Big Sean & Lil' Wayne: The Great Sexual Educators of our Time?

In thinking about what sort of sexual health lessons I'd witnessed and learned from in the media, I realized that I was having a tough time thinking of shows or movies that sent positive messages about sexual health. Then, inspiration came from one unexpected place; a lyric with enough wisdom and power to motivate this blog post sprung into my mind: 

"I'm the type to wear a bulletproof condom, and still gotta pull out." 

I remember first hearing these words, uttered by Big Sean in the song "All Me" by Drake, and thinking "what the hell am I listening to?" Once this thought passed, I came to like the song a lot and listened to it heavily for a couple of months after its debut. I wasn't alone, this song ended up going platinum.

I then thought, what does it mean for me to still remember this line almost three years later? What does it mean that a song with this sort of message to be so popular? As Brown, Keller, & Stern (2009) point out in Primack & colleagues' work (2008 & 2009), when radio music does talk about sex, it's more often than not degrading in some way, a representation which is in turn linked to earlier intercourse; this song is not much of an exception, but nonetheless portrays sexual health in a positive light. 

This portrayal is a striking departure from the findings of Hust, Brown, and L'Engel's 2008 work, which state "the [popular] media included in this sample presented sexual health as funny and/or embarrassing"; they go on to cite Guzman & colleagues (2003) to state that "fear of humiliation or embarrassment may keep teens from seeking the sexual health information they need."

"All Me" isn't the only example of making condoms cool. In researching this blog post I actually came across a Rap Genius page dedicated to listing all of Big Sean's condom references. Of the songs on the list, I've heard at least 5 or 6 of them on the radio. Beyond this, I was able to find a cheat sheet of other notable condom references in hip hop, most of which link condom use to their status:

"Hit the Dodge lot I must've copped six Magnums/ Marriott suite, I must've used six magnums" - Rick Ross, "Hustlin'" remix

"Magazine covers, Magnem rubbers/ I mean Magnum, I don't fuck with stragglers" - Chris Brown, "Holla at Me"

"If it's one thing that I cant stand, it's a baggy Magnum" - Lil Wayne, "Where Da Cash At"

It's one thing to mention a condom, but there's often little discussion of the consequences associated with not using one. Collins & colleagues (2003) were able to show that including information about risks associated with condom use were able to improve sexual health knowledge and prompt adolescent inquiry about condom efficacy. In light of the potential positive impact of greater discussion of sexual health risks in the media, there remains very little discourse around consequences in hip-hop lyrics. Despite its absence, the ever-vigilant Lil' Wayne motions toward this theme in the remix to his 5x Platinum single, "Lollipop":

"She say I got great sex; Safe sex is great sex, better wear a latex; Cause you don't want that late text, that "I think I'm late" text; So wrap it up!"

While depictions of sex in hip-hop remain overwhelmingly degrading and harmful (Primack et al., 2008 & 2009), safe sex appears to be a growing theme among the popular hip-hop songs, which could in turn benefit adolescents looking to their favorite media for information and norms surrounding sex.

EDIT: After posting this, I realized that the RIAA Gold & Platinum database wouldn't let me link directly to specific songs; searching "All Me" and "Lollipop" will return the measures of popularity used in this post.

References

1. Brown, J. D., Keller, S., & Stern, S. (2009). Sex, Sexuality, Sexting, and SexEd: Adolescents and the Media. Prevention Researcher, 16(4), 12-16.
2. Collins, R. L., Elliott, M. N., Berry, S. H., Kanouse, D. E., & Hunter, S. B. (2003). Entertainment television as a healthy sex educator: The impact of condom-efficacy information in an episode of Friends. Pediatrics, 112(5), 1115-1121. doi: 10.1542/peds.112.5.1115 
3. Guzman, B. L., Schlehofer-Sutton, M. M., Villanueva, C. M., Dello Stritto, M. E., Casad, B. J., & Feria, A. (2003). Let’s talk about sex: How comfortable discussions about sex impact teen sexual behavior. Journal of Health Communication, 8(6), 583–598. 
4. Hust, S. J. T., Brown, J. D., & L'Engle, K. L. (2008). Boys will be boys and girls better be prepared: An analysis of the rare sexual health messages in young adolescents' media. Mass Communication & Society, 11(1), 3-23. doi: 10.1080/15205430701668139 
5. Primack, B., Douglas, E.L., Fine, M.J., & Dalton, M.A., (2009). Exposure to sexual lyrics and sexual experience among urban adolescents. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 36(4), 317–323.
6. Primack, B., Gold, M.A., Schwarz, E.B., & Dalton, M.A. (2008). Degrading and non-degrading sex in popular music: A content analysis. Public Health Reports, 123, 593–600. 

