Parents Television Council study: TV has more depictions/plots about violence against women!

[alp227]

From The New York Times yesterday:

Study: More TV Violence Against Women
by Edward Wyatt

The Parents Television Council, an advocacy group, reported on Wednesday that the portrayal of violence against women and teenage girls on prime-time broadcast television shows had increased at a faster rate than overall violence on television. But the report also showed that on broadcast television, violence against women is still relatively rare, accounting for about 11 percent of all the violent acts portrayed in prime time. The study examined violence on scripted shows broadcast on the four major networks during prime time in February and May of 2004 and 2009. The study found that 195 of the 3,840 depictions of violence broadcast in 2004, or about 5 percent, involved female victims, while in 2009 they accounted for 429 of 3,929 acts, or about 11 percent. The study found that programs on CBS accounted for about 40 percent of the depictions of violence, while Fox and NBC each accounted for about 25 percent and ABC for less than 10 percent.

CBC reported:

In 2004, PTC counted 195 violent acts against women — including beating, threats, shooting, rape, stabbing and torture. It noted that the figure increased to 429 violent acts this year. Shows cited as examples include Desperate Housewives, Heroes, Prison Break, Medium, C.S.I. and CSI: Miami.

The report also singled out Fox "for using violence against women as a punchline in its comedies — in particular Family Guy and American Dad."

"We are calling on television producers and network executives, members of the advertising community, elected representatives and appointed government officials, and most importantly, the viewing public, to stand up against this disturbing trend," PTC president Tim Winter said in a statement.

"We must take the utmost care not to normalize violent behaviour."

You can read the study here.

Lisa de Moraes, the Washington Post TV critic, finds some holes in this study as she has always found with PTC.

Yes, once again, cable TV got the PTC Pass because, its president, Tim Winter, says, the council doesn't have the resources to monitor all those cable shows.

An observant Associated Press reporter on the call noted that, based on PTC's statistics, the "overwhelming majority of violent acts depicted on prime-time broadcast TV are not against women." And, anyway, isn't half of the population of this country female?

The PTC report brings us no closer to understanding the situation. In Feburary 2004, 2.9 million children ages 2 to 11 watched those four broadcast networks that PTC whomped on in this study. Meanwhile more than 5 million children watched prime-time cable TV. And, in May 2009, 1.5 million children watched ABC, CBS, NBC and Fox in prime time, while more than 7 million children chose cable programming instead.

De Moraes also, for the sake of balance and objective journalism, quoted PTC president Tim Winter, a self-styled liberal Democrat. Winter pointed out the recent Richmond, CA gang rape case involving a 15-year-old girl who left her high school homecoming dance early. Then:

"The nation is gripped in a culture of violence. . . . A wave of media violence is hitting the public like a tsunami."

Winter said he was speaking "out of grave concern for what is being impressed upon a whole generation of American children," and suggested that depiction of crimes against women will have a "devastating effect" on children who learn behavior watching TV.

[seabeyond]

1. my kids never watch prime time tv. have never had interest. they are older and still

dont.

IF the tv is on, it is history channel, discovery (is that the one with myth buster) and that is about it.

takes care of that.

[AnneD]

2. I'm shocked......

:sarcasm: from the Middle ages on down-crimes and punishments against women have been disproportionate. Back when they flogged women, it was the younger ones that were stripped to the waste, punished, and paraded in public. The early Church made martyrs out of a disproportionate number of landed single women so they could snatch the land for the church.

[BolivarianHero]

3. Tragically, women are all too often the victim of violence in real life...

If the media and the arts are said to mirror reality around us, why is it so unusual for television programs to have plots in which violent acts are perpetrated against women?

Does creating an anti-gay character or making a villain gay make a fictional plot part of a homophobic agenda?

[seabeyond]

4. rape, should be shown horribly. it isnt. it is glamorized and sexualized and entertaining

if it was reflecting reality, .... we would see the horror, filth, disgust. not a turn on.

[Odin2005]

13. +1

[Whisp]

17. the movie Deliverance should be shown regularly...

What do you think men would feel about rape then?

I swear so many can't relate because we are the 'other'. but Ned Beatty being humiliated and raped may just get the proper sense of how horrific this crime is.

