by Christopher Kendalls

Created on: September 29, 2008

No, but I don't think that there should be more sex on TV either. When I think of shows in which there is a lot of sex shows like "Sex in the City" or perhaps "Gossip Girl", these were shows that often sold the idea of sex but at the end of the day there was very little sex to be found. There was little that was truly sensationalistic about "Sex in the City" though the romantic entanglements were a lot more interesting.

How are women portrayed on television, how do they see themselves defined by sex within the confines of a relationship? That is the real issue, because women having sex on soap operas, as racy as that is meant to be, or on infamous shows from the nineties like "NYPD Blue" are not really that big of a deal. Back then sex on television was a really, really big deal as it came on the heels of shows form the eighties like "Soap" and "Archie Bunkers Place" that challenged and brought into question the moral fabric of American society.

It's more disturbing to see women portrayed as finding their value and self-worth in their sexuality on music videos or through advertising than it is to see sex on TV. "Desperate Housewives" for example is a sad commentary on women loosing themselves, or finding themselves through, the marriages. The show has sex but it really isn't the point of what the writers are trying to get across. "Alley McBeal" was a hit show about a single woman's narcissism and claustrophobia when it comes to intimacy that set the groundwork for shows like "Sex in the City" in the minds of American audiences.

Yet "Alley McBeal" was far better as a show because it touched on real issues that challenged us to think. When sexuality is used as an instrument to drive home a larger point there shouldn't be any issue as to the need for it to be on television. When it is entertainment in and of itself, like those scenes in reality shows like "Big Brother" or the "Real World" when it could have been conveniently edited out and was merely used in a sensationalistic way we have digressed. "The Real Cancun" was about as low as we had ever sunk, and a good reason why that movie was a dismal failure.

An interesting show about women in the industry is "The Girls Next Door" about Hugh Heffner and his Playboy models. You would think that the show is about sex, given whose in the show but it isn't at all. The most you get is to see the infighting amongst the girls; which one wants to be close to Hugh, which one is trying to get close to him, who is his favorite girl. I watched an episode where Hugh explained that he was going through a blonde phase, and just wanted all blondes around him. As sexist as that seemed the show is an interesting way to market Hugh's magazine and his other ventures such as the website and the cable network channel in a way that is both creative and definitively "non racy".

Do we really learn anything from the show, no, not at all. Then again did we learn anything from the Sports Illustrated videos or the Victoria Secrets fashion shows either? Even "America's Top Model" seems to touch on some interesting issues; last season a plus size model one the competition and this year a trans-gender man is trying to win. It evokes theories as to the reasons that motivate the homosexual we all knew that wanted to be part of a woman's sorority and the role that homosexuals play in women's lives in general. Is this yet another source of undiscovered territory for Hollywood to exploit or is this truly entertainment? There is a lot of sex on TV, but it isn't necessarily what people thought it would have been back in the eighties when the idea of sex being on television could be used as a legitimate argument as to why no one should watch TV.

Learn more about this author, Christopher Kendalls.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.