Reports that the role of sex on television has become more
prevalent and explicit in the past thirteen years, and that society
mirrors the drama of television. Comparisons of sexual behaviors now and
in 1979; Television promoting casual sex; Documentation of television's
promiscuity by professor Barry S. Sapolsky--sex talk, homosexuality, safe
sex; Effects on adolescent minds; More.
By
PT Staff, published on September 01, 1992
SEX ON TV
In a world mirrored so closely by the drama and comedy of TV, it's
not surprising that sex plays a leading role on the tube. But the part's
grown bigger-and more explicit-over the past 13 years.
Every four minutes today, TV characters talk about sex or display
sexual behavior-compared to every five minutes in 1979. And while sex
practices in real life have proved to have dramatic consequences over
that time, TV has yet to devote prime time to safe-sex practices.
TV has no problem promoting casual sex, but does have a problem
promoting responsibility," especially in a time when AIDS and teen
pregnancy is soaring, reports Barry S. Sapolsky, Ph.D., In the Journal of
Broadcasting & Electronic Media (Vol. 35, No. 4).
Documenting TV's promiscuity, the professor at Florida State
University compared the sexual content of one week's prime-time network
TV In 1989 with the same in 1979. Here's what he found:
o SEX TALK: TV gave viewers l6 instances of sexual imagery or
language in 1989, versus 13 In 1979-explicit references to sexual
behavior and sexual organs.
o THE WILD THANG: Nowhere to be seen in 1979, four explicit sex
acts steamed the set in 1989.
o YOU FIRST Equality in the bed. room is on the wane. In 1989, male
characters initiated two thirds of the sexual behavior and conversation,
and three-fourths of the noncriminal sex acts. In 1979, men and women
shared the responsibility tit-for-tat.
o WEDDING BANDS: Married couples don't have sex anymore, at least
on TV. In 1989 and 1979, only unmarried couples had implied or explicit
intercourse. By 1989, married couples didn't even talk about It: spouses
mentioned sex only once while singles discussed it 90 times Says
Sapolsky, "I don't think you can go back to a time when a majority are
virginal before getting married."
o HOMOSEXUALITY Twenty percent of Americans may be gay, but not on
TV. In 1989, depictions of and references to homosexuality occurred only
once in three hours.
o SAFE SEX: Just as infrequent are television discussions about
safe sex and sexually transmitted diseases. There was not a single
mention of AIDS in 1989 shows.
The Images add up. Says Sapolsky: "If an adolescent watches years
of TV where people engage in flirtatious or explicit behavior, these
thousands of Images over the years will teach them that sex is
pleasant--and without any consequences."
Photo: Scene from Beverly Hills 90210.
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