Melina Verdugo Ms.

Caruso Eng 1103 Oct 20th 2012 MTV Reality Shows: The Effect it has on Teens Teens can be easily influenced by the media and violence that is portrayed today on television. According to The National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy, teens age 15-18 spend nearly 8 hours with media every day. (The National Campaign, page 8). Specifically, MTV reality shows have increased in popularity over the years and have rapidly become a favorite viewing choice among young audiences. At a minimum, television informs society of what is believed to be important and what behaviors society considers appropriate along with the growing popularity of reality television is the continual blurring between true reality and edited versions of reality. This blurring can affect the way teens think about themselves and the opposite sex. Also, this affects teens in a negative away by portraying substance abuse, violence, teen pregnancy, etc. as things that are common and considered acceptable in society. Karen Dill, Director of the Media Psychology Doctoral Program at Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, California, characterized media as our storytellers (The National Campaign, page 8).

While many reality shows contain heavy use of relationship themes and risky behaviors, the success of these shows depend on the outrageousness of the content. Thus, more drama equals more ratings. Concerns about reality TV show also include the sexual content in popular media and the influence these images and messages might have on young peoples sexual behavior, thoughts on themselves, and the opposite sex. Other concerns that reality TV shows expose to teens are partying, substance abuse, and violence. In the 2007-2008 seasons, reality programming captured 77% of the total audience viewing the top ten programs (Reality on TV, Page 10). The four MTV shows ranked as the most-watched during the 2011 television season were: The Jersey Shore, Real World, Teen Mom 2, and 16 & Pregnant (Reality on MTV). The shows Jersey Shore and 16 & Pregnant will be specifically addressed. Jersey shore has shown much popularity since its airing on MTV. This reality show focuses on violence, partying, and promiscuity. Jersey Shore portrays the reality of partying and how females and males interact. Unfortunately, reality shows arent always exactly real. How much of the show should we let teenagers believe? Times have changed and things like casual sex and substance abuse amongst teens are becoming more common, but do we want our youth to continue to think this way? The show portrays constant partying amongst the roommates in Jersey shore. Snookie is the definition of a guidette and isnt the only one who likes tanning. The

shows stereotype women as promiscuous and men as pimps or players. Most of the time the show consists of vulgar content that one cannot gain any educational knowledge from. In a study done by the Parent Television Council, Jersey Shore made up 47% of disparaging remarks out of all the four MTV reality TV shows that were listed earlier. What kind of messages are shows like Jersey Shore trying to send out? Shows like this can negatively affect the way teens think about themselves and peers. Parent Television Council did a study on reality shows to address questions like What messages are being communicated to young viewers? This study focuses on what reality TV shows are teaching young girls regarding to how they talk to males, how males talk to females, how do females and males talk about affection, and how do females and males talk about themselves(Reality on MTV). This study mainly focuses on gender; it relates back to how the vulgar content of shows like Jersey Shore can affect the teen television audience. Some major findings were that only 24% of what females said about themselves was positive across all show combined (Reality on MTV). Also, overall, women were more disparaging than men when speaking of themselves or someone of their own gender. Much of the positive dialogue between females focused on their appearance. Positive dialogue from female to female would include words like: pretty, proud, and strong, while positive dialogue from male to female would include words like: nice, cool, hot. Males that referred to females as cool, considered the females cool because they

were male-like when it came to sexual intercourse (Reality on MTV). Females talked about sex more than guys and talked about it more graphically than guys also. According to the study by the Parents Television Council, only 4% of the time was the topics of virginity, contraceptives, and STDs were mentioned. Also, 59% of all sexual references across all shows came from Jersey Shore (Reality on MTV). Some popular terms referring to females are the words: B**ch, stupid, and dirty. Some popular terms referring to males are: gansta, player, and scumbag. The study includes a table that shows a profile comparing sexual language between males and females. According to the table, the data shows that terms used to refer to females are more sexualized and degrading while the terms used to refer to males tend to be viewed as much more complimentary. Females were more graphic in their sexual language by 71% and also talked about intercourse and actions leading to intercourse 53% of the time. Females also used terms like: b**ch, slut, and skank to refer to other females while males used terms like: big man, dawg, and bad a** to refer to other males. Also, males were less graphic in sexual language by 29%. They also spent an equal amount of time as females talking about various forms of sex. This study helps address the impact of the sexualization of females is having on the attitudes and behaviors of boys. (Table 1, page 7, Reality on MTV). The phenomenon on teen pregnancy has increased over the years, especially with the show 16& Pregnant that is now airing on MTV. According

to a nationally representative poll by The National Campaign, six in ten teens from the ages 12-19 have watched at least some of 16 and Pregnant (The National Campaign). has found that sexual content in the media can influence teens attitudes about sex and contraception. Many believe that shows like Teen Mom and 16 and pregnant fail to reach the goal of causing awareness of teen pregnancy but instead glamorize the idea of it.