From Sex to Sexuality: Exposing the Heterosexual Script on Primetime Network Television

Although it is widely recognized that sexual content pervades television, research rarely examines how television's sexual messages are gendered and occur in a relational context. This study describes the development and implementation of a new coding scheme to evaluate sexual content from a feminist perspective. Merging scripting theory (Simon and Gagnon, 1986 Simon , W. , & Gagnon , J. H. ( 1986 ). Sexual scripts Permanence and change . Archives of Sexual Behavior , 15 , 97 – 120 .Crossref, PubMed, Web of Science ® , Google Scholar) with the theory of compulsory heterosexuality (Rich, 1980 Rich , A. ( 1980 ). Compulsory heterosexuality and lesbian existence . Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society , 5 , 631 – 660 .Crossref, Web of Science ® , Google Scholar), we explicate a heteronormative and dominant sexual script, the Heterosexual Script, and assessed its presence in the 25 primetime television programs viewed most frequently by adolescents. Our codes captured depictions of boys/men and girls/women thinking, feeling, and behaving in relational and sexual encounters in ways that sustain power inequalities between men and women. Male characters most frequently enacted the Heterosexual Script by actively and aggressively pursuing sex. Less frequently but still at high rates were depictions of female characters willingly objectifying themselves and being judged by their sexual conduct.