Recently viewed on HBO is a show called Strangers. In the show a man was stood up at the alter by his finance. Instead of seeking compassion from his friends he went to Paris to get over her. There, he met a beautiful Zoo Keeper who later in the day he was having sex with. During the sex scene it reveled the womans breasts and showed them engaging in intercourse (Bellafante). Late night cable television is allowed to show these scenes and does so frequently. Over 75 percent of late night shows on premium stations like: HBO, Cinemax, and Showtime show sex scenes like the one on strangers often (Bellafante)
Sexual content is not only found on late night premium stations but also on regular sitcoms shown during family hour. (Impoco) On NBCs popular sitcom Friends, Phoebe has a major problem. Her boyfriend wont sleep with her! The guy still wont put out, huh? a friend asks. The gang then speculates that he must be gay. But Phoebe then rules that out by bringing up a circumstance when she was dancing with him recently. She points out that while they were dancing he became aroused. She knew this because she felt his penis poking into her hip.
Later in the show she can barely contain her happiness when she tells the gang that hey finally made it. (Tyler pg 954-65) The trick she says was that she made it clear to him that she wasnt expecting a commitment just because they had sex. In an extensive study by, Robert Lichter, Linda Lichter, Stanley Rothman and Daniel Amundson found that a sexual act or reference occurred every four minutes on average during a prime time show (Polymorphous). On NBCs Caroline in the City, penis size is a running joke. When a male character asks does size matter? a female responds Give women some credit!
Of course not unless youre having sex. (Impoco) On ABCs Grace Under Fire Grace romises to repay her boyfriend with Mother Natures credit card if he watches her kids (Polymorphous). On NBCs Mad About You a neighbor asks Paul for permission to loosely cup his dogs testicles to prove a point. On Foxs Melrose Place a plastered Jake takes a stranger to his hotel room. He asks her no strings attached, right? (Steinbeck pg 565-573) none but these she replies as she drops her spaghetti straps of her slip. And on NBCs Seinfield a minicrisis erupts because of a shortage of contraceptive sponges.
Because of the circumstance Elaine must interview her date to see if he is sponge worthy. He passes with flying colors. Recently the comedy sitcom star Ellen has came out of the closet by revealing the fact that she is a lesbian. Her weekly sitcom is now based on her being a lesbian. The number of gay/ lesbian/ or bisexual characters on television has increased dramatically since TVs beginning. (See chart below) (http://home. cc. umanitoba. ca/~wyatt/tv-characters. html)
The first gay character appeared in 1970 in the UK Since then many TV shows have had characters appear as being gay (http://home. c. umanitoba. ca/~wyatt/tv-characters. html). One sitcom, which ran rom 1972-1977, had 14 characters appear as being gay on a regular basis (http://home. cc. umanitoba. ca/~wyatt/tv-characters. html). From 1971-1980 21 shows had a total of 55 gay characters (http://home. cc. umanitoba. ca/~wyatt/tv-characters. html). From 1981-1990 45 shows had a total of 93 gay characters (http://home. cc. umanitoba. ca/~wyatt/tv-characters. html). And from 1991-present there have been 66 shows with 138 gay characters making an appearance (http://home. cc. umanitoba. ca/~wyatt/tv-characters. html).
That is a drastic increase from the one show and one gay character appearing between 1961-1970 http://home. cc. umanitoba. ca/~wyatt/tv-characters. html). Some say television is the best sex educator that society can offer. But the message being sent out is to go for it (Tan pg 912-917). On television it is taken for granted that after a few dates you sleep with the person. In a recent report sent out by the Media Research Center it was found that portrayals of premarital sex out numbered sex within marriage by 8 to 1 (Impoco). Furthermore, casual sex was almost always condoned.
In our survey we asked teens and adults a series of questions about sex on television. The questions were Do you think TV has too much sexual content? , Do you think what is portrayed on TV effects your personal decisions? , and Do you think TV events are real and believable and would actually happen in everyday life? (See chart below for results) TV effects personal decisions? Too much sexual content? TV is real and believable? 92% of teens say that TV does not have too much sexual content. 100% of teens say that TV does not effect their personal decisions. 76% of teens say that TV is believable and could actually happen.
Too much sexual content? TV effects personal decisions? TV is real and believable? 68% of adults say that TV has to much sexual content. 72% of adults say that TV does effect their personal decisions. 60% of adults say that TV is believable and could actually happen. In the kite poem the auther says they fled to their young men…. And kissed and kissed,(Merrill pg 1119) they did this against their fathers will. Friends showing on NBC at 8 p. m. have plots loaded with references to casual sex. 61% of Hollywood leaders think TV places too much emphasis on sex, and 92% say TV does a poor job of encouraging abstinence (Impoco).
Melrose Place showing on FOX during the family hour (referred to now as sex hour by the article text). Anyone who watches day time talk shows and listens to the topics that are discussed will find it hard to reject other kinds of behavior that are wrong yet less unreasonable. (Updike pg 898-901) On the Jerry Springer show, a hefty woman with orange hair and a notably missing tooth, named Peaches tells her boyfriend she wants to get physical with another female (Polymorphous). On Ricki Lake, Brenda, with a variety of missing teeth scolds her son-in-law for caring too much about what she does on her own personal time.
She finally gets so disgusted that she bends over and points her rear at his face (Polymorphous). On Sally Jessy Raphael, a 13 year old boy named Rocky wearing lipstick and a red dress tells why he enjoys dressing like a girl while his mother sits nearby and weeps. (Alverez pg 903-910) Miss Raphael defends her show by saying that it is a kind of modern morality play which really encourages wholesome behavior (Polymorphous). The show may not be telling 13 year old boys to wear lipstick and a dress but what it is doing is just as bad or worse. Daytime talkshows raise the nations shock threshold (Polymorphous).
Anyone who watches these shows and listens to topics like the ones listed above or Geraldo Riveras show on a 16 year old girl who is bisexual and needs sex all the time, will find it hard to reject other kinds of behavior. The other things that are still bad but not as bad seem less harmful and more O. K. to do. (Lee pg 968-976) So as you can see sex on television has definitely increased over the years. It is still getting worse and our children will probably be able to say the same thing about our generation, as far as sex on TV goes. This is only one problem between the generations but it is a fairly serious one.