Prime Time Sexual Harassment

Abstract

A content analysis of 48 hours of prime time television reveals that sexual harassment on television is both highly visible and invisible. Sexual harassment is rendered visible simply by its prominence in these programs. Incidences involving quid pro quo harassment and environmental harassment occur with regularity on television. Eighty-four percent of the shows studied contained at least one incident of sexual harassment; the average was 3.4. Yet these acts of sexual harassment remain largely invisible in that none of the behaviors was labeled as sexual harassment. They are presented in humorous ways, and victims are generally unharmed and very effective at ending the harassment. Although such programs may actually reflect the reality of many women's lives in terms of prevalence of sexual harassment, they perpetuate several myths about sexual harassment, such as that sexual harassment is not serious and that victims should be able to handle the situations themselves.

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