.n pl» x FF |. \ . . ‘ . « 1‘ ~ , u.\ ‘ ,vlpl I . Jill ...1.. I . . ..,T...!... J. 2 .o... .‘ < A .2... . a a. o . . v ..VAA.......‘.¢.44{1.... . .. _ _. . .. . . . . , . . ‘ . . . \ a . A I . o . I . , . D ‘. , v . . J o . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . v . . l . . . . » . .. . . a a . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,. . r 4 y¢cn . . ... n .> . 1...: . . . , .‘uu-c‘vvo..0-v.: . . : .u .v. u-v . . .. 11 . .7 1‘: .1... . .I. I: .g: o; “4:1". LIBRARY Michigan State University This is tu C61tify that the thesis entitled f9MTVfV§ewing By fidplesdénts .4; .’ “magmas AboufiiViolence, "‘ J?) ’Sex And Sexual Violence presented by :Pamela J. Deiter , has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Master ' 3 degree in Journalism Major professor Date 8/“7l/X7 0-7639 MS U is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution .1"... -\ "l I PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record. To AVOID FINES return on or before date due. DATE DUE DATE DUE DATE DUE 1M c‘lCIWanG-p.“ I” MTV VIEWING BY ADOLESCENTS AND BELIEFS ABOUT VIOLENCE. SEX AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE By Pamela J. Deiter A THESIS Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS School of Journalism 1987 ABSTRACT MTV VIEWING BY ADOLESCENTS AND BELIEFS ABOUT VIOLENCE, SEX AND SEXUAL VIOLENCE By Pamela J. Deiter The study tested for correlations between MTV viewing and agreement to statements of beliefs about violence, sex and sexual violence derived from the content of selected videos shown on MTV in Spring 1987. Three hundred four adolescents were administered questionnaires. MTV viewing was assessed and correlated with indicated agreement to belief statements. No positive correlations were found be- tween MTV viewing measures and agreement to violence state- ments. Correlations were found between viewing measures and agreement to sex statements and sexual violence statements. Correlations were stronger between agreement and overall MTV viewing than between agreement and exposure to specific videos. Males and females showed different patterns of cor- relation between viewing and agreement to belief statements, with females showing more frequent correlations between sex and sexual violence statements and viewing measures. To Marjory H. Deiter for everything, and John W. Oeschger for being there. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Dr. Frederick Fico for his flexibility, his careful attention to this thesis and for all his assistance and support during my graduate program. I would like to thank Dr. Bradley Greenberg for his assistance in this project and the opportunities he provided me to work on others. I extend special thanks to Carrie/Jill Heeter not only for the advise, teaching and time she invested so freely in this thesis, but for the warmth and abiding concern she has brought to all her roles in my graduate career at Michigan State University. iv Table of Contents Introduction Theoretical Framework TV and Sexual Learning Media and Sexual Violence MTV and Sexual Violence Adolescents and MTV Sex Differences and MTV Hypotheses Methods Analysis of Videos Belief Statements Belief Statements Validated The Questionnaire The Sample Independent and Dependent Variables Dependent Variable Independent Variable Data Analysis Results MTV Viewing Specific Videos Belief Statements 11 14 19 21 26 26 30 31 32 34 34 35 40 41 42 42 45 47 Table of Contents (cont'd.) Hypothesis Testing Gender Differences Discussion and Conclusions References Appendix A Survey Instrument Appendix B Statement Rating Materials Appendix C Description of Videos Appendix D Selected Videos and VCR Use vi Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table Table 10 List of Tables Videos in Each Content Category Number of Statements in Each Statement Set Factor Indices Minutes of MTV Viewed on School Days and Weekend Days Average Daily Minutes of MTV Viewing Correlations Between Viewing Measures Mean Agreement to Factor Indices Correlations for Violence Factors Correlations for Sex Factors - Correlations for Sexual Violence Factors 29 33 36 INTRODUCTION The cultivation approach to the study of television and social reality posits that, over time, through repeated exposure to information and value systems imbedded in TV content, television induces in viewers a particular con- struction of social reality. The study reported here uses cultivation theory to test the relationship between adolescents’ beliefs and attitudes about sex, violence and sexual violence and music video exposure. MTV is a cable television network that shows rock-music videos, concerts and special events 24 hours a day. It debuted on August 1, 1981, and subscribers totaled 13.5 million in June of 1983 (Gardner, 1983). By 1984 MTV was showing a profit and claiming access to 24.2 million viewers, making it the highest rated basic cable service piAuferheide, 1986). This research investigates MTVismpossible-influence on - ._ .4 sexual andlviolent beliefs and attitudes. As sexual content $.L4... “4,”, we»... in the media increases, curiosity about its effect on our \wbelief systems is naturally increased. Speculation about those effects has become a matter of some controversy and interest, within and beyond the realm of research (Brown, 1986). The focus here is on video violence presented in a‘ .loyingwand19r sexual context, or in sexually aggressivefiacts against women. Aggression toward women isna theme prominant in research, citizens’ action, and advertising. 