Sexually Related Content on Television and Adolescents of Color: Media Theory, Physiological Development, and Psychological Impact*

Journal of Negro Education, The, Fall 2003 by Gruber, Enid, Thau, Helaine

As sexual activity has become more common among young people, negative consequences have risen as well. Among U.S. female adolescents aged 15-19, 93 per thousand become pregnant resulting in approximately 52 live births per thousand each year (Henshaw, 2001). The 19% of sexually active adolescents who report four or more lifetime sexual partners (CDC, 1995) are also at greater risk for contracting a sexually transmitted disease (STD), including HIV infection, with African American adolescents disproportionally represented among diagnosed cases (Conway et al., 1993; St. Lawrence et al., 1994). Overall, 25% of sexually active teenagers and 13% of all adolescents between the ages of 13 and 19 become infected with an STD each year, representing 3 million cases or about 25% of all new cases reported annually (Ozer et al., 1998). The available data suggest that while early sexual activity and its health and social consequences are pressing issues in the adolescent age group, African American adolescents are again at greatest risk.

DISCUSSION

In the half-century of television's history, we have seen great technological as well as social change that is often reflected back to us through the medium of television. Changes in sexual mores, issues, and legal rights become the grist of television content, providing insight into popular culture, public opinion, and changing cultural values. Occasionally, television content may even nudge along social change by spotlighting issues and raising public awareness. To examine television's content is to highlight many of the social transitions that have occurred and been disseminated throughout American society. We have attempted to present a brief overview of selected programming, events, and sexual statistics in Table 1 covering the years 1950 through 2000, but make no claim as to its comprehensiveness. It provides a means of comparing trends in television programming and sexual content, selected social events that impacted on. sexual behavior and attitudes in America, and trends in adolescent pregnancy and out of wedlock birthrates.

For instance, 1950s situation comedy brought us I Love Lucy, which depicted a married couple who produced a child yet slept in separate beds. Four decades later, Ellen showed us the evolution of a gay woman's awakening to her sexual orientation and NYPD Blue depicted what may be perceived as tasteful nudity and explicit sexual behavior in prime time. Episodic programs that portrayed the essential American family moved from middle-class, idyllic presentations like Father Knows Best to grittier, blue collar families with realistic problems in All in the Family and Roseanne where endings were not necessarily happy ones. All-White casts and White Anglo-Saxon Protestant values gave way to minority stories in Julia, Chico and the Man, The Cosby Show, and The Oprah Winfrey Show in the afternoon, giving faces and voices to other parts of America. More recently, a shift in target audiences has appeared, moving adolescents from secondary characters in family dramas to lead characters with dominant storylines, (i.e., Beverly Hills 90210, The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and Dawson's Creek), responding to advertisers' desire to appeal to a younger demographic.