Is Sexual Violence on TV OK if the Heroine Is Tough?
mrosen814
2012/08/31 20:00:00
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412 votes
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In a new study published in the Journal of Communication, psychologist Christopher Ferguson argues that brawny, capable female role models like those found in Buffy the Vampire Slayer can “eliminate the negative effects of sexually violent media” among viewers. He’s even coined a buzzy new term for the phenomenon: “The Buffy Effect.”
The study took 150 college students and offered them extra credit to watch one of three types of television shows -- "one that depicted sexual violence against women featuring weak, subordinate female characters, like The Tudors and Masters of Horror; one that depicted sexual violence against women featuring strong, independent female characters, like Law & Order: SVU and Buffy the Vampire Slayer; and a third that featured no sex or violence against women at all, like 7th Heaven and Gilmore Girls."
Ferguson then quizzed the students on their attitudes towards women. He recorded statements like, “A woman should not expect to go to exactly the same places or to have quite the same freedom of action of a man,” and, “The intellectual leadership of a community should be largely in the hands of men.”
According to Slate, the results from the study were as follows -- "The men who watched the typical slasher-style sexualized violence of Masters of Horror—in the episode Ferguson screened, “a global epidemic” causes “men to become mad, attempting to rape and kill women when sexually aroused”—reported more sexist beliefs than those exposed to sexual violence a la Buffy, which features “strong female characters who are able to fight back effectively against violence.”
The study took 150 college students and offered them extra credit to watch one of three types of television shows -- "one that depicted sexual violence against women featuring weak, subordinate female characters, like The Tudors and Masters of Horror; one that depicted sexual violence against women featuring strong, independent female characters, like Law & Order: SVU and Buffy the Vampire Slayer; and a third that featured no sex or violence against women at all, like 7th Heaven and Gilmore Girls."
Ferguson then quizzed the students on their attitudes towards women. He recorded statements like, “A woman should not expect to go to exactly the same places or to have quite the same freedom of action of a man,” and, “The intellectual leadership of a community should be largely in the hands of men.”
According to Slate, the results from the study were as follows -- "The men who watched the typical slasher-style sexualized violence of Masters of Horror—in the episode Ferguson screened, “a global epidemic” causes “men to become mad, attempting to rape and kill women when sexually aroused”—reported more sexist beliefs than those exposed to sexual violence a la Buffy, which features “strong female characters who are able to fight back effectively against violence.”
Read More: http://www.slate.com/blogs/xx_factor/2012/08/31/se...
Top Opinion
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Fef 2012/08/31 20:54:16
Can not even have a child walk in the room while the tv is on anymore. Pathetic
Everything is going down the crapper.
hmmmm interesting.
Take, for example, violence against children. If you have a film about a child who is trapped in his house with two home invaders, both threatening to torture him before killing him, that's horrifying.
But if that child is fighting back by shooting them in the nads with a BB gun and throwing paint cans in their faces, suddenly it becomes a comedy.
Please give more options than yes or no.
Wouldn't you rather see a show that shows a strong woman who can overcome anything even this atrocious?? Wouldn't this show those women who have been victims of sexual violence to fight back and you are not alone??
But my point is essentially, these are movies and they are made to provoke emotion and connection with what's happening on screen. If someone is uncomfortable with what emotions the movie provokes, don't watch it.