I watched a short TV programme last night, an investigation into the modern commercial trend of using sexual awareness and imagery to sell products to underage girls. It was obviously a response to growing concern over what people see as the ‘sexualising of children.’
This is too complex and emotive a subject to tackle in a simple blog post. The pitfalls are many and varied, and however carefully the words were to be chosen and the arguments constructed, misunderstanding would inevitably ensue. I just want to take issue with one aspect of the approach the programme took.
The whole thing was founded on unspoken and unquestioned axioms. This is a problem to me because there are few axioms I wouldn’t question. They are used as the foundation of arguments, and if those foundations are not thoroughly examined, what value can the extended arguments have? To build positions on unquestioned axioms is the stuff of the closed mind, and yet it’s what TV documentaries and investigations do all the time.
No comments:
Post a Comment