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Natalie Aparicio
English 115
John Kubler
28 October 2014
Does Morality Still Exist?
In todays modern society, young children grow up being able to Google anything with
the tip of their fingers. Not only has our technology evolved, but apparently, so has everyones
sexuality. As a result of all this advanced technology and our societys acceptance of sexuality,
young children are growing up watching celebrities half naked, exposing their sexuality to
everyone. The young childrenespecially teen girls who are obsessed with their appearance
grow up thinking that it is normal to be walking around with their butts hanging out of their short
shorts, pretending to be Miley Cyrus in one of her music videos. All the celebrities that
participate in this hyper-sexualized activity are giving the wrong idea to the young ones
watching. The celebrities are leading the teens to believe that what they are doing is ok. The
media has so much control over teens that the teens go out and try to replicate everything their
eyes are seeing. The media also has control over adults, who seem to find it acceptable to
mistreat their significant others, whether it be physically or emotionally. We have also seemed to
lost touch with genuine, loving relationships. Our society has changed for the worse with all the
acceptance of sexualization. There are so many celebrities, both males and females, who are so
out there with their sexuality. All of this blatant sexual exposure needs to end. All of this
sexualization is wrong because it is going to be viewed to our youth as a normal thing to do, and
its teaching adults that beating and cheating on your wife is acceptable, which it certainly isnt.

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In fact, young women, look up to female celebrities, they idolize them, wanting to be just
like them. They go out and buy clothes and make-up; they dye their hair or style it a certain way
to look as similar as their idols. For example, in the film Generation M, they interview a lady,
Shelly Nelson, who explains how there is so much pressure on teen girls to look a certain way. .
. . I had just gotten out of the hospital cause I had heart problems for my eating disorder . . . . I
wanted my family to love me, I wanted boys to love me, I wanted to be looked at and seen as
someone pretty and if it meant losing a lot of weight, if it meant changing my hair color, if it
meant trying new make-up products, then I was going to do it . . . but it was never enough . . . I
didnt lose enough weight to look like someone in a magazine . . . it doesnt happen in real life . .
. (Generation M. 21:35). The media makes young girls believe that they have to be as skinny as
the supermodels in magazines. There are also music videos where women dressed a certain way
or act a certain way to get guys attention which makes young girls feel that they have to change
themselves to something that theyre not just to please a guy. Girls today are so obsessed with
their looks and change themselves to please everyone but themselves. No one has control over
anyone but themselves. The only reason women [and men] should change is for their own.
Also, teen girls see the way these celebrities get as famous as they are. Some use their
sexuality to make it. Kim Kardashian, for example, is a celebrity who made her way to the top
with a sex-tape. She leads us to believe that making a sex-tape is a way towards success because
of all the money and fame she got for it. There is so much sexuality in todays society that
everyone believes that it is normal when in reality, it isnt. Paris Hilton is another celebrity who
made a sex-tape and showed everyone it is ok to put out your sexuality. Another example would
be Farrah from Teen Mom. She purposely made the tape to get money from it. All of these
celebrities are allowing everyone exposed to this to get an idea that selling a sex-tape is a form of

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getting money and recognition. All these women who made a sex-tape feel like it was a form of
empowerment. They sold their tapes and made money out of them and the young teens get an
idea of ways to make money and become famous.
Besides sex-tapes, music is also a big influence on our youth. Young girls are also
singing along to Nicki Minajs Anaconda lyrics saying Dick bigger than a tower, I aint
talking about Eiffels. . . These lyrics are extremely explicit and are not for young children to be
singing just because the song is trendy, yet they still do. In what world do we live in where our
little sisters are singing those types of songs? Miley Cyrus is another example of an artist whos
fandom is young girls. She was once the innocent little Hannah Montana. What happened to her?
She grew up is what most tend to answer. She is now known for twerking and being half
naked. She showed us a new Miley Cyrus on the MTV Video Music Awards where she danced
very sexually on stage for the entire world to see on national television. The same has happened
with pop-singer Justin Bieber. He was once young and innocent, now hes out with his shirt off,
and doing drugs. The lyrics have also began to change and become more rated R. These artists
have young fans who watch their every move, and dont even realize what impact they have on
our society.
Moreover, relationships today are all different. There are still some genuine, long-lasting
relationships, as there are relationships where someone isnt safe. There is also a lot of
mistreatment in relationships these days. It seems that some people believe in dominance within
a relationship, whereas I believe that you should think together as one, thats the point of a
relationship. I have interviewed a few couples and found some interesting data. Some couples
seemed very loving towards one another and felt there was no dominance in their relationship.
There were also couples that one was obviously in control of the other. One particular couple

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claimed to be very mutual with everything that they did, but it seemed that the girlfriend just
followed every move her boyfriend would make. For instance, when I would ask both of them a
question, the guy would respond first and the girl would just agree with all of his answers to my
questions. When I asked a question about who they thought was more in control, they answered
no one was, it was a mutual relationship, where in actuality, the guy was clearly in control. In the
dominance, conflict, comedic filled film Crazy, Stupid, Love, we see Jacoba sexy, welldressed womanizerwho practically lives at a bar, picking up women with his special moves. He
comes across a woman, Hannaha pretty, future lawyerwho eventually changes his ways of a
man-whore to a loving, loyal man. The first time they met, Hannah showed Jacob that he cannot
get every girl he lays his eyes on by rejecting Jacobs moves to get her to go home with him. I
guarantee you this, youre never going to regret going home with that guy from the bar that one
time . . . but I cant guarantee that you wont not regret it . . . Hannah replies Its time to go
home . . . (Crazy, Stupid, Love 7:39). To summarize, she wanted nothing to do with Jacob, the
man who is always dominant of every other girl. This example shows us that people still believe
in being superior of one another by having dominance. Hannah was able to show him that
dominance shouldnt exist and he shouldnt be going around to women, thinking that he is in
control of them because not all of them will budge.
Relationships today are quite difficult to keep, I myself am in one. Everyone has their
differences and its normal to have arguments here and there, but theres no reason to go as far as
cheating and disrespecting one another. If youre that unhappy in a relationship, try and work
things out, or just leave. We also see the differences the couples go through in the film Crazy,
Stupid, Love. There is Cala man who has lost sight of who he isand Emily who is Cals wife.
Emily has cheated on Cal and now wants a divorce. The couple goes through a rough time. Cal

