I’m a big fan of this article about how important sexual protection is for lesbians. It’s true! I was especially interested in one of the authors’ points about sex on TV:
This lead my brain to the biggest complaint I’ve had about many lesbian movies and popular shows like The L Word. No matter how much finger-action and lickity-splittin’ goes on, you never see characters using Safer Sex practices, and many openly portray risky behaviors, like having unprotected sex with both women and men.
True not only of lesbian sex, unfortunately. This study by the Kaiser Family Foundation notes that since 1998, talk about safe sex practices on TV has increased but has leveled off more recently. Another study by the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine that focused on the top 200 movies of all time found that only Pretty Woman even so much as mentioned sexual protection. Like Julia Roberts’ character says, she’s not just better in the sack than an amateur – she’s safer. If I could find the clip on Youtube, I’d put it up here for sure, but I guarantee that watching the whole movie isn’t a waste of time.
Is the issue here whether or not it’s the responsibility of the TV and film industry to set the example of safe sex for viewers? I don’t really think so – it is! Movies and TV shows are, of course, not explicitly instruments of public health education, but I think there’s something to be said for the influence they have over viewers’ behavior and for encouraging them to depict the consequences of unprotected sex. With sex education lacking from other sources, it would be great for the entertainment industry to pick up some of the slack.
On a related note, Johnathon Briggs talks about safe sex in music, specifically hip-hop. He also notes the recent leveling-off of talk about protection: “I recalled the days when the desire to spread messages about responsible sexual behavior did not rest solely in the hands of independent filmmakers or starving artists.”
