Take sex off centre stage

Some may perceive this is an unpopular opinion, but it needs to be said.

Over the years, South Africa’s economy has become more sexualised. It is hushed, but not muted, that jobs are exchanged for sex.

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At times, tender bids are sexualised before being sealed with payments. Academic excellence exchanged for a few minutes of steamy fun… it seems sex has become a central feature.

We have brushed it under the carpet and accepted it as an act of two consenting adults.

The entertainment industry has become soft porn. Artists with less clothing on them are the norm.

Their music is forgettable but we are made aware of their cosmetic surgery and their sexual exploits.

Not sure if they are talented, but the marketing tool of choice is most definitely their bodies and, for lack of a better word, their body count, too.

People are living their sexual fantasies. We are drowning in sexual content.

More than just an industry suffocating us because those who can access it are the ones who have amassed impressive social media followings and a legion of fans.

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That we have, basically, been forced to love because our options are limited and that the ones who make the call are more concerned of the number of followers more than the quality output of the ones who spoke into the mic.

Broadcasting in the age of social media had influencers competing with graduates of the arts.

And when the numbers seem to dwindle, or followers seem restless, an explicit sexually charged video is leaked; an unending cycle for relevance.

What the parents of children whose career path lies in the entertainment industry are saying? Do they still preach that talent will yield success?

And who were the ones that had to take the beating alongside the ones who could not access the opportunities?

It is the viewer who has had to continuously grin and bear through programming while we cringe and get through our favourite soapies, radio shows and sometimes TV programmes.

And then we wonder why the unbelievable decline in ratings?

The answer: we are tired of watching people bring nothing to the table and get paid for it.

I am a parent with children who watch television and listen to the radio on drives to school and I find the sexual content exhausting. I believe I am not the only one.

Sex can be left out of certain industries and platforms. It really is okay to do so.

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