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starts going to the bar where he meets Jacob, who teaches him all his moves to get any woman he
wants. Cal struggles to get the hang of being so rude to get women to like him, he starts using his
own moves. After his time of being a ladies-man, he realizes that what he has become isnt who
he really is. He starts thinking about his wife and his family and realizes that he shouldve never
gave up on his marriage. In a scene in the film, Cal claims his love for his wife at his sons
graduation saying I met my soul mate when I was 15 years old, and I have loved her every
minute of every day . . . I will never stop trying, because when you find the one, you never give
up (Crazy, Stupid, Love. 107:40). That is, showing everyone what true love really is. He
exhorts us to fight for your soul mate which is one way to keep modern romances genuine and
long-lasting. The couples I interviewed gave me their opinions on what makes true love possible
today. They responded that trust, honesty, communication, understanding, loyalty, and just being
yourself, all contribute to keeping a relationship strong and genuine.
In the graphic novel, Persepolis, the main character is a young girl, who much like girls
in our society today, is also troubled and confused about boys and her appearance. Marji is a girl
who we see grow up in a completely different world, go through so many obstacles throughout
her life. She starts wanting to dress differently and find herself. She also finds drugs and uses
them as a way to cope with her problems. She even finds herself on the street with nothing to eat,
and nowhere to sleep. In the chapter, The Vegetable, we see her start to change not only
physically, but emotionally. Marji tells us As if my natural deformity wasnt enough, I tried a
few new haircuts. . . And a week later, a little snip of the scissors on the right . . . . So I coated
my hair with gel, I added a thick line of eyeliner, a few safety pins, which were replaced by a
scarf . . . (190). American teens arent the only ones who struggle trying to find their true
selves. Teens all over the world go through the same process of trying different hair styles,

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make-up, and wardrobe on the quest for happiness. Marji also shows us that just like any other
girl, she wants to find love. Throughout the novel, she has her experiences different guys, but all
turn out being jerks. In the chapter Hide and Seek, she has a boyfriend named Enrique, whom she
met through one of her friends. Enrique invites her to an anarchist party. Once it was time to go
to sleep, she saw that everyone was sleeping in the same room. She said she felt embarrassed, so
she was able to get her own room with Enrique. Marji explains Until that night, my relationship
with Enrique was strictly platonic . . . . But this night was different. I felt ready to lose my
innocence . . . I didnt want to be a timid virgin any longer. Unfortunately, the next morning I
was as much a virgin and as timid as the night before (212-213). Marji wanted to be more out
there and fit in with the crowd she was hanging with. She felt that losing her virginity would
change her for the better. She woke up to realize she was still a virgin and there was no Enrique
next to her. She saw him with another girl and started thinking all kinds of things. The book
illustrates Its my fault! Im so unbelievably ugly! Im sure thats why he didnt want me! Im
ugly. I smell. Im terrible. Im hairy! (213). Her mind starts going all over the place, trying to
figure out why he didnt sleep with her, and of course, being a teenage girl, she starts feeling
insecure just like any girl would in her position. Teenage girls tend to be so insecure and Marji is
just another example of that. Teenage girls need to start accepting themselves for who they are
and loving themselves. Everyone is beautiful in their own ways and women of all ages need to
realize that and not let others control their emotions.
It follows then, that our world has come to a point where young children grow up
exposed to this hyper-sexualized world where on a daily-basis, they see women walking around
half naked, and men walking around being cocky and feeling superior of women. These same
children grow up, turning in to what they have been watching their entire lives. Young girls

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should not be ashamed of their appearance at such young ages. They should never worry about
what others think about them. People need to stop being so cruel and judging everyone by their
appearances. Humans come in all different colors, shapes, and sizes, and everyone needs to
accept that. People need to stop thinking about dominance and superiority. Celebrities need to
stop being so sexual and realize that there are other ways of getting 1 million hits on YouTube.
There are so many alternatives. Men take a role in our society of being the ones who encourage
this hyper-sexualized world. Men are the ones who are attracted to women so thats who the
women do it for, when it should be for themselves. Celebrities should realize what theyre
actually doing to young children and for next generations to come. Our society as a whole needs
to stop being accepting of all this and step forward. I sure dont want my future children to ever
think walking around half naked is normal. Our society, like the society in Persepolis, looks at
all this sexualization as a sin. In Marjis world, women can barely show an inch of their skin and
are punished if they do. They have morals, they know right from wrong, which is what we need
to do in our society. Pop-Adults need to be an example for the youth that relationships do last
long and can continue to be genuine for life times to come. We are the example for the younger
generation; we need to set the right one.

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Works Cited
Crazy, Stupid, Love. Dir. John Requa, Glenn Ficarra. Perf. Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, Steve
Carrel, and Julianne Moore. Warner Bros. Pictures, 2011. DVD.
Generation M. Dir. Keith, Thomas. Vox Populi Productions, 2008. Film.
Nicki Minaj Anaconda. Genius. N.p., 1 Aug. 2014. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.
Personal Ethnography Interview. 11 October 2014.
Satrapi, Marjane. The Complete Persepolis. New York: Patheon, 2007.