Conservatives want MORE SEX on TV
Yep, you read that right, conservatives are calling for more sex on TV - more *married* sex, that is.
In a study out this month called Happily Never After: How Hollywood Favors Adultery and Promiscuity Over Marital Intimacy on Prime Time Broadcast Television, the Parents Television Council states that “broadcast networks depict sex in the context of marriage as either nonexistent or burdensome.”
I have noticed this myself, though I watch very little television. What I have seen, however, is that sitcoms like “Everybody Loves Raymond” or “King of Queens” consistently show married sex as a chore or as a tool for manipulation. I am hard-pressed to think of more than two or three happily married TV couples that actually enjoy a healthy sexual relationship.
I disagree, however, with the PTC’s assertion that it constitutes a deliberate Hollywood conspiracy to “undermine marriage by consistently showing it in a negative manner.” Instead I think it reflects
- the difficulty people have in being honest about what healthy sexuality looks like
- the reality that a lot of marriages are suffering from sexual boredom and neglect
- that it is easier to laugh at people’s misfortune (ie. a “frigid” wife) than to honestly examine the challenge in keeping monogamy exciting and enjoyable
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Comments
You can come up with 2 or 3 couples? I can only think of one - The Huxtables (the Cosby Show) and they aren’t even on the air anymore - except for re-runs.
Posted by: abby | August 16th, 2008 23:54
Hal and Lois from Malcolm in the Middle, Steven (or Stephen?) and Elise from Family Ties. Unfortunately, these are no longer on the air.
I’m so glad you brought this topic up - and that you specifically mentioned Everybody Loves Raymond. It is absolutely baffling to me how many people I know and love who watch it religiously and find it to be a hilarious and accurate representation of marriage. While I agree that the writing is good and the characters are entertaining, I can’t watch an episode without my heart breaking over the idea that people so dear to me relate to such a hateful picture of marriage. The husband is portrayed as and absolute idiot (a point which is hammered home by his wife frequently to the great amusement of the studio audience), and a desparate sex-starved animal. The wife is portrayed as a smarter-than-everyone woman of today who is being crushed under the pressure of such a moronic husband and her even more moronic in-laws. Sex is used as a form of reward or punishment, given or recalled on a whim. If this is a reflection of most or even many marriages today, there is something tragically wrong. Even more tragic is the fact that married people can laugh at it.
Posted by: jessica | September 2nd, 2008 19:44