An article due to be published in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine puts forward the hypothesis that adolescents who regularly listen to songs with "degrading sexual references" are more likely to engage in sexual activity. According to Dr. Brian Primack of the Center for Research on Health Care at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, "high exposure of lyrics describing degrading sex in popular music was independently associated with higher levels of sexual behaviour."

What is not outlined in the abstract are the criteria used to define "lyrics describing degrading sex," and how these differ from other sexually-explicit lyrics. In addition, there is also no attempt to link social background or home life to the results of the study. We are simply told that surveys were completed by 14-15 year-olds in "three large urban schools," and are left to draw our own conclusions.

We have been here before, of course, with the wrong-headed moral panic over violent gangsta rap lyrics in the 1990s. Then, the concern was that the way of life portrayed would somehow manipulate otherwise well-behaved children into taking up arms and start running drugs. Today, worried adults appear to believe that sexually explicit imagery will fuel a boom in teenage pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.

 Like other scientifically-illiterate scare stories that have been reported in the press recently, those with a particular agenda will seize upon the vague findings in the article and insist that "something has to be done." This, however, is premature. Not only do the authors themselves state that further research is necessary, but banning sexually explicit lyrics is unlikely to lead to a drop in teenage sexual activity. Albums with explicit or violent lyrics are already marked out by their "Parental Advisory" stickers, and are subject to censorship when they receive radio airplay.

 While the aims of the American Journal of Preventative Medicine are commendable, one can't help but feel that perhaps the research grant would have been better spent on investigating other, more relevant, influences on teenage sexual activity. People do not listen to music in a vacuum; there are cultural, societal and individual factors that all play a role in affecting behaviour. Music may be the food of love, but it never forced anyone into bed.

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