, neglected, or forced to struggle for survival. Animals are left behind without anybody to care for these poor animals; they’re left with no food or water and left with no hope of survival. Some animals get lucky and get rescued giving them the chance to be loved again from others and showing them that they are people out there that do care; but in some cases some animals aren’t as lucky. Some are killed, or some die because of their unsanitary conditions every day. Animals do not deserve this kind of life style were they are abused and neglected they should feel safe and love and for this reason is why people should stop animal cruelty. Animal cruelty makes animals suffer when hurt; cause owners to abandoned there animals and left homeless and also causes some animals to be put into dangerous situations.
Coal mining can benefit humans as well as it supports the economy in many ways. Coal mining provides a lot of jobs for local communities. It provides over 7 million jobs worldwide.
Martinez, Gladys, Joyce Abma, and Casey Copen. “Educating Teenagers About Sex In The United States”. CDC.GOV. Center of Disease Control and Prevention, 15 Sept. 2010. Web. 09 Feb.2014
... decades ago. This book is one that will allow the reader to view many aspects of sexuality from a social standpoint, and apply it to certain social attitudes in our society today, these attitudes can range from the acceptance of lesbian and gays, and the common sight of sex before marriage and women equality. The new era of sexuality has taken a definite "transformation" as Giddens puts it, and as a society we are living in the world of change in which we must adapt, by accepting our society as a changing society, and not be naive and think all the rules of sexuality from our parents time our still in existence now.
“The media may be especially important for young people as they are developing their own sexual beliefs and patterns of behavior and as parents and schools remain reluctant to discuss sexual topics (p.26)”.