Sexual Teens, Sexual Media

Book excerpt: This collection explores the sexual content of U.S. mass media and its influence in the lives of adolescents. Contributors address the topic of sexuality broadly, including evidence not only about physical sex acts, but also about the role the media play in the development of gender roles, standards of beauty, courtship, and relationship norms. Chapters included here present new perspectives on what teens are paying attention to in the media, and offer insight into how teens are understanding and applying what the media present about sex and sexuality. Employing various methodological approaches, the studies also represent a diversity of adolescent audiences and deal with a wide variety of media content, ranging from teens' favorite TV programs to magazines, movies, music, and teen girls' Web pages. Taken as a whole, this volume highlights the significant roles the media play in adolescents' sexual lives. Sexual Teens, Sexual Media contributes important evidence to the ongoing debate over media effects, making it essential reading for scholars and students in media studies, as well as social and developmental psychology.