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Abstract
The article examines attitudes towards sexuality and its commercial representations among Finnish students aged 18–30. In order to evaluate commercialised sex as broadly as possible, we approached it from three angles: sex as a special effect in media and marketing; display of a ‘sexy’ body and clothing as a part of young person's identity; and sex or pornography as a direct purchase that involves transaction of money or other goods. Empirical measures addressing these three angles are constructed for the analysis. The data are derived from an Internet survey (N =1208), collected in Finnish universities and university colleges in 2007. We examined how gender, age, field of study and type of household affect the students’ attitudes towards commercialised sex. The results reveal that the responses can be predicted by various socio-demographic characteristics. However, gender appears to have clearly the strongest non-specific impact. The results also indicate that the structure of variation differs considerably between the types of measures explained. In conclusion, it is discussed whether a new and more versatile culture of sexuality is emerging among young people.