[seabeyond]

25. generals daughter. an excellent movie. was one scene she is reinacting the rape, they sexualized

to such an extent. here you have a powerful movie. excellently made. and they spread her out, oil her body and camera shoot it to make it as erotic and sexually stimulating entertainment. women are disgusted with the emotional trauma of gang rape and men being turned on.

people yell about the funides or feminist and how they have issue with naked, or reality

it is not naked (like the breast examine thread) or reality that is the issue. as long as people keep defining the issue in an incorrect manner, they will never get where the problem is, why women are bothered, and why they speak out

[Echo In Light]

5. Most mainstream TV conditions people, young or old, toward acquiescence and idiocy

[woo me with science]

6. Check out Lifetime.

It's the all-woman, all-victim, all-the-time channel.

[alp227]

7. So says the PTC.

http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/publications/culturewatch/2006/0626.asp

Today, Lifetime airs practically no programming concerned with family; and health and women's issues are rarely dealt with in an informative fashion. Instead, Lifetime has devoted itself to churning out "docu-dramas" and TV series which vastly overstate "threats" to women and their children. The source of such "threats" in these dramas are varied, but generally come from either diseases, or from men. This emphasis on intimidation and fear results in a dark, almost surreal portrayal of life as being hostile to women. The influence which such an unremittingly negative world-view may have on viewers – particularly children – is a matter of potential concern.

June 26, 2006 Culture Watch column by Christopher Gildemeister. TV Trends succeeds this column.

[woo me with science]

12. I don't know anything about this group,

but they are spot-on in this case.

[alp227]

19. To learn more, read its Wikipedia article.

I've built up that article since 2007, read a lot of blogs criticizing it, and am an expert of that group.

[woo me with science]

23. Um....

According to your link, these are the decency zealots who spend their time trying to sanitize television for the rest of us.

I may hate the Lifetime channel, but I despise groups like this. That Wiki article states that this group was founded by conservative activists and has launched organized complaints against shows including Ally McBeal, Dawson's Creek, Ellen, Friends, and Spin City!

What do you mean, you are an "expert of this group"? I really hope you meant you helped write the Wikipedia article.

[alp227]

24. Yes I did help write the article.

see the article history, my user name is andrewlp1991

And for a blogger who frequently criticizes PTC;

http://childoftv.blogspot.com/search/label/PTC

[woo me with science]

26. Very interesting...thanks.

I always like seeing controversial Wiki pages in progress.

[alp227]

27. In your earlier post you misrepresented the PTC's activities

You wrote:

That Wiki article states that this group was founded by conservative activists and has launched organized complaints against shows including Ally McBeal, Dawson's Creek, Ellen, Friends, and Spin City!

The article does mention those shows by name, but PTC only put those shows on the "Worst Shows of the Year" list, before they decided that they could exploit the FCC complaint system to score political points.

[KatyaR]

8. TV violence is the main reason I don't watch much TV any more.

When did violent crime become entertainment? I can't stand it when people go on and on about how wonderful "24" is. I used to watch that show until it became so over-the-top violent with the torture, etc., that I just couldn't stand it any more.

Go take a look at the rundown on pretty much any night--it's all crime dramas or movies. How that's considered entertainment, I just don't know.

And yes, I'm a flaming liberal Dem--you can make that crap all you want, but I'm exercising my right not to watch it.

[alp227]

9. Maybe you're more of a news, comedy, peaceful entertainment type person?

So by "flaming liberal Dem" do you mean you scoff upon American imperialism and intervention a la Reagan and GW Bush? Then you have very concrete standards! Violence is no solution to neither world injustice nor boredom huh?

[KatyaR]

10. I still watch a lot of TV and movies--thanks to Netflix.

I've ended up watching a lot of Britsh tv. At least there's usually some intelligence there somewhere. I watch mostly old classic movies, documentaries, and foreign films. The stuff they sell as "comedy" these days is insulting to anyone with any bit of intelligence in their heads.

Funny thing is, I don't consider myself stuffy--I'm quite the cut-up. I'm just at the point in my life where I don't want to waste time watching crap. Life is toooooo short.

And no, violence is no solution to anything at all.

[alp227]

11. Good for you.

And guess the nationality of the musician who wrote the song "Give Peace a Chance"? Coincidence?

[Whisp]

18. or those horrid Saw movies. my gawd they're up to 7

or something ridiculous like that.

pure garbage that is meant for nothing good.

[cynatnite]

14. Like I want to listen to that RW demented organization...

:puke:

These are the same assholes who went apeshit over Bono saying "fuck" on TV and they led the charge over Janet's nipple being seen by millions of football fans.

Fuck the PTC!

[seabeyond]

15. how about American Academy of Pediatrics

http://www.commonsensemedia.org/pediatricians-take-media-violence?utm_source=newsletter10.29.09&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=feature2

Parents trying to limit their kids' exposure to violent media now have a little more support -- from your kids' pediatrician. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, "Exposure to violence in media, including television, movies, music, and video games, represents a significant risk to the health of children and adolescents."

