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Essay / The role and impact of mass communication on sexuality in television programs
This article focuses on several theoretical concepts of mass communication and their application to sexuality in television programs. Specifically, the literature review will be centered around the following research questions: (1) What is the nature of sexual content in television programs and how often is it included in television programs? (2) How does sexuality in television programs influence the sexual behavior of adolescents who watch the programs? (3) What sexual content does Gossip Girl, a popular teen television series, specifically depict? (4) How can the depiction of adolescent sexual behavior on television shows like Gossip Girl relate to mass communication concepts such as social cognitive (learning) theory, priming effects, super peer theory, parasocial relationships and the identification of wishful thinking? This topic is important because mass communication theory can provide more insight into the concept of the influence of sexual television content on adolescents. In this article, I will analyze the above mass communication theories to explain why there is a relationship between television content and viewer behavior, also applying these theories to the themes and depictions of Gossip Girl. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay In 2006, a 3% increase in television viewing in the United States among adolescents aged 12 to 17 years, the target age group for Gossip Girl, was reported by Nielsen Media Research (Peirce, 2011, p. 1-2). Young people in this age group are “in a crucial phase” of the process of constructing their identity. At the heart of this process is the development of a healthy, values-based understanding of their sexual behavior, for which media products like television serve as "virtual toolboxes of many different possible identities", providing a key source information about social scenarios and norms. for sexual, romantic, and gender-related behaviors (Van Damme, 2010, p. 80). According to media theorist David Buckingham (2003), media (especially television) "are embedded in the textures and routines of everyday life, and they provide many of the 'symbolic resources' that we use to conduct and interpret our relationships and to define our relationships. identities” (p. 5). According to recent systematic content analyses, television programs popular with adolescent audiences frequently feature sexual content (Ortiz & Brooks, 2014, p. 41). The definition of sexual content given by Cope-Farrar and Kunkel, cited by Van Damme, will be used for this article. They define it as including depictions of words or behaviors that involve sexuality in any way, as well as sexual behaviors, which must at least "involve potential or probable sexual intimacy between participants", and depending on the context , passionate kisses and physical flirting. are included (Van Damme, 2010, p. 80). Sexual content on television is becoming more and more explicit. Adolescents, like Gossip Girl characters, are depicted as having sexual contact from a very young age (Ortiz and Brooks, 2014, p. 41). Additionally, at the same time, representations of risk and responsibility regarding sex are extremely rare, and if they are discussed at all, they are described as "transient and emotionally insignificant” (Ortiz & Brooks, 2014, p. 41). In a study of five popular teen television series in the United States (Glee, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill and 90210), conducted by Rebecca Ortiz and Mary Brooks, researchers found that Teen characters on television shows expressed themselves sexually an average of ten times during the seven episodes studied in each program (Ortiz & Brooks, 2014, p. 49). In their study, an extremely notable finding was that one in eight prime-time shows (12%) featured sexual intercourse between characters, a frequency showing how difficult it would be to avoid regular viewing of these depictions ( p.34). Again, not only is the content posted frequently, but it is also exaggerated. A term used to describe sensational depictions of sexuality in media, "hypersexuality", encompasses a range of extreme depictions, from the way a character acts, dresses or speaks, to the sexual act himself (Bindig, 2015, p. 87).Clearly, television is saturated with sexual content. It is particularly interesting to examine the effect of sexual content in television programs on adolescent viewers; according to Nielsen cited in Ortiz and Brooks (2014), since 2009, when Gossip Girl was in the middle of its run, television was the medium that teens were most engaged with (p. 42). According to Strasburger, Jordan, and Donnerstein (2010), shows aimed at adolescents contain more sexual content than those aimed at adults. However, here again, representations of responsibility and the need for contraception are rare (p. 760). For example, in Ortiz and Brooks' (2014) study, none of the 35 episodes (26 hours of content) coded included any manifestation or concern regarding sexually transmitted infections (p. 42). Simultaneously, a higher risk of unplanned pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases was accompanied by a faster progression of sexual activity and "premature coital behavior" among adolescent viewers, in direct association with a high exposure to sexual content in popular media, particularly television (Strasburger, Jordan, & Donnerstein, 2010, p.760). This is largely consistent with adolescents using television as a major source of