I haven't watched a lot of American TV, but from what I can tell, the message seems to be that violence is better than sex. A punch in the face? Sure, kids are fine with that. OMG, a NIPPLE! That's for fourteen and up.

It seems as though, even in the few years since I was a "kid", the ratings have gotten more and more strict. I grew up thinking that it was normal to change around my friends, and I definitely went skinny dipping on more than one occasion. Are the current batch of kids going to grow up under the impression that it's better to hit someone than to get naked in front of them? Do you think that TV/video ratings need to be changed at all?

Charbucks, as you might well know violence is a natural thing while sex is a creation of Satan

Good point.

This is entirely due to our puritanical legacy and the current domination of far-right christians.

The Christian churches long ago learned that the greatest tools they could use to keep a population subjugated were fear and guilt. Fear of hell, and guilt for sin. They have indoctrinated generations into sexual repression, becoming more and more ridiculous with each generation.

Hmm, and here I thought we were evolving AWAY from the church influence on society.

Think again! Ever heard of George Bush or Al-Qaida?

Touché

I guess the sex and violence thing is evidenced by Americans putting up with Bush killing millions, but not with Clinton having an affair.

that's not common in the european christian countries. It's a US thing and has nothing to do with the christian church in general.

I think it's just cultural. I heard once that there is an inverse correspondence between a culture's comfort with sex and death. That is, a culture will either be comfortable with sex or with death, but never with both. Unfortunately I can't find a citation for this at the moment, but I believe it. I think it's actually easy to see in the U.S. because the older generation is comfortable with death but not sex, while the younger generation is the exact opposite. Mention sex to a 50-year-old conservative American and you get uncomfortable fidgeting and odd looks. OTOH, mention someone's death to your average twenty-something and you get the same uncomfortable fidgeting. Since violence is directly related to death, I think it goes a long way toward explaining why as a society we're OK with violence but not OK with sex. I also think that trend is changing. Bear in mind that the old guys are still in power. Give it 20 years and I guarantee that it will have reversed, probably within 10 but definitely within 20.

I would rather be comfortable with sex, it happens more..

That's interesting, I haven't heard that before. It's funny that you say society is trending towards more comfort with sex and less with death, because I sort of see it as going the other way (mostly because of the TV ratings thing). I agree with Jasper - I'd much rather live in a place that's comfortable with sex than with violence, so I hope you're right and that's where the culture is headed.

Interesting issue. I think the reason for the ratings all boils down to cultural norms, whatever their origin. We just aren't as comfortable exposing our children to sex and nudity. Or maybe it has more to do with the way the nudity and sex is presented?

I know in some cultures it is perfectly accepted for the whole family to sleep in one area and parents have sex in the same room as their children, and those children grow up fine to be well-balanced cannibals.

Seriously tho, its just a cultural thing. They can't show a chicken getting its head cut off on TV either, but they can show fried chicken commercials. Those ratings, as far as I know, aren't legally binding, so if you want to show your kids porn, I think that's your right.

Where I live the tv ratings are different. Nudity is perfectly acceptable as long as we are not talking about porn. The F-word is also not censored.

I actually think that the american rating system encourages obscenety by its heavy ratings.

There has been a slight trend to tighten up over the last few years. But you can't judge the direction of a society by its laws over the course of 5 years. Look at the changes in the last 50 years. Also, laws are not necessarily a good meter for changes in society. I live here, and I talk to people. The old guys are disappointed at all the sex that is on TV these days, and they don't really even notice the violence. The younger folks are different. If you walk around and talk to people here you realize that. But the old guys are still in power so it'll take a little time for the ideology of the younger generation to take control.

bns, you're right - it's not a very accurate meter. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what the world is like when us young people take control

When violence is portrayed, you don't see real blood, in amorous scenes, they don't have fake body parts.

plastic surgery ;P

we're not born with clothes on so I don't see the problem seeing nudity.

yeah, i dont know why americans have such a big problem...

i mean in germany, a 2 year old can play at the fountain without having to get a bathing suit first...

Well, for my part that's a matter of dignity rather than modesty. In America it's undignified to be naked. I get the impression it's really not in Germany. Children don't understand how to protect their own dignity so it's up to the parents/guardians to do it for them. I would never fuss at a child for being naked, or even fuss at the parents. Just like I wouldn't let my child walk around with mustard on his/her face, I wouldn't let them run around naked.

there is really a great difference in culture on this matter.
You even could run around naked as long as you don't jump other people without being arrested ;P

People won't be bother but rather amused. In most parts of Europe nudity is seen as something totally natural the same goes for sexuality.

I got my sexual education in the 2nd to 4th, 6th and 9th grade for example.

If you damn all having to do something with sexuality the kids are going to know nothing when they're adults.

this also includes knowledge about sexually transmissible diseases.

People are much more disturbed by violence.

If you link death directly to violence, I absolutely disagree with what you said. There are plenty of peaceful and conservative cultures out there which are neither comfortable with sex nor with violence and on the other hand there are cultures which are comfortable with both ( See for yourself the rap music and it's influence in US, don't they propagate both sex and violence ?). Either way, it is not difficult to nick pick stereo types to prove it right or wrong.

And about the older generation despising sex has nothing to do with death, it's purely a generation gap. They have lived their entire life with the same notion and are not ready to compromise on the values which they think are right.