For the summer internship session, I am continuing research on children’s media and reproduction for Dr. Clare Daniel. The project I am currently working on revolves around children’s media depictions of childbirth; specifically, Dr. Daniel is curious about how labor is depicted, and often erased, in children’s films. To add to her research, I have been looking at studies and other academic papers regarding children’s consumption of media, in particular media that involves sex, sexuality and reproduction.
The research paper by Janna L Kim et al., entitled “From Sex to Sexuality: Exposing the Heterosexual Script on Primetime Network Television,” codes popular television shows amongst adolescents for “The Heterosexual Script”. Heterosexual scripts are defined as sexual scripts that reinforce gender roles and compulsory heterosexuality, within heterosexual persons. For example, a common heterosexual script would be a male character instigating sexual activity, while the female character subverts his advances until he commits to a relationship. This script reinforces misogynistic narratives that men cannot control their hypersexuality, whereas women have to be sexual gatekeepers, as the less sexual sex. Sexual scrips that prioritize male sexuality as a critical feature of “manliness,” were the most common script found in primetime network television.
Similarly, popular media amongst adolescents, although containing themes about sex, rarely seem to present any negative consequences (such as unwanted pregnancy, STI’s), or positive consequences (such as sexual pleasure)(Ortiz & Brooks, 2014; Pardun, Ladin L’Engle, & Brown, 2005). These articles bring up compelling questions such as: how do children/ adolescents understand sexual media? How do these portrayals influence their sexuality, if at all? Regarding reproductive justice, how does children’s television support/contrast with the values of RJ? Further research will need to be done.