That means that dealing with the physical and mental health problems associated by overexposure to violent media is now part of the organization's official policy. Pediatricians might now ask kids about their media lives -- like how much TV they watch, whether they have a TV in their room, what kind of video games they play, and how much time they spend consuming media. If the replies suggest too much, your pediatrician might now counsel you and your kid on creating a "safer" media environment.

Beyond that, the AAP indicates that it will promote more responsible portrayal of violence to media producers and more useful and effective media ratings. (Of course, you can always rely on ours!)


http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/media-violence-sex-threaten-kids-pediatricians/Story?id=8866443&page=1


The AAP panel also focused on violence in various media, including TV, music, movies and video games in particular. They reviewed a variety of studies that found associations between media violence and aggressive behavior, bullying, desensitization to violence, nightmares, depression, sleep disturbances, and a fear of being harmed that could result in a teen carrying a weapon or acting more aggressively. The data show that the strength of these relationships is greater than more widely accepted medical associations, such as those between calcium intake and bone mass, lead ingestion and lower IQ, and condom nonuse and sexually acquired HIV infection, the authors asserted.

In fact, they wrote, the associations between violence on screen or in games and really life aggression are nearly as strong as the association between cigarette smoking and lung cancer.

Though pediatricians have accepted this as fact, they said, the American public, politicians, and parents have been slow to respond, and violent media remains easily accessible.

"Although exposure to media violence is not the sole factor contributing to aggression, antisocial attitudes, and violence among children and adolescents, it is an important health risk factor on which we, as pediatricians and members of a compassionate society, can intervene," the authors said.

They recommended that doctors routinely ask children how much TV they watch, and if there's a TV in the child's bedroom.

[cynatnite]

16. I'll take their word before I will ever give the PTC even a look...

I was surprised that someone used the PTC as a source as if it's some legit organization. It's as nutty as it's leader.

[alp227]

21. Obviously the kids who act up "because of media" have either bad parents or poor mentality

Do these studies by the legit scientific bodies (which the PTC often cites because they believe the research supports the agenda) acknowledge that children who are heavily influenced by the media lack parents who instilled morality or had mental issues to begin with?

[alp227]

20. Yes, they did file most complaints about the 2003 Golden Globes...

...but about the Super Bowl halftime show. Wikipedia says:

...the FCC received nearly 540,000 complaints from Americans,<10> with the PTC claiming responsibility for around 65,000 of them.<19>

10=http://www.usatoday.com/money/2005-01-20-bowl-cover_x.htm
19=http://web.archive.org/web/20070503021051/http://www.parentstv.org/PTC/fcc/Complaints.asp

Do the math. Most of the complaints came from outraged VIEWERS, not just the PTC members or complaint-bots. But overall, yes the PTC (and other astroturf groups like American Family Association) have filed most FCC complaints. (Bono said the F-word at the 2003 Golden Globes, specifically.)

[Mimosa]

22. Definitely true.

I know the content on television has become sickeningly violent. In the name of 'freedom' all they sling at the public is trash.

I don't care about the source because other sources and my own observations back it up. The culture of sex combined with violence is bad for women. FBI experts including Robert Ressler long ago predicted that amping up sex/violence would lead to more brutal crimes against women.

[alp227]

28. Here's an interesting article.

http://www.worldandi.com/specialreport/violence/violence.html

Mentions both the PTC and Ressler. It notes:

While young men are the target audience, young women are most often the victims, whether in television series or serial-killer glorification movies. In her media violence primer, activist Smith observed that "the most extreme form of film violence, the splatter or slasher genre, was launched in 1963." This form of entertainment features people, primarily teenage girls and young women, being tortured, dismembered, disemboweled, and beheaded with various construction tools: chainsaws, tool guns, drills, jigsaws. The violence almost always takes place while the victims are naked or wearing skimpy lingerie.

Former FBI agent Robert Ressler and forensic psychiatrist Park Elliot Dietz, both experts on serial murder, believe these films have helped fuel the increase in serial killing, because of the explicit linking of sex with torture and murder in films targeted at a teenage audience.

Hmm, splatter films have been around since the 1960s. So even the earliest serial killers, like Charles Manson and Ted Bundy, might prove that the media influences one's morality? (Manson and Bundy did not group up in your typical Leave it to Beaver family environment, Bundy admitted having social issues, and Manson had a troubled criminal childhood; that was well before the 60s)