Fully Clothed to Full Frontal Women s Sexuality on

Fully Clothed to Full Frontal Women’s Sexuality on Television By Alden Kean

Brief Overview of Video Layout § Title: 2 -3 seconds § Introduction: (sex mash up from TV clips) 1 -2 min § History of Sex on Television: 3 -4 min § The Power of Female Sexuality: 3 -4 min § Media Objectifies Women: 3 -4 min § Conclusion: 1 -2 min

Opening Scene § Sex scene from the TV series “Skins” § Audio: “How naked are we gonna get” music playing in the background § About 30 seconds § Slowly fade into black screen with title (music still playing): 2 -3 seconds

My Voice talking over various scenes of teen dramas § In the beginning years of television, there were only a few broadcast shows available for viewers. However, as the television slowly became a household staple, a wide range of television genres came with it. A variety of dramas and sitcoms were commonly broadcasted, but it was not until much later that a new category, ‘Teen dramas, ’ was created. This genre displays the same dramatic elements as your typical drama series but, in addition, the storyline focuses on teenage characters.

My Voice talking over a picture advertisement for ‘Degrassi’…. § In 1987, the first teen drama was created called Degrassi Junior High and also Degrassi High. The show displayed a group of teenage students and their daily struggles through high school.

Then transitioning to clips from ‘Beverly Hills 90210’(my voice still talking over)…. § The show gathered many viewers but it was not until the series Beverly Hills 90210 that a teen drama became a real hit. § (3 second clip of Beverly Hills 90210 Intro) § With a glamorous cast set in the town of Beverly Hills, California, viewers couldn’t get enough. The show became instantly popular and aired until the year 2000; still the longest aired teen drama in history.

My voice talking over this…. § The portrayals of young adults in these types of shows still generate today and more develop each year. However, as the centuries have progressed, the discourse around sexuality within teen dramas has changed. Question mark will be filled in with another teen drama----> (Each of these pictures fading in one by one)

My Voice over various sex scenes from teen dramas § Today, contemporary U. S. teen dramas demonstrate a higher cultural acceptance of casual sex than earlier television programming. Due to this new tolerance of explicit sexual content in popular television, women are seen as both empowering and objectified objects. This third wave feminist approach to mediated female sexuality gives women the opportunity to embrace the act of premarital sex while feeling empowered. However, while sexual freedom on television may provide the power of female sexuality, we must also keep in mind media’s tendency to degrade women.

My Voice saying these quotes…. § According to researchers Kunkel, Cope and Colvin, “sexually related talk and behavior occurs from eight to ten times per hour in prime-time programming” (as cited in Brown, Steele, & Walsh-Childers 60). § (Doesn’t appear on screen just my voice: With that much sexual content being broadcasted, one is destine to be influenced in one way or another. § Building off of her own work, anthropologist Margaret Mead believes, “social scientists recast sexuality as a subject embedded in social structure and cultural forms” (as cited in Emilio & Freedman xii).

(Still with my voice) § Taking a look through television’s sexual history, it is hard to ignore the abundance of popular programs that have been questioned for skeptical dialogue or sexual behavior. §In 1947, the show Mary Kay and Johnny was the first series ever to show a couple sharing a bed together as well as a pregnancy.

§ http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=P 27 o. Uog 2 Bp M (Clip with sound from 3: 06 -3: 20) § (Clip continues to play with my voice talking over…. ) § In the classic sitcom, I Love Lucy, the couple on the show, Lucy and Ricky, weren’t allowed to use the word ‘pregnancy. ’During one of their episodes in 1952, Lucy was shown to be pregnant yet the studio felt it too inappropriate to say the word aloud.

(My Voice…. ) § (Clip from ‘I Dream of Jeannie) § Another TV series that stirred the pot was I Dream of Jeannie. The 1960’s sitcom portrayed the main character, Barbara Eden, in a bikini top that was considered quite risky for its time. § (Clip from ‘Gilligan’s Island’: http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=obk 8 i. F 94 Se. Q) § Gilligan’s Island also got questioned about their costume choices. In the show, Ginger, the movie star, and Mary Ann, the sweet country girl, are two out the six members who’ve become stranded on an island after only a three hour boat cruise. Mary Ann’s outfit reveals her mid drift while Ginger’s dress shows a substantial amount of cleavage. Before Gilligan’s Island, a woman’s stomach and cleavage were never allowed together on the same screen.

