Sex, abortion, and media.

In today’s media, the previous mentality that sex holds a level of importance in a relationship has dramatically melted away as all forms of media have portrayed it as something that can be a casual encounter, a “one night stand”. However, the casualty of such a personal thing has also left abortion to be a casual matter as well.

            Abortion is not something that should be taken lightly, especially considering how much attention has been on the argument between pro-life and pro-choice views. Every woman deserves the right to make a decision as to whether they want to go through with their pregnancy, but making that decision is a very serious matter, but continues to be taken lightly.

            In the film Dogma, the main character works at an abortion clinic and deals with protesting church members on a daily basis; everyone is so caught up in pushing his or her ideals upon one another. For the last three years, I lived in a rather small town, in which generations of families have lived, making it a very conservative place. I constantly dealt with friends trying to coax me into going to pro-life functions when I had expressed that it did not interest me. This constant nagging from society to do what they feel is right in each situation is very frustrating, and when it comes to abortion, if someone is going into a clinic to get an abortion, they clearly have made the decision they think is correct. I do not advocate abortions in any way, but each person deserves the right to do what they want with their body. It is incredibly frustrating when pro-life advocators press their opinions upon you, saying that abortions should be outlawed and how they feel that pro-choice is religiously unacceptable. Pro-choice in no way is advocating abortion, it is simply giving people the choice to decide what they want to do with their pregnancy. Outlawing the right to have an abortion would be the same as forcing people to have an abortion – both completely unjust.

            In another part of Dogma, the main character exits the abortion clinic at which she works at to find two men hanging around outside in hopes of finding a “loose woman”. Although it is clear that this film is rather controversial, this part was particularly offensive. It classifies all women who exit an abortion clinic to be women who are whores, and are only exiting such an institution because they got pregnant due to having a lot of sex. Even if that were the case of a woman walking out of the clinic, it in no way would be the vast majority, and it is completely overlooking rape victims or other circumstances. It also makes out men to be in search of one thing: sex. And again, the importance of sex is diminished to be an only physical activity free of emotional connections. 

            The two men awaiting loose women further instill the idea that sex can be a casual “in the moment” experience, as opposed to the religious idea that sex is something that should only occur between a husband and wife. Although I am not a religious person, I do hold a certain level of seriousness with what sex is meant to be. So many factors have transformed such a personal and emotional experience with a meaningful connection between the two into a meaningless and solely physical act. In multitudes of media, sex has been stripped of the description “a big deal” or a prominent step in a relationship, and is now just expected to happen between a man and a woman, regardless of whether there is a deeper meaning behind these physical actions. Sex has become a glamorized action, as it occurs all around us; it’s especially prevalent in media. Television shows like Gossip Girl or 90210 (both which are incredibly entertaining at times) deal with all controversial things that teenagers/young adults may have to deal with – sex, drugs, alcohol, illnesses, and plenty of drama. Although as consumers, we love hearing about dramatic incidents like drugs, shows like these fascinate us with all the controversy and make serious problems seem more common, which ultimately does make them more common. As we continue to portray sex the way it is in media – television, music, films, etc. – people continue to take on this perception and ultimately, what started out as a plot becomes a factual statistic.

            As humanity, we are losing the morals we previously held as more and more media is becoming secularized. It does not even have to necessarily deal with religion, it is simply a matter of lowering the standards for what is acceptable in society. Although this may be a positive change, in that there would be less controversy amongst different groups or religious beliefs, when dealing with things as serious as sex and the possibility of dealing with a pregnancy and deciding whether to have an abortion or not, it may be better to stress the seriousness of such an act.