Pushing the Limits

     This semester has been a crazy ride. There have been many things that I never thought I would have talked about in a class setting. Non-normative sexualities (BDSM), Sexting, and Porn have all been things that made me question “What have I gotten myself into?” Classes don’t always go the way you planned and according to thechive.com neither does sexting. 

     Throughout the class we talked about the influence that media has on our life. The Damned if You Do, Damned if you Don’t article states that “Norms may also help explain sexting behavior. Lapinski and Rimal (2005) distinguish between collective norms, which refer to norms that apply to a social entity, and perceived norms, which refer to an individual’s perception of what those collective norms are” (Lapinski, 374). Sexting is not the only thing that following social norms applies to. 

     Although sexting puts me on edge, other topics topics contributed to my anxiety. The subjects of Porn and DBSM also made me uncomfortable. I wanted a class that would push my boundaries, and well….I found it. Sexting, BDSM and Porn were all topics that were covered in class. If you ask me about a selfie, I could talk to you about that. However, if you ask me about other topics I will feel like the cat has my tongue. I might not feel comfortable about discussing these topics, but I have learned a great deal in this class. I learned to look at the deeper meaning in materials and how media influences topics. Overall, this was a great class that put a new perspective on Communication Classes. It made my last semester interesting, and although this class didn’t go as planned, nothing normally does.  

Works Cited:

Lippman,  J.  R.  &  Campbell.  S.  W.  (2014)  Damned  if  you  do,  damned  if  you  don’t...if  you’re  a  girl:  Relational  and  normative  contexts  of  adolescent  sexting  in  the  United States.    Journal  of  Children  and  Media,  8:4,  371 - 386