ADVERTISING SEX

There is much talk this week, in female circles anyway, about the advertising watchdog's decision to change the rules and allow abortion clinics and perhaps condom manufacturers to advertise on television in an attempt, they say, to reduce teenage pregnancies. 

This is as much a political decision as it is a business one, the political one being that television desperately needs financial help because advertisers, as well as curtailing their spending, are finding television no longer gives value for money.  We the viewers just aren't paying much attention these days, that is if we even bother to watch at all. Can the Westminster government allow TV channels such as ITV and Channel 4 to collapse?  

The business decision is a good one because there's money in sex and there's money in the fallout of sex.  Why this decision wasn't taken some years ago I'll never know because it's not as if condoms and abortion are unknown words or are never uttered. Television has been showing sex in its various forms for many years, whether it's in the weekly soaps or a risque film. 

My hope is that reputable businesses like the Marie Stopes Clinics will be sensitive in their approach and that advertisers of condoms mention sexual health issues like the continuing rise in sexually transmitted diseases, such as chlamydia, which can so easily destroy a young woman's productive system. Of course there will be the objectors such as the pro-life lobby, religious groups and those who are offended at any mention of the word sex, but I think most men and women are capable of making their own decisions.

I'm in the "it's a woman's right to choose" group and I still firmly believe that, but also accept with that right comes responsibility. Men must also be responsible and they are often the forgotten half of the argument. 

Back in the 60s when the Pill was discovered women thought they were liberated.  Who would have thought that some of today's young women, or girls really, would rather depend on a morning after pill because they won't accept responsibility for their own actions, or could it be today's society encourages irresponsibility by providing everything from a home to an 'income' for pregnant teenagers?  These young girls can't use the excuse of ignorance any longer.  Millions of pounds are ploughed into sex education.  Yes I know, that's another debate. 

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