Media Depictions of Relationships

Gender Role-Related Behaviors

Television often portrays males and females in stereotyped traditional gender roles. Females are portrayed as youthful and constitute more than half of 18- to 34-year-old prime-time characters, whereas the reverse is true for 35- to 49-year-olds. Marital and parental status is more easily identifiable for female characters. When parental status is known, females are twice as likely to be care-givers. Females are more likely than males to be unemployed. For those who are employed, males have more occupational power and higher salaries. Children's programming often portrays males and females in even more stereotyped roles than prime-time programming does.

Romantic relationships in romance novels generally depict two strong-willed people who initially do not like each other but are nonetheless attracted to [Page 1082]each other. The couples eventually realize their passion for each other (sometimes violently), and the novels often result in a happily-ever-after ending.

In films intended for children, familial relationships are portrayed as a strong priority for their members. Families are generally diverse but the diversity is often simplified. The importance of the paternal role is elevated, whereas the maternal role is marginalized. Also, relationships are created by “love at first sight,” are easily maintained, and are often characterized by gender-based power differentials.

Sexual Attitudes and Behaviors

Within the recent phenomenon of reality dating programs, participants often espouse attitudes such as, “Dating is a game,” “Women are sex objects,” and “Men are sex driven and have trouble being faithful.” Frequent viewers of these shows endorse these attitudes personally, but they do not engage more frequently in the behaviors that are portrayed on the shows.

Sexual relationships are frequently portrayed on television, and sexual content has increased throughout the past decade, appearing in almost three-quarters of entertainment programs. The frequency of sexual relations between unmarried couples on television has increased since the late 1990s with just over half occurring between established partners who are in an ongoing relationship. A third of sexual relationships occur between people who have just met, or who have met before but are not in a committed relationship. Depictions of nontra-ditional sexual relationships, such as homosexual relationships, have also increased on television.

Sexual risk and responsibility messages also increased in programs that feature sexual content. About a quarter of programs depicting intercourse mention sexual risks and responsibility, with about a third of those scenes featuring risk and responsibility as the principal focus of a scene.

Across several film genres, married couples represent less than a fifth of total sexual behavior with unmarried couples composing the majority. The most common sexual behavior among husbands and wives is passionate kissing. Implied intercourse is the most common sexual behavior among unmarried partners.

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