Explicit sexual content is any material that features images of sexual activity or depictions of genitals. These materials are not appropriate for children under the age of 18. Some examples of explicit sexual content include films, books, and periodicals. The dominant theme of these materials is nudity, sexual activity, and the exposure of sexual organs. The material should not be viewed by minors or deemed harmful to their mental health.
Recent studies have examined how often people encounter unsolicited sexual content. While the frequency of this content varies, there are some consistent themes among responses. In general, respondents report finding explicit content disturbing. The study also found that gender and prior exposure to sexual content significantly affect reactions. Both genders and individuals with previous experience with violence rated the content as disturbing, and respondents with more violent experience with explicit material found it more upsetting.
Explicit sexual content has also been studied for its effect on children. For example, two researchers studied the effects of erotic slides on children and teenagers. Both female and male experiments showed that the erotic slide had different effects on the two subjects, and in both cases, a negative effect was observed. The researchers concluded that these findings demonstrate the importance of avoiding exposure to sexual content. If the content is inappropriate for children, it may be inappropriate to share.
Action Against Explicit Sexual Content
Some people feel strongly about this issue and wish to defend their rights. The Commission Report on Obscenity and Pornography also includes a surprisingly small sample of films. However, recent research has led researchers to change how they view this content. Jennings Bryant and Dolf Zillmann conducted a series of studies in which participants were exposed to mainstream pornography and asked about their perceptions of women and relationships.
Another recent bill has been introduced in Virginia. This bill allows parents to review the schools’ curricula containing “sexually explicit content.” The bill also requires teachers to provide parents with non-sexually explicit materials before teaching these books to children. However, the ACLU of Virginia has criticised the bill, saying it over broadens the definition of “sexually explicit.”
Although social media platforms have stepped in to clamp down on the distribution of explicit content, they do not have a problem with it themselves and don’t want their users to be the source of such content. For this reason, they have created a support document on explicit content on their social networks. It states that “explicit content” is defined as various depictions of sex or nudity in a sexual context.
Last Words
The increased sexual content on the internet suggests that adolescents are exposed to unprecedented amounts of sexually explicit media. The internet has allowed users to access sexually explicit material without paying a dime. Furthermore, the internet has allowed users to create a portion of this sexualized media environment. In this way, it isn’t surprising that young people are more exposed to sexual content on the internet than to non-sexual content.