sexual health information, with considerable influence on their understanding of sexual relationships and social “norms” surrounding sexuality (Ortiz & Brooks, 2014 , p.42). .As noted by Farrar, Kunkel, Biely, Eyal, Fandrich, and Donnerstein (2003), research verifies this influence on young people's attitudes and beliefs regarding sexuality. In one such study, adolescents who had just watched television series full of sexual content "evaluated descriptions of casual sexual encounters less negatively than adolescents who had not watched such programs" (p. 8). It is not difficult to imagine that adolescents easily pick up scripts from television programs that determine the appropriate time to have sex with someone as well as the results of sexual acts (pp. 8-9). In the study by Farrar, Kunkel, Biely, Eyal, Fandrich and Donnerstein, 797 half-hour programs were analyzed from 1997 to 2002. In the 2001-2002 sample (258 programs), sexual patience n 'was observed in any of the scenes. Only 2% of all shows studied in the research depicted both sexual precaution and negative risks/consequences,usually involving the use of condoms (pp. 26-27). Overall, only 9% of shows with sexual content in the 2001-2002 sample included at least one scene depicting sexual risk or responsibility at some point during its duration (p. 29). Therefore, while adolescents readily learn sexual scenarios through television programs, a large minority describe any sort of responsibility or consequences, indicating a significant deficit in positive sex education for adolescents. One of these programs filled with sexual content and severely lacking in representation of risks and consequences. The Consequences of Sex is Gossip Girl on the CW. As Peirce (2011) cites Fitzgerald, in 2007 the television show earned an average rating of 2.5 for teens aged 12-17, making it the highest rated show for this age group. age (p. 2). The series' main characters include Blair Waldorf, Serena van der Woodsen, Nate Archibald, Chuck Bass, Dan Humphrey, and Jenny Humphrey, all teenagers from New York City who attend a private high school. Much of the plot of Gossip Girl centers around the characters' sexual relationships with each other. In each episode, there are elements of hypersexualization as well as frequent objectification of women. A notable event occurs in the seventh episode of the first season, when Blair performs a striptease on stage of a burlesque club that Chuck owns. At one point, Blair takes off her blindfold and throws it at Chuck, "as if it were an invitation to the male gaze" (Bindig, 2015, p. 90). Although this scene could initially be seen as empowering, as Blair took the stage for herself, the objectification in the scene is evident. Once Blair throws her blindfold at him and Chuck stands up to take a closer look at her, the camera zooms in on her body and focuses on certain body parts, meant to be from Chuck's point of view. Her "reward" for this objectification is sexual intimacy with Chuck, which takes place in the back of a limousine shortly thereafter; the direct connection demonstrating that sex is his reward occurs when Chuck whispers “you were amazing up there” just before they start kissing (Bindig, 2015, p. 91). In the first episode of Gossip Girl, in fact, Blair is established as an object that a man can possess, which is evident when Chuck tells Nate to "make a deal with Blair because you also have the right to hit on this ass” (Ziegesar and Buckly, 2007). Beyond the objectification that runs rampant throughout its six seasons, Gossip Girl is also hypersexualized in its reinforcement of “pornographic culture.” Bindig (2015) discusses this, explaining how Gossip Girl regularly incorporates themes of pornography, depicting “strip clubs, prostitutes, threesomes, sexual fetishes, and sex parties” (p. 92). Gossip Girl characters routinely engage in it, which presents pornographic culture as the norm to viewers. In the second season, Nate continually sleeps with a married woman named Catherine during the summer, which is portrayed in a very hypersexualized manner. When their relationship is first introduced to viewers, they are shown being intimately engaging before falling into Catherine's bed. After having sex, Catherine hears the sound of a car and it is revealed to viewers that her husband came home early, meaning Nate had to (dramatically) jump out the window to go unnoticed. Their affair ends up continuing into the fall, and when Nate has financial difficulties, Catherine offers him money in exchange for continuing their relationship. Bindig quotes thecommodification of sex, as in Nate's case, and eroticization of inequality, as inherent problems. with pornography; the goal is not to demonize sexual expression (p. 92). It's also worth noting that Nate's situation is rare, in that it is the only major example of the commodification of sex where the woman pays the man. In all the other episodes of the many in which he is featured, it is the men who pay the women. This happens in a glamorous way; women paid for sex are generally upper class, a representation that "diminishes the real class gap between financially unstable women forced to sell their bodies and financially well-off men who can afford to pay for sex » (Bindig, 2015, p.93). Throughout Gossip Girl, massive sex parties, or gentlemen's clubs, are held in ornate mansions with women employed to be sexually available to men. The women are shown serving them food or drinks while wearing elaborate and clearly expensive lingerie, making sex work even more glamorous. Another example of the pornification