The media’s role in shaping public perception is profound, particularly in how it defines what is “normal” in human sexuality. Noam Chomsky’s work on media manipulation, propaganda, and manufactured consent provides a crucial framework for understanding how mass media subtly conditions individuals to accept specific sexual norms while rejecting others. Through media framing, repetition, and control over information flow, the boundaries of “acceptable” sexuality are constructed—not through organic social evolution, but through deliberate messaging aimed at reinforcing economic and political power structures.
Chomsky’s Media Model and Sexual Norms
In Manufacturing Consent (Chomsky & Herman, 1988), Chomsky outlines how media serves elite interests by filtering information through ownership biases, advertising imperatives, and ideological constraints. This process applies directly to how sexuality is portrayed and policed in media. Rather than presenting a neutral or comprehensive view of human desire, the media strategically reinforces sexual norms that align with broader economic and cultural goals.
For instance, sexuality is often framed within two dominant paradigms:
- Hyper-Commercialized Sexuality – The over-saturation of hyper-sexualized content (OnlyFans, pornography, influencer culture) presents sex as a commodity rather than a personal or relational experience.
- Hyper-Restricted Sexuality – Simultaneously, censorship, moral panic, and purity culture narratives create fear around sexuality, discouraging expressions that deviate from a narrowly defined “acceptable” framework.
The result? A society that oscillates between hyper-sexualization and sexual repression, never settling on a balanced, organic approach to desire and intimacy.
Media Dictates What’s “Hot” and What’s Not
According to Chomsky, the media does not reflect reality but instead constructs it (Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies, 1989). This is evident in how trends in sexual attraction and desirability shift based on media narratives rather than individual preference.
Consider the shifting ideals of beauty and desirability over time:
- In the 1990s, ultra-thin models were the standard (heroin chic).
- By the 2010s, curvier figures became more desirable, popularized by figures like Kim Kardashian.
- Today, fitness culture has redefined the “ideal” body as muscular and toned.
These shifts are not random. They align with economic incentives—industries from plastic surgery to fitness and pharmaceuticals benefit from changes in beauty standards. The same applies to relationship dynamics, sexual behaviors, and kinks: media normalizes certain expressions of sexuality while pathologizing others to fit economic needs.
Censorship and the Manufacturing of the Sexual Underground
One of Chomsky’s key observations is how media controls dissent through selective censorship (Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda, 1991). This applies directly to sexuality—while hyper-sexualized media remains profitable, platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter actively censor independent sexual expression through shadowbanning and deplatforming.
This manufactured suppression pushes alternative expressions of sexuality underground, leading to:
- The rise of niche fetish subcultures and private sex communities.
- Increased interest in encrypted platforms, subscription-based content, and dark web forums.
- Greater secrecy around non-mainstream sexual desires, reinforcing social stigma.
In other words, the same media that normalizes hyper-commercialized sexuality is actively working to restrict real, personal, and non-profitable expressions of sexual autonomy.
Controlled Sexuality is Manufactured Consent
Chomsky argues that media control works not through overt coercion but by shaping the “necessary illusions” people hold about the world (Necessary Illusions, 1989). This extends to sexuality—what we find attractive, acceptable, or shameful is not a product of innate human desire but of deliberate media conditioning.
By defining “normal” sexuality through economic and ideological filters, media ensures that individuals consume sexuality in ways that benefit corporate and political power structures while discouraging authentic, self-directed sexual exploration. The illusion of choice remains—yet those choices exist within a controlled framework designed to manufacture consent for predetermined norms.
As Chomsky warns, “The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion” (Chomsky, 1994). In the realm of sexuality, this means allowing expressions that serve profit-driven interests while marginalizing those that threaten the status quo.
References
Chomsky, N. (1994). The Prosperous Few and the Restless Many. Odonian Press.
Chomsky, N. (1988). Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. Pantheon Books.
Chomsky, N. (1989). Necessary Illusions: Thought Control in Democratic Societies. South End Press.
Chomsky, N. (1991). Media Control: The Spectacular Achievements of Propaganda. Seven Stories Press.
