Sunday, November 4, 2007
  Sex?...or Sex? Which is "Better?"
My boyfriend cannot stand Sex and the City; he absolutely is repulsed by the show. He believes the show is "too slutty," "that all the girls do is run around having sex or talking about having sex," and "that it is just wrong." My boyfriend is an old-fashion, Southern gentlemen so I can understand to some degree how exposure to such openly sexual women would trouble him.

However, while my boyfriend hates Sex and the City, he loves Nip/Tuck. He recently rented all the previous seasons so he could watch each episode again in preparation for the upcoming season. Personally, I love both shows, so naturally I was puzzled by the fact that he was bothered by one, but not the other. "Why do you have a problem with the sexual content of Sex and the City, but not Nip/Tuck?" I asked him the other day. He kind of fubbled with his response, but ultimately settled on something about how Nip/Tuck only has one man being extremely sexual and it is not the entire focus of the show while Sex and the City explores the sexual escapades of four women and it is all the show is about.

I can mildly see his point of view, but not really. However, I do find it fascinating to hear how people rationalize one form of sexual content over another and what they think makes one form more acceptable than another. I think there is often a double standard and it is viewed more acceptable for men rather than women to be depicted as sexual in the media and in life.
 
Comments:
Stephanie, that is so true! It's amazing how people justify their "sexual preferences." My mom loves to watch her novelas (they are Spanish soap operas) and I swear they are a lot sexier than American soap operas. But she says the story lines are better. hmmm... whatever!
 
I think the problem your boyfriend has is not about the quantity of characters with open sexual agressiveness, but the gender of the characters. It is socially acceptable for a man to sleep around, but a woman doing the same, not so much....
 
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This blog is a companion piece to CCJN4394:Media Effects taught by Dr. J. Richard Stevens at Southern Methodist University.

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