(My Voice…. ) § (Clip of from ‘Charlie’s Angles’: 0: 33 -0: 54) http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=GJC_Ggjl. BKw& feature=related § In 1973, PBS aired the very first international female nipple on the show Steam. Bath. Another popular show in the 70’s was Charlie’s Angels or “jiggle TV. ” This show portrayed three sexy women whose job was to fight crime. Some referred to this series as a “family style porno” or a “mild erotic fantasy that appeals equally to men and women” (TIME, 1976 Cover Story).

(My Voice…. ) § (Clip of funny scene from ‘NYPD Blue’ of little boy walking in on naked woman in the shower) § http: //www. youtube. com/verify_age? next_url=http%3 A//w ww. youtube. com/watch%3 Fv%3 Dq. V 9 x. FSDOz 7 o § In 1991, L. A. Law broadcasted the first girl on girl kiss between Amanda Donohoe, or C. J. the bisexual lawyer, and her female coworker. NYPD Blue, a Manhattan police drama, was rejected by fifty ABC affiliates because of the drama’s ‘steamy sex scenes. ’ On January 4 th, the court gave an FCC fine to ABC for a shot on an episode that had aired eight years before. This series definitely danced around authority during its twelve year run.

My voice…. (Clip from ‘Sex in the City’: 0: 18 -0: 37) http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=We. XDKn. W 4 AXQ&featu re=related § As for more recent episodes, Sex in the City was the first to showcase women being just as sexual as men. Audio from clip…. (Quick clip of Samantha: 0: 00 -0: 07) http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=Op. UVXl. Gqk. SM My voice…. (Clip of Samantha continues) § One of the main characters, Samantha, plays a blonde New Yorker who is constantly looking for sexual partners.

My Voice…. § Gossip Girl is another show that tests the waters. This CW drama is about a group of privileged, New York City prepschool students living on the Upper East Side. The show provides scenes involving threesomes and other scandalous acts.

(My Voice…. ) § As a way to promote the show, the series proclaimed to be “Every parents nightmare. ”

My voice…. § (Clip from ‘Skins’ trailer) http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=gy. KDey. Gd 77 A § Lastly, we come to the most recent television series, Skins. This too is a drama that involves a group of high school students who like to party and do drugs every night. Even after the first premiere a few months ago, the Parent’s Television council has already deemed it “the most dangerous program that has ever been foisted on our children. ” Blue Mountain State producer Brian Robins states, “I’d be way too embarrassed to sit in a room with my mother watching it” (Strauss 1). What started as not sleeping on the same mattress has now moved towards threesomes and full frontals.

Title: The Power of Female Sexuality § Black screen with faded in section title § Audio: Music

Regular audio…. § (Clip from scene in ‘American Pie’ where Michelle is taking control in the bedroom) My voice…. (Clip contines) When it comes to women’s sexuality there are many myths and misrepresentations.

§ Some common myths displayed in the book Abnormal Psychology: An Integrative Approach are…. 1) “You are frigid if you don’t like more exotic forms of sex, ” 2) “Female women don’t initiate sex or become wild and unrestrained during sex, ” and the most notorious, 3) “Men like sex more than women” (Barlow & Durand 368). These quotes in TV---->

(My voice) § The last statement, “Men like sex more than women, ” is a prominent myth that has circulated among our society. When in reality, women like sex equally, if not more so, than men. A study recorded in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology concludes… (Quotes appear in TV) § “When women are presented with proposers who are equivalent in terms of safety and sexual prowess, they will be equally likely as men to engage in casual sex” (Conley 1). § Many women defied the gender stereotypes that women should be more chaste than men and not sleep around as much” (Landau 1). ---->

Interview § Alik Alfus (CMC student) talks about how men and women are meant to act a certain way in society.

