Los Angeles, Calif., Aug 9, 2008 / 10:41 am
A study of broadcast network television prime time shows reports that depictions of or references to marital sex are either non-existent or negative, while depictions of or references to non-marital sex and deviant sex acts are shown or alluded to with “alarming frequency.” The study also finds that the V-chip ratings parents use to block unacceptable programs are significantly inaccurate and inconsistently applied.
According to a Parents Television Council (PTC) study called “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 sex in the context of marriage by a ratio of nearly 3 to 1. Scenes depicting or implying sexual relations between non-married couples outnumbered such scenes between married couples by nearly 4 to 1, LifeSiteNews reports.
References to adultery outnumbered references to marital sex 2 to 1 while “Family Hour,” the time slot with the largest audience of young viewers, contained the highest ratio of non-marital to marital sex, at a rate of 3.9 to 1.
“These study results suggest that many in Hollywood are actively seeking to undermine marriage by consistently showing it in a negative manner,” said PTC President Tim Winter. “Even more troubling than the marginalization of marriage and glorification of non-marital sex on television is TV's recent obsession with outré (outrageous) sexual expression.”