A Step In The Right Direction

   When it comes to making an effort to capture young audiences, none do a better job than music television. Channels like Music Television (MTV) and Black Entertainment Television (BET) are constantly changing in order to appeal to younger generations. Knowing that younger generations are constantly changing fads, attitudes, and styles, it is important for these two networks to keep up with current trends.

  Typically these networks only offer content related to pop culture such as music, popular syndicated television shows, and award shows featuring the latest styles and the hottest artist. Tied into the popular media that is presented through these networks are usually some form of sexual content. But are BET and MTV responsible for the amount of sexual media that is presented to youth? This has been a dilemma that has plagued each network during their existence. Whether MTV or BET is to blame, each network has made efforts to take a stand and present examples of positive sexual health.

Here is a commercial from BET's Rap-It-Up campaign (2007):

 

The TV spots used celebrities and TV personalities to honor 25 different citizens who were leading the fight against AIDS/HIV through protection and awareness. Also, the website http://www.rapituppresents.com/ was created with more information about HIV/AIDS and how to get tested. Their campaign used similar methods to connect with young people by using celebrities in their ads and TV spots. Young people would appear in these ads to create a personal connection with their targeted audience. Such campaigns as BET's Rap-It-Up are not only for show as they can inspire better sexual awareness.

MTV has started a foundation that is dedicated to HIV/AIDS research and prevention. The Staying Alive foundation promotes better choices when it comes to sexual health by stressing the message of condom use and being aware of myths related to sex. The foundation also rewards young people who are running HIV awareness programs in their communities with project grants. To put the icing on the cake, the foundation has even held concerts with celebrities who further stress the importance of sexual health. The efforts of BET and MTV are definitely a step in the right direction but their efforts may be few and far.


   According to studies done by Hust et al (2008) and Delgado and Austin (2007) there are not enough representations of sexual health messages in mass media. Another finding was that when these messages of sexual health do occur, they are humiliating and humorous (Hust et al., 2007). They are often not taken  seriously and they are not always encouraging people get involved. With such a small representation of 1% of media being related to sexual health messages (Hust et al., 2007), this content is rarely seen. But with the help of media powerhouses like MTV and BET, there is still hope for sexual awareness messages to have importance and longevity in the media.

   Striving to be pioneers in the battle against AIDS/HIV is an imperative decision by both networks. Not only do they get the opportunity to reach their targeted audience in young people, they also get to keep these messages relevant for a longer period of time. Offering multiple TV spots for messages of prevention, awareness, assistance for programs, and websites helps these networks fill a void expressed by Hust et al. (2008) and Delgado and Austin(2007) that could make the world a more sexually enlightened society.

Growing-Up Is Awkward.

Just recently, MTV aired a new “coming of age in a not so typical way” themed high schooler-oriented show called Awkward. To give a synopsis of the show thus far, the show follows Jenna, a girl who was unseen to her peers until a rumor went around that she tried to kill herself. Throughout the process of the first season, Jenna ends up hooking-up with Mr. Popular of her school, Matty. Towards the end of the season, she also ends up dating Matty’s best friend, Jake. Upon first viewing this show, it really felt like I was watching just another teen show, like a Degrassi spinoff or something. Upon closer viewing, it struck me that this show deals with sex and all of the problems that come with it a lot more frequently and in more depth than many of the other “teen shows” on the market these days.

An example of sexual health content in Awkward.

It is quite unusual to flip on the television and see a show about high school kids not only talking about sex in an open forum with their peers, but actually having it as well. Not only does this show depict teens having real, in depth conversations about the consequences of sex, it actually has a few examples of pro-sexual health messages weaved organically into the plot. As Hust, Brown and L’Engle (2008) point out in their study on the depiction of sexual health content in popular adolescent media, depictions of real-life sexual health concerns, questions, and topics are often largely unseen. Hust, Brown and L’Engle (2008) also point out three major themes that show up when sexual health content is visible: puberty is humiliating and something to be mocked, boys are obsessed with sex, and girls are the ones responsible for contraception. While Awkward does introduce the topic of sexual health in a fairly believable way, it does also fall back on some of these themes. For example, the first episode of the second season (which you can watch here) opens up with a scene depicting Jenna and her current boyfriend Jake not only engaging in sexual activity, but talking about it to each other, which then segues into Jenna opening up Christmas gifts from her parents. Her dad gives her a box of condoms and says “this is something to remind you of how precious you are to me.” This example completely goes along with the theme found by Hust, Brown and L’Engle’s (2008) study: that girls are responsible for not only their own virtue, but for taking control of using contraceptives when they engage in sexual activity. Another overarching theme of the show is that puberty (or, “growing up”) is somewhat embarrassing or humiliating. The show as a whole details the “awkward” situations that Jenna and her friends go through when dealing with sexual partners, finding out who they are, and what their sexual virtues are. 

Although Awkward falls back on a few problematic themes found in Hust, Brown and L’Engle’s study (2008), I would argue that it is also contradicting a few themes and possibly doing the audience some sort of good at the same time. The other theme discussed, that boys are sex crazed, is somewhat contradicted. In the same episode mentioned before, Jenna and her friends are shown getting ready for a New Year’s Eve party, and Jenna’s friend Tianna, gives her advice on how to dress, saying she should be “sexified” because she would want that kind of attention. Also contradicting this theme is the character of Jake, Jenna’s boyfriend. In a later episode in the season, Jenna discusses with her friends whether or not she is ready to have sex with Jake, and Jake is the one to tell Jenna that she should not feel pressured into having sex with him if she is not ready. Not only does this go against the theme that boys are the ones who are sex-crazed, it also demonstrates a rare example of sexual health content. As Hust, Brown and L’Engle (2008) found, couples in the media actually discussing the consequences or their readiness to have sex is pretty rare. What this episode might demonstrate is the media’s acknowledgement that adolescents are going to have sex, and if they are going to have sex, they might as well be prepared for it. Not only this, but depicting the teen characters being able to discuss sex and relationships with their own peers and parents (Jenna often discusses sex with both her mom and dad), might make the idea of discussing sex with peers instead searching for answers in less credible and flawed sources more palatable. 

This show may be flawed in its nod toward gendered sexual scripts, but it is not all bad. It does sort of challenge a few of these scripts, and depicts teens in a seemingly real scenario being responsible for their sexual health. Compared to the less than 1% or sexual health content found on television (Hust, Brown and L’Engle, 2008), this could be considered a step-up. At the very least, it shows that the media is slightly more willing to depict sexual responsibility in a way that does not stigmatize teens for wanting to have sex, unlike the much more prevalent PSAs that play during the commercial breaks.