1980’s pop star Prince Rogers Nelson, better known by his pseudonym, ‘Prince’ is a recording artist whose image and songs are perceived as provocative and explicit. Prince’s songs, such as ‘Kiss’, ‘Soft and Wet’ and ‘Head’ were viewed with controversy, as the topic of sex in the 80s was not as openly accepted and direct as it is in present day media. Released in 1983, ‘Little Red Corvette’ was Prince’s first song to make Top 10 charts in the US. It can be argued that the song’s denotation describes an overly sexualized woman whom Prince feels is ruining her life with her promiscuity. The topic of sex is softened and disguises the explicit nature of the song, making it subjective to the individual listener so people are able to interpret the song in their own way based on existing knowledge. The lyrics can be interpreted differently according to age of the listener, for instance, a mother between the ages of 30-50 years old and her daughter around the age of 10-15 years old, both living in the USA during the 1980s. Both mother and daughter will have opposing thoughts on the sexual metaphors and euphemisms that raise the topic of sexual influence, awareness and knowledge, and the effect they actually have on the listener.
In circa 1980s USA, attitudes towards sex were mixed. Two decades earlier the sexual revolution and women’s rights movement, fueling sexual freedom, lead to the 70s where casual sex was widely accepted. As a result, the 80s brought increased teen pregnancy rates and most significantly, the AIDS pandemic that sparked realization of the consequences of sex, and prompted safer sex. In ‘Little Red Corvette’, Prince warns the woman, “baby you’re much too fast” and that she might “run your little red corvette right to t...
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...the lyrics’ meaning and interpret them differently; she may just be attracted to the song and its musical components, Prince as an artist or because her peers like it. However, if she were to be influenced by the lyrics, Prince and his image, with emphasis from peers becoming more sexually aware, the sexual references may start becoming apparent. This may promote her in maturing faster, thereby missing out on important childhood experiences that ensure a stable adulthood. The mother should be aware of these changes in attitudes toward sex, be open and accepting enough to guide her daughter so she does not grow up too naïve or mature too fast.
Works Cited
Sternheimer, K. (2009, October 19). Everyday Sociology Blog. Everyday Sociology Blog. Retrieved January 20, 2014, from http://nortonbooks.typepad.com/everydaysociology/2009/10/sex-its-not-what-it-used-to-be.html
Since the dawn of man, sex has played a crucial role in society. Before they learned to read or write humans were engaging in sex and without it none of us would be here. In today’s society, sex has grown to become much more complicated. If I were to ask a group of people on the street what they believed sex was? I bet they would have a hard time answering. The question puzzling society today is how do we define sex? Can we define sex? These are questions raised in Tracy Steele’s article “Doing it: The Social Construction of S-E-X”. This article is about the current questions and issues that have been raised about sex within today’s society. In this paper I will summarize the key points of the article, while sharing my own thoughts and opinions of Steele’s findings.
... Through “A&P”, John Updike has told of a coming revolution, where the establishments of authority will have to defend each and every rule and regulation that they have put in place. He tells of a revolution where this young generation will break sex from its palace of sanctity. Every single idea that was present in American society that led to the sex driven, often naïve, free spiritedness of the sixties to present day are present in John Updike’s “A&P”.
[3] Since the 1950’s, a sexual revolution has spawned in America, accordingly downgrading previous anathemas in society, like pre-martial sex, masturbation, and homosexuality. For example, according to an article describing the sexual revolution, “In the 1950s, less than 25 percent of Americans thought premarital sex was acceptable; by the 1970s, more than 75 percent found it acceptable” (Stossel 74). Norman Podhoretz recounts how in the early 1950’s obtaining pornography was like trying to buy illegal drugs. But Playboy changed all of that, as it emerged as an “acceptable” form of pornography in 1953.
Shmoop Editorial Team. "Brave New World Theme of Sex" Shmoop.com. Shmoop University, Inc., 11 Nov. 2008.
