Presentation Tomorrow!

Hey everyone,

I have a laptop that's not a mac so I can bring it to class tomorrow and hopefully it'll sync up with the projector. 

Zach

Almost there!

Alright,

So for tomorrow, I have the essay and the references page printed. The video looks amazing you guys, I can't wait to show it to the class!

And speaking of that... I don't think you can hook macs up to those projectors, so does anyone have a non-mac we can use?

Write-up

Hey guys

So Zach and I got together today, and have competed a rough draft of the written portion of our group work. I'm just finishing a final edit right now, then Zach is going to look it over. When it's all done we'll email both of you a copy so you can check it out and see if there's anything you'd like to add!

Also, what was the final decision regarding the voice overs? Are you guys going to do that part or do we need to figure out a time to meet so we can record all four of us?

Talk soon!

Hey guys!

So ashley and I are about halfway done the video (without audio). I'll just give you a little breakdown of what we have done so far.

Introduction:

- Virginity Title

- Slang Words for virginity

- What is it?

Dictionary Definition followed by Hits from google

- Confused? why is virginity SO confusing

Education:

- late 19th century view of sex education (semen theory and scare tactics)

- 1960s view of sex education (started showing up in schools but was based around "human relationships - encouraged and promoted marriage and families)

- Todays views on sex education ( 1-8 curriculum still advocates abstinence - introduces the concept in grade 7)

- connector to government = over the last 12 years the American Government only provides federal funding for programs promoting AOUM.

Government: still in progress

Religion: still in progress

Media:

- music

- tv shows

-movies clips

- pictures

- how the media is now promoting sex = confusing for kids

Ashley and I were thinking that we should all get together sometime at the end of the week to decide how we want to wrap up the end of the video and capture the statement that we want to get across.

Tutorial Recap

Hey everyone,

Just to make sure I understood everything that we just discussed in tutorial, I've got a few follow-up questions:
1. We are now focusing on the fact that there are opposing social forces (ie religion vs. media) that are telling us different things about virginity and thus people are confused as to how to interpret these messages. 
2. Are we still sticking to the progression part of the progression vs. promiscuity, because we argued that people have choice now in whether they want to have sex before marriage or not?
3. I know we said that the majority of the video will be focusing on the double-standard of virginity and how it creates confusion, but how are we going to relate it to the broader sexual culture?
4. I think our key message at the end is going to be something to the effect of: as with most things that are socially constructed, your personal opinion on virginity is a product these competing forces and so it is unique to each person. 
5. I'm not sure how we decided to end it; is there a solid concluding or lasting statement we want to make?

 

Effects of Television Content on Adolescents

As I was doing some research I came across this interesting article about the effects of television on sexual activity of adolescents. Here is the link if you want to take a look: http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9068/index1.html

The article discusses two recent studies and their findings. The first showed that the amount of sexual content that adolescents view on television can result in sooner initiation of sexual activity. The study looked at 1762 adolescents between the ages of 12 and 17. They were surveyed in regards to their sexual experiences as well as the amount and type of television they watch. One year later they were surveyed on the same information. There were three categories of sexual content that they looked at. The first one was the amount of kissing, touching and depictions of sex. Second they looked at amount of discussion about sexual desires and plans, and third they analyzed amount of talk about sexual risks, waiting, and contraception. They found that those who reported watching the highest levels of category one or two content were more likely to have initiated sex one year later. Furthermore, those who viewed the highest amounts of category one or two content compared to those who viewed the least were two times more likely to have initiate sex one year later.

The second study analyzed effects of watching a single episode of the television show Friends. In this particular episode one of the main characters found out that she was pregnant even though she used a condom. The episode gives specific facts about condom efficacy. The results of surveys taken after watching the episode showed that the majority believed condoms to be effective, 10% talked about condoms with their parents after viewing the episode, and the majority of those who discussed with their parents said that their perceptions of condom use were changed. It was found that 1.67 million adolescents watched this episode when it first aired.

The results of both of these studies indicate that adolescents do pay attention to what they are watching and develop their values and morals accordingly. In addition they demonstrate that information about contraction can help education and increase communication with parents regarding sensitive issues.

I think that this information will be helpful in proving that media has an effect on virginity. It will also demonstrate that this effect is not always negative. I will continue to look at the effects of media by looking at other sources such as music, movies, and the internet.

RAND Health Publications. (2004). Does Watching Sex on Television Influence

Teens’ Sexual Activity? Retrieved November 10 2010 from

http://www.rand.org/pubs/research_briefs/RB9068/index1.html

Update on Progress

Here is an update on what we discussed at our last meeting. There are some links to videos and article if you would like to take a look.

Video Outline:

- Google search

o Video of someone doing the search

o Show what comes up for image and web search of virginity

- Textbook definition

- Introduce concept of “virginity” as just a word

o While flashing slang words for virgin (deflower, v-card, pop her cherry, maidenhead, v-gripped, virg)

- Indentify focus on North American Society

- Why do these words have such meaning?

o Media, education, government, religion

- Education: Found these good videos about sex education in Ontario…(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJajAFCZPM4&feature=fvsr) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIz498m2X6Y&feature=related)

- (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PbhBgqLnPU&feature=related)

o Quotes

o Try to find an old sexual education video

o Pictures emphasizing how ridiculous the story is

o Emphasize how it still has implications today

o Talk about sex education in schools today

- Government: What else has government told us? age of consent, etc

o Look to authority to clear things up

o Should the government pay for women wanting to revert their virginity?

o Government spending on abstinence only (http://www.advocatesforyouth.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=409&Itemid=336)

o Video that we found (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5Xy-RQgLFI)

- Religion: who else emphasizes abstinence only?

o Use of fear to delay sex

o Cartoon

o Bible quotes

o Virgin Mary scene from a walk to remember (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GD08zTvaNl4)

- Media: recent outlet for sexual presentation

o Television comparison (I love Lucy vs. Sex and the City)

o Reality show (women selling virginity)(http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/2010/05/10/2010-05-10_australian_filmmaker_takes_virgin_auction_reality_show_to_las_vegas_after_threat.html)

o Purity rings

o Music content (article about how music content effects teen sex)

- When you take the social meaning away from the word, at the end it is still just a word…so why does it have such impact on society?

To do: work on script for next meeting