The Wo
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-ploit
Benjamin Franklin once said,“In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.” It is obvious, though, that one more thing has become certain in this world:“Sex sells.” And sex will be used to sell everything from ATVs to zip files, from bikes to Yahoo ad space. Recently I was at one of my favorite places: Barnes & Noble. You gotta love a place that has books, magazine, CDs, food, let’s you lounge around, provides easy-chairs for your comfort, and is open just about the whole day! But I’m getting off the subject. Anyway, I was checking out the magazines– especially the sports, music, and entertainment sections–when I noticed not only how many magazines had gorgeous, half-(or three-quarter)naked women on the cover (pitching the usual bikinis, workouts, and music, but even computers, guitars, and home-care), but how many had the word “sex” or a form thereof on the front:
H I G H E R T H I N G S __ 24
There was sex and math: “100 Sexiest Women” “22 Sex-Bomb Bathing Suits” “32 Unbelievable Sexy Pages” “769% More Sex, Probably” “4 Sexy-Guy Posters” Sex was paired with things I’d never (before or since) thought of as sexy: “Sexy Destinations” “The Word’s Sexiest Careers, Technology, and Shirts”
And don’t think that these were magazines only for adults or so-called “adult magazines.” No, this list included: Seventeen, J-17, Elle Girl,YM, Cosmo Girl, Sugar, and others targeted specifically at...you! It’s a “Sex-plosion,” as another of the periodicals screamed from its cover (which, by the way, was right next to Kick-Off, the magazine of Pop Warner football, and nearby Christian History)! You may be thinking:“This is old news. What’s your point?!” It is this: you are being taken for the dummy, you are being used, and some (many?) of you are naively playing the part of the fool.This is not so much “sex-plosion” as it is “sex-ploitation.”The media and pop culture lords are targeting today’s teen in the hopes that you will not be savvy enough to see beyond the shallowness of cheap sex,“romantic” dreams, stud boys, and hot babes.This culminates in the sale of the product they’re hyping as well as your soul. It is the drool-inducing eye-candy that may give a momentary sweet rush, but ultimately decays your mind and spirit. It is style over substance. The problem is not that you are turned off by this stuff. No, the problem is that we are turned on. And turned on to what? Most often, to seeing others as simply objects for our selfish, lustful pleasures; to view-
