(Person) Percentage - Sabanci University Research Database

The Asian Media & Mass Communication Conference 2010 Osaka, Japan
partner using the sex protection tools. From a sexual socialization perspective, this is clearly a
meaningful type of portrayal, particularly for adolescents—to promote a healthy sex life style.
Sexual Content: Educating While Entertaining
The findings from this study are an indicator that reflects the current situation that shape viewing
patterns among the Malaysian audience. We are against any media content that portray the
explicitness of obscenity. However, ratings are high for TV series such as Grey’s Anatomy,
which are preferred by its targeted audience regardless of age, gender, belief, and lifestyle. This
phenomenon had varied the audiences’ acceptance, expectation and interpretation towards such
TV content. As they might interpret those visuals and dialogues differently, they also might have
the tendency to imitate the characters’ attitudes and behaviors. Somehow or rather, it will
contribute to social illnesses such as rape, abortion, Sexual Transmitted Diseases (STD)
infections or drug abuse. Perhaps this is the time where the Malaysian government needs to be
proactive in dealing with this issue. When people watch television, it intends to be mainly
descriptive of behavior and attitudes since it does not quite permit us to avoid an occasional
attempt at partial explanation. Education has something to do with the shaping of attitudes
toward television. The changes in life style involved in aging would seem to influence some
perceptions of the medium (Bower, 1973). Audiences as viewers are exposed to obscenity values
with the ability to choose their preferred media content. The information they received from
specific medium will be interpreted according to their norms, culture and belief. To say no to
obscenity is wise and noble, but to prevent it is even better. Thus, this study is aimed to answer
questions below:
RQ1 : How is sexual conversation being portrayed in the Grey’s Anatomy television
series?
RQ2 : How is sexual behavior on the Grey’s Anatomy television series portrayed?
RQ3 : How the safe sex messages are being portrayed on the Grey’s Anatomy episodes?
In justifying the obscenity elements in Grey’s Anatomy, the research had replicated partial
components from a previous research, a study done by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation
called ‘Sex on TV4, 2005’. A group of researchers from the University of Arizona –Dale
Kunkel, PH.D., Keren Eyal, PH.D., Keli Finnerty, Erica Biely, and Edward Donnerstein, PH.D.,
were the enthusiasts who dedicated their efforts to study the sexual portrayal and behaviors in the
Sex on TV4, 2005 research (Kunkel et al., 2005). The partial components which were replicated
those variables are such as—Talk About Sex (Talk about Own/Others Sexual Interest, Talk
About Sexual Intercourse Already Occurred, Talk Toward Sex), Sexual Behaviors (Physical
Flirting, Passionate Kissing, Intimate Touching, Sexual Intercourse Strongly Implied, Sexual
Intercourse Depicted, Oral Sex), Safer Sex Messages (Depiction of Risks/ Negative
Consequences, Sexual Precaution, Sexual Patience).
Lowry, Love, and Kirby (1981) whose content analysis of daytime soap operas counted 6.58 sex
acts per hour and twice as many characters engaging in intercourse outside of marriage as within
it, expressed concern that a ‘steady viewing diet of role models who engage in fornication and
adultery may influence or cultivate viewers’ attitudes and values concerning what is ‘normal’
and ‘proper’ in society” (p.96). Similarly, the results of another content analysis of soap operas
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