of culture in Gossip Girl are the threesomes that occur, all between one man and two women. An example occurs between Dan, his girlfriend Olivia, and Olivia's roommate/Dan's best friend Vanessa in season three. As Bindig (2015) describes, the fact that this phenomenon, like all other references to threesomes, occurs between one man and two women, exploits the situation to exploit female sexuality. Rather than two men focusing their sexual attention on women, which would significantly alter roles, two women serve the man simultaneously, while he uses the male gaze for his own "voyeuristic pleasure" (p. 94). , but the most pervasive idea depicted in Gossip Girl's sexual content is the casual nature of almost all sexual depictions. Sexual activity with strangers, friends or acquaintances is considered recreational and presents sex as "a fun, carefree activity of little importance", carried out without the involvement of feelings (Peirce, 2011, p. 3) . Peirce (2011) also notes that storyline recaps of past episodes that are broadcast before the start of a new episode include frequent scenes of sexual activity. These "hooks" are used to persuade viewers to continue watching, and in an effort to keep ratings high among teen viewers, the sexual content of popular programs like Gossip Girl will remain (pp. 4-5). This gives adolescent viewers of Gossip Girl the idea that it is normal and expected in society to be very sexually active at their age, particularly due to the casual sex relationships frequently depicted (Van Damme, 2010, p. 88) . To further evaluate the effects of Gossip Girl on adolescents, several mass communication theories will be used to relate the content to the audience. It has already been established that the amount and nature of sexual content presented in television programs affects the behavior of adolescent viewers, but an analysis of these communication theories will provide a better understanding of why the actual relationship between content and viewer exists. and how it is applied. to Gossip Girl. Social cognitive theory is defined by Baran and Davis (2015) as a “theory of learning through interaction with the environment that involves reciprocal causation of behavior, personal factors, and environmental events” (p. 166). Baran and Davis also explain that itdeveloped from a psychological focus on the impact of mass media on people, or more particularly on children. Communication theorists then began to study the increase in real-world violence, which can be compared to the sexual behavior discussed in this article, and the possible influence of television on this increase, according to Baran and Davis ( p.166). When certain behaviors are depicted on television, social cognitive theory suggests that the behavior will subsequently be followed by viewers, unless negative sanctions are imposed on the behavior depicted at the same time. Contemporary social cognitive theory has come to be known as social learning theory, which explains that media characters are able to influence behavior "simply by being depicted on screen." The audience member does not need to be reinforced or rewarded for displaying the modeled behavior” (Baran and Davis, 2015, p. 171). So, even without incentives to engage in the sexual behavior depicted on television, adolescents can still be affected simply by constant exposure to that behavior. Applying this theory to Gossip Girl, a teenage viewer is exposed to the characters' continued engagement in casual sex with no consequences. Alongside casual sex, objectification, hypersexuality, and a pornographic view of sexuality will be seen as a social norm for adolescent viewers, influencing their future behavior. Social learning theory, as applied to sexuality on television, is supported by a study by Collins, Elliott, Berry, Kanouse, Kunkel, Hunter, and Miu (2004), which found that substantial exposure to Television sexual depictions “were strongly linked to adolescent behaviors.” initiation of sexual intercourse or progression to more advanced sexual activities (such as "kissing" or oral sex) outside of sexual intercourse over the following year", and that adolescents who were exposed to the most sexual content were twice as likely to have sex within a year of the study as those exposed to the smallest amount (p. 2). As can be inferred, constant exposure to sexual depictions in Gossip Girl can easily influence the sexual behavior of adolescent viewers, a relationship that can be considered through social learning theory. Another communication theory that can be applied to the sexual content of Gossip Girl and its effects on adolescent viewers is the idea of priming effects. According to Baran and Davis (2015), priming effects are “the idea that presentations in media increase the likelihood that people will develop similar thoughts about these things in the real world” (p. 175). This notion is similar to that of social learning theory, but it accounts for the influence of television content on viewers' perspectives on both their own sexuality and the sexuality of society at large. Perspectives, in turn, can influence behavior. In this school of thought, the notion of priming effects essentially provides more detail than social learning behavior. Rather than simply theorizing that a high level of exposure will result in behavior, it connects exposure to the idea of developing similar thoughts about what is depicted in the real world, which has the ability to influence behavior . If a teenage viewer, for example, watches the aforementioned episode of Gossip Girl in which Blair makes a..