Sex Sells

Sex sells

In America today it is very difficult to go anywhere without encountering America’s number one best seller. I’m not talking about the newest Harry Potter book, or latest Stephen King thriller either; I’m talking about sex. Music, magazines, and television are prime examples of sex being used negatively to sell, or market products.

The music industry, although the least blatant of the three examples, uses sex as a way to market a great deal of its many superstars. If you have ever watched MTV’s: TRL, or BET’s: 106th and Park, then you know how true the phrase, “video killed the radio star is”. Often times I find it difficult to concentrate on the lyrical content of the songs on TV because of the dozens of scantily clad women running around in the background, “ant girl would want to be her”, says Joyce Garity. This phenomenon is not limited to only the extras in the music videos anymore. Teen sensations such as *Nsync and the Backstreet Boys are perfect examples. Sure, they can sing, but would they really sell 50 million records if they were fat and ugly? Between the artists, and the extras in their videos, sex has a good grip on the music industry, which will only get tighter with time.

Just as the music industry, magazines are also very sexually oriented with their content. Go to any newsstand and you will see exactly what I’m talking about. Seven out of ten magazines that you pick up will have an attractive person on the cover. But the front cover is not where the sexuality ends, as Joyce Garity explains in her essay, “Is Sex All That Matters?”. “On the inside front cover, an advertisement………….in snug dresses, their legs bared to just below the crotch” explained Garity. I know that I would much rather buy a magazine with a picture of Jennifer Lopez on the cover, than one with a picture of Drew Carey. People Magazine’s 50 Best looking is one their best sellers, but even People’s best looking list cannot contend with the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, which is anticipated for months before it’s release. Sex always has and always will have a place in the magazine