Love Yourself

An extremely popular and recent song, Love Myself by Hailee Steinfeld, is one of very few popular pieces of mainstream media that discusses the topic of masturbation. While I wouldn't classify it as an piece of "edu-tainment," I do believe that it adds value and breadth to a media landscape that - while "two thirds of all shows included sexual content" - has a very small scope of what they depict as sexual activity (Brown et al., 2004, pg. 420).

A very large majority of the sexual activity shown or insinuated in mainstream media is only intercourse. As Ward et al., point out, this could be problematic for adolescent women growing up and learning about sexual activity through media because they aren't learning about any other kinds of potentially safer sexual activity - "there needs to be an acknowledgement of diverse forms of sexual pleasure, including masturbation" (Ward et al., 2006, pg. 67).

Some lyrics that really embody the message of the song - that a woman doesn't need a man to make her feel good, she can do it herself - are below.

"Gonna love myself, no, I don't need anybody else."
"Feeling good on my own without you, yeah... The beautiful, it comes without you."
"I'm gonna put my body first and love me so hard 'til it hurts"
"I know how to scream my own name."

Not only do these lyrics embody a sense of female empowerment to take sexual pleasure into their own hands, it also expresses that masturbation is a viable and pleasurable alternative to sexual intercourse. Young women "turn to the media as a relatively safe" place to learn about sexual activity and should therefore have several depictions of what sexual activity can look like in order to be able to make informed and safe decisions (Brown et al., 2004, pg. 421). If they never see or hear about masturbation, they may not even know it as an option for sexual activity.

It's very interesting that sexual intercourse - arguably the most intimate activity in the world - is so casual within media and society, while masturbation and other forms of sexual stimulation are so taboo. Pieces of media such as Hailee Steinfeld's song are moving media into a more responsible and realistic direction, and young women will become more informed because of this.

Brown, J., Halpern, C., & L'Engle, K. (2004). Mass media as a sexual super peer for early maturing girls. Journal of Adolescent Health, 36, 420-427.

Ward, L., Day, K., & Epstein, M. (2006). Uncommonly good: Exploring how mass media may be a positive influence on young women's sexual health and development. New Direction for Childre and Adolescent Development, 112, 57-70.

Sleeping with Other People

Sleeping with Other People was everything Trainwreck wasn’t, and more. I love every single line in that movie and would watch it over and over again. A romantic comedy, it follows the paths of two sex addicts who lost their virginities to each other and run into each other 10 years later. Determined not to ruin their friendship with sex, they resolve to remain platonic, and in doing so both become best friends and fall in love.

While I would like to think of most of this movie, or at least the humor incorporated, as refreshingly original, its plot follows some scripts that make me pause. While both Lainey and Jake classify themselves as sex addicts and admit to sleeping with a lot of people, throughout the movie only Jake is the one being seen waking up with a new girl each night. Lainey, on the other hand, displays the traditional stereotype of being emotionally torn up over one man who couldn’t commit to her. While the movie attempts to be sexually freeing and acknowledge the female sexual capacity, I find it missing the mark at times. According to the concept of sexual scripts, “sexuality is learned from culturally produced messages that define what sex is and explain how to recognize sexual situations and how to behave in such situations” (Markle, 2008), viewers will learn to emulate this gender traditional behavior and expect it to reflect reality. Despite the guise of a sex addiction, the movie leaves me wondering at the essential difference in the depicted female version of a sex addiction and the traditional, promiscuous male version.

Sleeping with Other People also displays the very traditional, romantic comedy stereotype of “Love Finds a Way.” Lainey and Jake are separated for ten years, yet find each other living in the same place again. And when they realize that they are in love, Lainey has to move to Ann Arbor for medical school, leaving Jake behind in another relationship. Despite these trials, at the end, love conquers all and space proves no boundary, following the traditional romantic script Lippman (2014) studies. This follows the finding that “Exposure to RTST movies—which most commonly promote the message that “love finds a way” (Hefner &Wilson, 2013)—was positively associated with endorsement of the belief Love Finds a Way” (Lippman, 2014). I find it tough to reconcile myself with the stereotypicality that some of the gendered and romantic portrayals follow. At the end, it makes perfect sense that love found a way with them – how could it not have? In this way, I see the romantic messages promoted in many romantic screen genres working on me as well, even if I am conscious of them.

