Broadcast television by far depicts sex in the context of marriage as either “nonexistent or burdensome” while portraying adultery and premarital sex as acceptable and desirable, a new study by the Parents Television Council says.
“Today’s primetime television programming is not merely indifferent to the institution of marriage and the stabilizing role it places in our society. It seems to be actively seeking to undermine marriage by consistently painting it in a negative light,” PTC said in the Aug. 5 report titled “Happily Never After: How Hollywood Favors Adultery and Promiscuity Over Marital Intimacy on Prime Time Broadcast Television.”
Verbal references to non-marital sex “outnumbered references to marital sex by a ratio of nearly 3 to 1,” PTC said, and scenes “depicting or implying sex between non-married partners” outnumbered similar scenes between married couples by nearly 4 to 1.
“Even more troubling than the marginalization of marriage and glorification of non-marital sex on television is TV’s recent obsession with sexual expression,” Tim Winters, president of PTC, said. “Children and teens are now exposed to a host of sexual behaviors that less than a generation ago would have been considered off limits for broadcast television.
“Behaviors that were once seen as fringe, immoral or socially destructive have been given the stamp of approval by the television industry. And recent studies show that children are influenced by those messages,” Winters added. “Throughout much of the history of broadcast television, the networks adhered to a voluntary code of conduct which stipulated that respect should be maintained for the sanctity of marriage and the value of the home. Our report finds that not only are the boundaries no longer respected – they have been obliterated.”
The watchdog group examined all scripted primetime entertainment programs which appeared on the major networks – ABC, CBS, Fox, NBC and the CW – during four weeks last September and October for a total of more than 200 programming hours. Broadcasts of movies, news, sports, reality shows and game shows were not included in the analysis, PTC noted.
The “family hour” – the time slot between 8 p.m. and 9 p.m. Eastern, set aside by the industry for the largest audience of children – contained the highest frequency of references to non-married sex. PTC found that family-hour references to non-marital sex outnumbered references to sex in marriage by a ratio of 3.9 to 1. By comparison, during the following hour the references to non-marital versus marital sex averaged 2.5 to 1.
Among all networks, ABC had the most references to marital sex, but “many of the references were negative,” the study revealed. References to non-marital sex, though, were “almost universally positive or neutral.”
“In the 1950s and ’60s, it used to be that you would never see married couples in bed together,” Winters said, according to The Washington Times. “… You may have noticed that when you turn the television on now you still never see married couples in bed together, but for entirely different reasons. You’ll see teenagers in bed with prostitutes, men in bed with their mistresses and teachers in bed with their students.”
In light of the study, he said broadcasters must exercise greater responsibility when handling sexual situations during primetime hours.
“The American people need to hold the networks and their local broadcast affiliates accountable for pushing questionable content into their homes over the publicly owned broadcast airwaves,” Winters said. “While the Supreme Court awaits its next legal review of indecency on television, now is the time for families to raise their collective voice against the tide of graphic sexual content invading their homes.”