The Effects of Television Violence on Real Life Violence    

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At first, the television was used for getting information on what was going on in our country. Now, we watch TV for entertainment and for a past time. The television has become a dominant factor in today’s homes. A few television genres that are being viewed in today’s homes are soap operas, dramas, romances, and action. The new version of watching television has shown an increase of harmful influences through programs featuring sex and violence.

    As television viewing increased, so did its critics.  Organizations criticized broadcasters for failing to meet TV’s potential to educate and inform the nation with thoughtful and instructive programming.  A spokesman for the National Congress of Parents and Teachers claimed that television focused too much on “cheap vaudeville, crime, wrestling, and mediocre movies” (Bowman 48). According to the Southern California Association for Better Radio and Television, the average person sees death inflicted by violence more than forty times every single week. The amount of violence on television has spiraled out of control.

    Sexual imagery has also become a concern on television today. Television programs have degraded morals and have devalued women. Some have even argued that the depictions of sex and violence on the television contributed to a surge in juvenile delinquency, and also claimed that the television distorted reality and was prone to “confuse violence with strength, low necklines with feminine ideal, sadism with sex, and criminals with police” (Bowman 48). This is to show that there are many other acts of violence shown on the television today. What is being seen on the television cannot be controlled and how it is to affect you and those around you.

    Another large influence that the television has had is the view of the role of violence towards women and of the rape myth acceptance. In soap operas these sexual acts are common and treated as if it is socially acceptable. Sadly in today’s society, one in five U.S. women is the victim of a completed or attempted rape. In today’s culture, people underestimate the power of women and reinforces harmful attitudes and beliefs about women and violence towards women. In the current dominant social structure, men generally dominate women in terms of family, education, work, and politics. One way such dominance is maintained is through violence. The subordinate role of women in this structure suggests it will impact them differently compared to men. Rape is an external example of this subordination; it is ‘‘predominantly a crime against women that is perpetrated by men’’ (Kahlor).

    Rape myths refer to false, but persistent beliefs regarding forced sexual intercourse and the victims and perpetrators of such acts. Rape myths suggest women fabricate rape when they regret consensual sex after the fact, and that women who claim rape are promiscuous, have bad reputations, and dress provocatively (Eastin and Kahlor). Men are more accepting to these rape myths, but rape perceptions are held by women. In men, the acceptance of the rape myth can lead to an increased amount of rape.  In women, it can lead to taking inadequate rape prevention measures. In television series, sexual acts occur and help lead to rape myth acceptance.

    The persistence of rape myths in society may be facilitated by the popularity of these myths on television. Sex-related crimes account for ten percent of all dialogue on television related to sex, and eighty percent is found in fictional programs, occurring primarily in movies or drama series.  In dramas a study was done and forty-two percent of the storylines suggested the victim wanted to be raped, thirty-eight percent suggested the victim lied about the assault, and forty-six suggested the victim was to blame for the assault. Television has made it seem as if most rape crimes are false and that victims ask for it in how they dress or behave.

    The television has distorted the perception of reality. Television genres cultivate perceptions of social reality to the same extent and in the same way given the content currently available to television viewers. Women who watch the television heavily are more likely to accept rape myths. Rape myths serve to underestimate if a rape is legitimate or not.  It may be more likely that first order beliefs reflect either an underestimation of rape in society or an overestimation of false rape accusations. There has been a positive relationship between television viewing and an overestimation of false rape accusations.

    Soap operas and crime dramas have notable amounts of rape related material. There has been found a rape related case in soap operas to one in every episode.  Soap operas also tend to focus on relationships more than other types of programming, and those relationships tend to feature women as passive sex objects and perpetual victims, and men as dominant and powerful (Eastin and Kahlor). Crime dramas, on the other hand, accounts for thirty percent of prime time programming. The typical storyline of a crime drama involves serial rapists, date rape, stranger rape, gang rape, incest and/or pedophilia. Based on these two programs they are more likely to impact the perceptions related to rape and sexual assault. Although, there are other movie genres that have rape related content; soap operas and crime dramas contain more rape related material and have more prime time programming.

    There are many types of media violence that has an effect on real life violence. Television violence has seemed to be the most influential on violence. Any television series or movie contains some violence somewhere in them. Violence on the TV has been proven to have an emotional effect on those who are watching the programming. Television violence has had an effect on how children view violence. Children are continuing to learn and what they see on the TV has an influence on them. If children see it on TV they may begin to believe violence is something that is okay and socially acceptable. Children have been found to have more aggressive behavior and react to the television violence in a negative manner. Television series are mainly centered around violence. The violence on the television has been proven to have an effect on those who watch to act in a more aggressive behavior. The violence found in television has become a very common attribute in today’s programming.

Works Cited

Bowman, Michael. “‘Immoral or Otherwise Offensive Matter’: Took Gathings’ 1952 Investigation of

Broadcasting. .” vol. 7, no. 1, 2016, pp. 47–61.web.b.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=6&s

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