References

Lippman, J. R., Ward, L. M., & Seabrook, R. C. (2014). Isn’t it romantic? Differential associations between romantic screen media genres and romantic beliefs. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 3(3), 128-140. doi: 10.1037/ppm0000034

Markle, G. (2008). “Can women have sex like a man?”: Sexual scripts in "Sex and the City". Sexuality & Culture, 12(1), 45-57. doi: 10.1007/s12119-007-9019-1

Watch with Caution

For many, the media is a source of sexual information for adolescents. Whether the media relays true or false information, teenagers consume these messages. According to Stacey Hust, Jane Brown, and Kelly L’Engle, “The infrequent content about sexual health topics was often ambiguous and inaccurate, reinforced traditional gender stereotypes, and used humor to undermine sexually responsible behavior” (Hust et. al 19). Despite the fact that it is important to inform teenagers of safe sexual procedures, the media is not always a reliable source. The ultimate goal of a television series is to engage and increase the number of viewers, which comes from interesting plots rather than educational information. If adolescents always trust the media, they will not be educated with the correct facts.  

In the popular series Glee, Quinn Fabray cheats on her boyfriend, Finn Hudson, with football player Noah ‘Puck’ Puckerman. Unsure of how to handle the situation, Quinn tells Finn that the child is his (even though they have never had sex). As seen in the video below, she tells him that his sperm traveled when they were together in the hot tub, and caused her to get pregnant. Finn believes her.

This storyline is problematic for multiple reasons. First, Finn is clearly uneducated, as he believes Quinn. Furthermore, the show uses this storyline to mock the fact that Finn has not had proper sexual education. According to Hust et. al, “sexual health is a funny and/or embarrassing aspect of adolescents’ exploration of sexuality and rarely a natural part of a romantic relationship” (Hust et. al 12). Despite the severity of the situation, Glee uses the consequences of Quinn sleeping with Puck as comic relief regarding her relationship with Finn. Even though this is a major aspect of their relationship and will change the rest of their lives, it comes off to viewers as a slightly funny and embarrassing situation. This is also problematic because Quinn takes all of the pressure off of Finn, letting him know that he can be as involved with the child as he wants to. As Hust et. al states, “girls are responsible for teen pregnancy, contraception, and STD prevention” (Hust et. al 14). The situation may have been different if Finn was actually the father, but Quinn puts minimal amounts of pressure on Finn to feel responsible for the child. Even though the child is equally the father’s as the mother’s, Glee depicts the situation as one that Quinn must be the most responsible for.

Glee’s depiction of Quinn’s pregnancy is eye-opening but also troublesome. This shows that adolescents need to receive proper sexual health information in order to ensure that they know the facts as well as risks. It also reveals that those watching cannot count on the media to teach factual information, as the media has storylines that will simply engage the viewers. Students need to be aware that they are not always getting the correct information from television shows, and that it is important to watch with caution.  

Hust, S. J. T., Brown, J. D., & L’Engle, K. L. (2008). Boys Will Be Boys and Girls Better Be Prepared: An Analysis of the Rare Sexual Health Messages in Young Adolescents’ Media. Mass Communication and Society, 11(November), 3–23. http://doi.org/10.1080/15205430701668139

17 or 47

In the study we recently read "Entertainment Television as a Health Sex Educator for Condom-Efficicacy Information in an Episode of Friends" it is clear that a statement is being made to prevent assumptions that condoms work 100% of the time. This type of sexual education is actually common among various forms of media. Movies in particular have mentioned sexual health and pregnancy prevention. Although they may not be very common they do exist. As stated in the Collins' Study, "Television [or movies in this case] is often decried as a negative influence on the sexual attitudes and behavior of America's adolescents. However, television occasionally includes messages about the risks of having sex that may have a positive effect on youth." (1)

Here is a clip from the movie 17 Again. Zac Efron is actually much older, and had a kid when he was still in high school. When he magically becomes 17 again, he has now been forced to reattend high school. With high school comes health class. In his health class, (which conveniently happens to be with his daughter), he explains to the students why stick to abstinence. He wants his daughter and the  rest of the class to be in love with who ever they eventually decide to have sex with. However, the teacher realizes that this is almost never the case with high school seniors and hands out condoms for each student to take. 

At the end of Zac Efron's speech everyone feels genuinely guilty that they are engaging in sexual intercourse with people they are not in love with and definitely people they don't want to have children with. However do the viewers think this is a joke? The scene is supposed to be somewhat comical. My question to the audience is this- does it matter if the media jokes about abstinence, or does it still have a positive effect on its viewers. While this is similar to the scene from Friends, the Friends episode seemed to have more information regarding statistics and rates of success for condoms. This movie only gives a glimpse into one persons opinion on abstaining from sex in high school.

Collins, R. L., M. N. Elliott, S. H. Berry, D. E. Kanouse, and S. B. Hunter. "Entertainment Television as a Healthy Sex Educator: The Impact of Condom-Efficacy Information in an Episode of Friends." Pediatrics112.5 (2003): 1115-121. Web.