Finnish Students’ Attitudes towards Commercialised Sex

Abstract

The article examines attitudes towards sexuality and its commercial representations among Finnish students aged 18Á30. In order to evaluate commercialised sex as broadly as possible, we approached it from three angles: sex as a special effect in media and marketing; display of a 'sexy' body and clothing as a part of young person's identity; and sex or pornography as a direct purchase that involves transaction of money or other goods. Empirical measures addressing these three angles are constructed for the analysis. The data are derived from an Internet survey (N01208), collected in Finnish universities and university colleges in 2007. We examined how gender, age, field of study and type of household affect the students' attitudes towards commercialised sex. The results reveal that the responses can be predicted by various socio-demographic characteristics. However, gender appears to have clearly the strongest non-specific impact. The results also indicate that the structure of variation differs considerably between the types of measures explained. In conclusion, it is discussed whether a new and more versatile culture of sexuality is emerging among young people.

Gender Equality, Liberalism and Attitude Toward Prostitution: Variation in Cross-National Study

“…The prostitution myth may be attributed to marketing by media (Coy et al 2011). Primarily, the wide availability of pornography may lead to justification of commercialized sex and prostitution by depicting prostitutes as not victims of sexual exploitation, but as sluts (Räsänen and Wilska 2007;Strøm 2009). Thus, it is pertinent to stop glamourizing sex and prostitution by media (Coy et al 2011).…”

“…For instance, Stack et al (2010) reported that younger individuals and males are more tolerant toward prostitution than older aged ones and females. Basow and Campanile (1990) also found that women are more likely to exhibit an unfavorable attitude toward prostitution (see also Cosby et al 1996;May 1999;Räsänen and Wilska 2007). Prostitution may facilitate infidelity among married couples in which the husband patronizes prostitutes, which may account for women's more negative attitude Cao and Maguire 2013).…”

“…These inconsistent findings among previous studies may be related to their use of different target populations, (e.g., Cao and Maguire 2013;Cosby et al 1996;May 1999 Finally, those who retain an adverse stance toward prostitution may largely rest on their religious belief that prostitution is a sin. Stated differently, prostitution is traditionally considered a crime against public morals (Jakobsson and Kotsadam 2011;Räsänen and Wilska 2007). Stack et al (2010) and Cao and Maguire (2013) found that a religious person is more likely to have an unfavorable attitude toward prostitution than a non-religious one (see also Jakobsson and Kotsadam 2011;McCaghy and Cernkovich 1991).…”

Exploring terra incognita: Family values and prostitution acceptance in China

“…Two other studies used data from other nations (Peracca, Knodel, & Saengtienchai, 1998;Rasanen & Wilska, 2007). Peracca et al (1998) utilized 88 adults in Thailand in a focus group design to simply demonstrate that while there was a strong negative view of sex workers, a majority of focus group participants thought that it was acceptable for sex workers to marry.…”

Una aplicación de la teoría del comportamiento planificado al segmento masculino latinoamericano de productos de cuidado personal

“…Introducción L a preocupación por la apariencia física se ha incrementado en las últimas décadas considerándose parte esencial dentro del proceso de construcción de la identidad del individuo y su posterior realización (Sarpila, 2012, Featherstone, 2007Turner, 2008;Shilling, 2003;Gill, Henwood y McLean, 2005). Esta situación ha contribuido a impulsar el consumo de productos de belleza y cuidado personal dentro del segmento femenino (Sarpila y Räsänen, 2011), el cual es un público tradicionalmente asociado con dicha categoría (Berg y Teigen, 2008;Räsänen y Wilska, 2007). Al respecto, de acuerdo con Euromonitor (2017), entre 2011 y 2016, la categoría belleza y cuidado personal ha crecido en promedio 4.87 % anual en el mundo, situándose América Latina por encima del promedio con un crecimiento de 8.82 % durante ese mismo periodo.…”