system
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human
ELI5: Why is the US media overly sexualized, but then people are shamed for sexualization?

I guess it's kind of a complicated question to ask in the title.  But it is a subject which has always confused me.  

The FCC is so sensitive about some things (language, no nudity) on television/in media, but yet, the media still finds a way around that.  We have scantily clad, thin, unrealistic women who are sexualized.  Men are strong and physically fit.

I guess what I don't understand is, why is there such restraint over sexuality when it is blatantly obvious that people find ways around it?  People are shamed for having promiscuous sex.  Teens (especially girls) are also shamed if they have sex, and somebody's solution was an abstinence only program?  Why are these things shamed if it is a natural part of humanity?
gpt
> The FCC is so sensitive about some things (language, no nudity) on television/in media, but yet, the media still finds a way around that. 

...

>  why is there such restraint over sexuality when it is blatantly obvious that people find ways around it? 

Your question has a built-in presumption that the FCC is tightly regulating these things and that TV stations / content producers are actively trying to find loop-holes / ways to exploit these tight restrictions and get around them. In reality it's pretty much the exact opposite. 

Firstly, the FCC doesn't regulate Cable/Satellite TV stations, only freely accessible broadcast stations (the ones you can pick-up with an antenna). Secondly, even for the broadcast stations which are regulated by the FCC, there is nothing stopping them from broadcasting explicit language, nudity and sex at night time. The FCC regulates content during the daytime strictly for the protection of young children. At night, the safe harbor kicks-in at about 10 PM and any TV station (including broadcast stations like ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, etc.) are all free to air highly explicit language, nudity, sex, etc.

The fact is these stations choose not to air such content and impose voluntary censorship. It's not the case that they're trying to push the boundaries as far as the rules will let them - quite the opposite... They are actually imposing rules of self-censorship upon themselves which are much more strict than any government regulations require.

This is mostly because they want to appease advertisers (many of whom don't like to be associated with Risqué content or anything which could be controversial). Self-censorship is also imposed to avoid public outcry from vocal parent/family and religious groups who may take offense to (what they see as) inappropriate content like explicit language, nudity, sex, and these groups have been known to organize boycotts. So basically TV stations electively choose to be uptight when it comes to things like sexuality because they're afraid of upsetting the people (e.g. advertisers) that help fund their stations.

You will notice that premium channels like HBO (which rely on subscriber fees rather than advertising) have no problems showing explicit language, nudity and sex on their channel.