A graph revealing the results from this study…. (My voice…. ) § In our standard, stereotypical gender roles in society, men are meant to be dominant while women are meant to be passive. Tom Tiegs, a scholar at UF and Perrin, conducted a survey of 208 women and 131 men. Each individual was given numerous questions that they had to rank on a scale from disagree, to strongly agree. As a result, the men gave a higher score to “I should have sex with as many people as possible, ” while the women answered higher to the statement, “I should wait longer and not engage in premarital sex. ” This shows that although it is a proven fact that men and women enjoy sex equally, in our society women are not expected to engage in as much sex as men. “To reveal sexual knowledge and express physical sexual desires (as opposed to wanting a relationship with a boyfriend) threatens a girl’s reputation” (Holland, Ramazanoglu, Sharpe & Thomson 24).

Clip of young women walking around a college campus My voice…. § Women are taught to construct a disembodied sexuality. Due to the restrictions placed on female sexuality within the media, we can sympathize with a woman’s hesitation of being inappropriate. “This lack of explicit language is connected to the social pressures on young women to keep their sexual knowledge and sexual prowess concealed in order to be decent, just as all evidence of menstruation must be completely hidden, even by young girls” (Holland, Ramazanoglu, Sharpe & Thomson 24). In simple terms, female sexual pleasure is scary.

Clip from the documentary, This Film Is Not Yet Rated (2006) § Female director discussing how her film was given an NC-17 by the MPAA due to a scene in the movie where her a woman’s orgasm was too long.

My voice…. (Clip for One Tree Hill of woman talking control during sex…. ) http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=r. DTXPBTi 09 w § One of the main reasons for this was because the woman’s orgasm in one of her sex scenes was too long. By allowing scenes like this in movies and on television it empowers women by showing them as sexual beings. With greater acceptance to casual sex on television also comes female control towards breaking the silence. “Sex-positive feminism argues that women in particular have been sexually constrained and punished for far too long and that they are sexually adventurous beings, with an equal right to explore their sexuality and pursue their desire” (Roach 112).

Title: Media Objectifies Women § Black screen with fade in title § Audio: Music § 2 seconds

My voice…. (Clip from the film ‘Dreamworlds’…. ) http: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=0 KZty 9 Le. Ax. E&feature=related § Unlike powerful representations of female sexuality on television, women can also be on the receiving end of the gaze. As a result, they are often looked at, objectified and sexualized by a male protagonist. In these instances, the female has regulated the role of ‘eye candy. ’ In the article Visual Pleasure and Narrative by Laura Mulvey, she states that “the women’s visual presence (in narrative film) tends to work against the development of a story line, to freeze the flow at action in moments of erotic contemplation” (Mulvey 11). While the male character is allowed to live out his fantasy, the woman is left in the background with a strict sexual purpose. Woman like this are meant to look sexually appealing while, at the same time, become exposed through the voyeurism of the camera lens.

Interview § Dr. Tillmann § Hoping to hear her views on female objectification

Clip from The Social Network § While there may be sexual content or casual sex, the terms of sexuality are in control of and through the eyes of a dominant male figure. An example of female objectification would be best explained through a scene in the academy award-winning movie The Social Network. During a night of drinking and partying at a fraternity house, the women in the room take off their clothes and perform a strip tease dance. While this is taking place, the male figures in the room smile as they sit back and watch the performance. Through this scene, the female representation is extremely objectified. Not only are the women dancing for a fraternity house but the men are also clearly taking advantage of the female’s drunken state. The women in the room are there strictly for male entertainment.

CONCLUSION: My Voice…. (Various clips of sex scenes from TV dramas…. both empowering and objectifying) § Media has come a long way since the turn of the century. With the portrayal of casual sex in U. S. teen dramas becoming more acceptable and less regulated, women can feel more comfortable expressing their sexuality. By including a more expressive sexual context, female figures are able to move in a positive direction towards overcoming sexual myths. However, while the power of female sexuality in today’s media has come a long way, we must also understand that media still allows women to be shown sexually.

§ Credits § Works Cited § Honor Code

Music Options: § “Sex on the Beach”- Venga Boys § “How Naked are we Gonna get”-The Blow § “Sex is on Fire”-Kings of Leon § “You Sexy Thing”-Barry White