Sexual Integrity in Media

By Jamie Boyd


In almost every Australian lounge room there is a window to the rest of the world and for many years things such as nudity and course language were simply not tolerated.  It seems that over time as various individuals and organisations have pushed the boundaries, people having sex and various levels of nudity have become a common viewing on Australian Television.  I think many Australians would see this as inappropriate.

I believe whilst it is a good thing that there are ratings and warnings about the content of progammes  before they commence.  The problem I do see however is that one can turn their television on at any given time, innocently looking for something to watch can inadvertently end up watching a sex scene.  Some viewers may welcome the experience but for those that would prefer not to have those images going into their minds, there is no protection.

A few weeks ago I returned home around 11.00pm on a week night and was unable to sleep so I turned on my television and began surfing the channels looking for something interesting.  I ended up watching a few minutes of Big Brother uplate and in the Sauna of the Big Brother House were two Girls dressed in underpants only.  There was probably a warning at the beginning of the programme about nudity and sexual references which I obviously didn't see because I wasn't watching the programme at the time.

This is not an attack on channel 10 or Big Brother; The point that I am making is that for those that wish not to see any nudity on television for what ever reason, (in my case I  want to protect myself from temptation and keep my sexual integrity in tact) cannot guarantee or ensure their safe viewing.  This experience along with others including some advertising have at times caused me to be sexually aroused.  Some would say then, that perhaps I shouldn't watch TV!  My question - Is that really fair?

My suggestion to the Australian Government is that every programme or advertisement that contains even semi - nudity have a super in the bottom right hand corner through out the duration of the programme that simply reads "Nudity".