Week 3

Exposure to Degrading Versus Nondegrading Music Lyrics and Sexual Behavior
by, Steven C. Martino, Rebecca L. Collins, etc.

This article was an experiment done by scientists to see the effects of exposure to degraading lyrics on youth. They also recorded how it affected the subject's sexual behavior. This article was really interesting to me because I think that today kids are greatly influenced by technology and music, even if they are unaware of it.

When I was a kid I had bands like N*SYNC and Britney Spears. Even though Britney was a little risque at some points, it was nothing compared to the lyrics and music that is widley available to kids today. Just turning on a popular music radio station in the car with my parents, sometimes I even ffeel uncomfortable as a 19 year old listening to these songs with my parents.

I feel like because of Youtube and the internet, kids have such an ease of access to really innapropriate songs and videos. I believe that if young kids are listening to songs with degrading and explicit lyrics, that they will be affected by those lyrics. If a young kid hears rappers swearing in all the songs, he is going to learn those words and use them. My generation wasn't really exposed to things like that and it's because technology has become so accessable.

Music videos have also become really raunchy and dirty. I'm not a conservative person but sometimes I wonder how TV channels are allowed to show some of thesed videos on TV. It makes me feel gross just watching them, so I can't even imagine if a child was watching them. I really do believe that exposure to sexist, degrading, and explicit matierial has a great impact on a child and that it causes them to try to be like these rappers and performers when they grow up. They think that it's "cool" to curse and be like the famous musicans. I've seen this behavior in my brother who is 15 and I always tell him to stop. He just sounds stupid to me when he is trying to be "cool" and curse and swear and act llike he doesn't care or doesn't show respect to people.