The 19th-Century was a period in which the expression of sexuality and sexual compulsion was firmly repressed. Charles E. Rosenberg explores the typical behaviors of the sexes, and how they related to the expression, or repression, of sexuality in “Sexuality, Class and Role in 19th-Century America.” Medical and biological literature tended to adopt very sex-negative attitudes, condemning sexual desires and activity. This literature was often ambivalent and self-contradicting. Initially, people viewed sex as a normal human behavior: they believed sexual excess was bad, but thought it was natural and necessary after puberty because horniness left unsatisfied and untreated could cause disease. However, in the 1830s, the previous sex-neutral attitude was quickly replaced by a harsher, more negative view of sexuality. “Quacks,” or charlatans, tried to instill people with a crippling fear of sex by warning them of
This new sense of equality and freedom manifested itself through what might be termed as “unladylike things”. The introduction of birth control in the last decade empowered women to take control of their own body as well. The Flapper became more open to experiment with sexual behaviors than previous generations. Sigmund Freud, a modern-day psychoanalyst, claimed that this sudden expr...
In today’s heterosexual and patriarchal society sex and sexual desires revolve around men, and Hoagland sets out seven patterns showing how this is the case. Sex is thought of as a “powerful and uncontrollable urge” and male sexuality therefore is a basic component to male health, sexual acts show male conquest and domination, sexual freedom gives men total access to and over women, rape is, by this logic, natural and women who resist a man’s advances are “‘frigid’”, sex involves losing control and sexual desire, when described as erotic, “involves a death wish (eros)”. The bottom line is that in today’s heterosexual and patriarchal society sex is all about men having a natural power over women; sex involves a total loss of control which creates a split between reason and emotion since being in control is a matter of reason controlling emotions, “we tend to believe that to be safe we must be rational and in control but to...
This brings up Greta Christina’s article, “Are We Having Sex Now or What?” (Christina 2014) the author questions what really counts as sex as her sexual partners sexes changed. Friend A thought similarly to her, thinking that just penile-vaginal sex counted as the “real thing.” Although Friend A didn’t have female partners to have this ideology, she didn’t regard as other forms of sex, such as oral, orgasm inducing and electronic sex as sex. This delves into the common theme and into the thesis of how the idea of sex is individual as well as structural in the inkling that society and cultural norms, starting from the inner mechanisms of say one’s family and then branching out as to how others perceive these norms is how the ideology of sexuality is born. As a straight CIS woman of Hispanic decent, Friend A understood how others perceived her but also had a perception of herself because she doesn’t have to think about other forms of sex since she is content in just one form. It’s a blissful unawareness of
White, Valerie. "Sex talk." The Humanist Sept.-Oct. 2012: 5. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 18 Mar. 2014.
Pepper Schwartz opens Why is Everyone Afraid of Sex? with "In spite of the visibility of sex in the media and popular culture, despite a widespread acceptance of a variety of sexual practices, Americans still hold a deep-rooted fear of sex." (252) Schwartz then goes on to explain the surprising, but obvious truth. American society portrays a sexual attitude, but is actually hiding a fear of the activity. Schwartz does a great job of showing both sides of this argument. She mentions how sex seems to no longer be a completely taboo thing within the media and society today. Within television, magazines, articles, movies, etc, sexual themes are all over the place. Another factor is that premarital sex is becoming more and more acceptable these
Milstein, Susan A. Taking Sides Clashing Views in Human Sexuality. Ed. William J. Taverner and Ryan W. McKee. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2009. Print.
Reviere & Byerly- Sexual messages in Black and White: A discourse analysis of Essence and Cosmo
Then came the sixties and the sexual revolution. The restraints against sexual intercourse for unmarried women gave way as the Pill [oral contraceptive] finally freed them from the fear of unwanted pregnancy. Seduction became abbreviated and compressed, oftentimes bypassed altogether, as women, reveling in their newfound liberation, sought the sexual freedom that had for so long been ‘for men only.’ The assumption of the era was that she wanted sex as much as he did, the only question being whether or not they wanted to do it with each other. Young people lived together openly, parading their sexuality before their parents’ outraged and bewildered gaze (13).
How does 'sexuality' come into being, and what connections does it have with the changes that have affected personal life on a more general plane? In answering these questions, Anthony Giddens disputes many of the interpretations of the role of sexuality in our culture. The emergence of what he calls plastic sexuality, which is sexuality freed from its original relation of reproduction, is analyzed in terms of the long-term development of the modern social order and social influences of the last few decades. Giddens argues that the transformation of intimacy, in which women have played the major part, holds out the possibility of a society that is very traditional. "This book will appeal to a large general audience as well as being essential reading for those students in sociology and theory."(Manis 1)