2 The adolescent population is one of particular interest not just because of society’s general concern for the wel- fare and experiences of teenagers, or because of adoles- cents’ increasingly disproportionate representation in vio- lent criminal activity (Thornton and Voigt,1981), and in planned and unplanned pregnancy (Chilman, 1980; Ford, 1983; Mott, 1981). It was chosen for this study primarily because adolescence is a formative period sexually and socially -- and adolescents watch a lot of MTV. Theoretical Framework In their report to the National Institute of Mental Health in 1982, Hawkins and Pingree concluded that most impact studies show a relationship between television viewing and social reality, regardless of the kind of social reality studied. The areas Qfmstudymlisted there included the prevalence of violence, family structures, interpersonal mistrust, fear of victimization, traditionalwsexwroles, family values, images of older people, attitudes about doctors, and concern about racial problems. Much of Hawkins and Pingree’s review was of research conducted using culti- vation analysis techniques. Cultivation analysis allows researchers to show congruence (not causality) between a viewer’s beliefs about social reality and the television representation of that reality. This approach is especially useful when statistical data about the dibcrepancy between the television world and the real world are available. In I J 3 that case, the statistical estimate of reality given by the subject matches television or the real world more close- ly. When no statistical data are available or feasible, cultivation analysis is a less exact approach, but one still valid. "The evidence concerning the causal direction of tele- vision’s impact on social reality...suggests that television can teach about social reality and that the relationship between television and social reality may be reciprocal: Television causes a social reality to be constructed in a certain way, but this construction of social reality may also direct viewing behavior" (Hawkins and Pingree, 1982, p.239). The process responsible for the phenomenOn of cultiva- tion ofisocial reality is learning. Evidence for sexual learning from television is abundant, and the opportunities - - for youth to experience that learning are many. TV and Sexual Learning Egggggghiindigates that television is an increasingly important source of sexual information for adolescents and \M‘.. “i..- w"--~-—.,._ ,..._pi..~. __ ..,, , ii- children. Gebhard (1977) reanalyzed pre-1955 data from _.— w~—- ‘ Kinsey Institute for Sex Research with an added sample of subjects and found the contemporary sample of males more often cites mass media as an initial source of sex informa- tion, especially about homosexuality, prostitution and ifcoituS} In a 1977 study conducted by the Project on Human - Sexual Development, more than 1400 parents of children ages 3 through 11 were interviewed. They were asked what sources of sex information they believed played an important part in their childrens’ lives. More than 50 percent cited televi- sion as their child’s second greatest source of learning about sexuality (the first source was parents) (Roberts, 1980). Courtright and Baran (1980) used questionnaires to determine sources of sexual information for late adoles- cents. Peers and media were identified as the most important “3" sources. In a stud ' ' ’ influence on sexual we dWWWWwaSMMDQQMEhe i r ._—~ 900 high-school-student respondants, interviewed twice in ' " ' 'F’"' “"rw‘fi' " "“’""'-"\,W~V-IW -- -r Oven-«1m nil—m I.“u.."‘| -- yr un- w..-.—...,, - m ~-.u. three years, felt that television was equally encouraging or p... 1! human-v..- up”-r.“ >51 more encouraging of adolescentwto take part in coitus than ,_ .., r- fQIII‘. were friends. Among these students, virginity was viewed as II". an undesirable state. Sexual learning from television was demonstrated in an experimental setting by Greenberg, Perry and Covert (1983). They found that two CBS network shows, The Body Human: Facts for Girls and The Body Human: Facts for Boys, in- creased fifth and sixth graders’ knowledge of about sex in particular subject areas. Values expressed in the programs significantly reinforced values previously held. It should be noted here that the sexual learning demonstrated in Greenberg’s study was intended -- the programs were intended to teach. Mostmsexgalhlearningwfrgmfitelevisign, and certain- * ly from MTV, is_incidental in nature, not the intended "~ --.- —— \—- ~--_- __ __ - \._.,/ \ " K \\\/ result of viewing the co e sexual activity of teens/;;;i> / investigated by Newcomer and Brown (1984). After catego- // Television’s impact ! rizing indicated viewing of adolescents into ’sexy TV" a d "non-sexy TV" by content, they tested the relationship of viewed TV type to state of virginity and several other variables. They found that sexy TV viewing was very highly correlated with non-virginity, and that social status, ,// friends’ attitudes, and level of pubertal devlopment were all less significant in their relationship to sex in those subjects than was type of TV viewed. 1V Viewer (1980) reported a study that found correla- tions between viewing and beliefs about sexual behavior. The viewing habits and beliefs about love, sex and marriage of a group of pregnant teens was compared to the viewing and beliefs of a group of non-pregnant teens.§ghose who reported/7 that their favorite character would not use birth control if(v e’n involved in premarital sex were 2.4 times as likely to be pregnant. The pregnant teens watched 7 more hours of TV each (' week, identified more with romantic characters, and were 40 percent more likely to agree that TV is similar to real life. Baran (1976a, 1976b) was concerned with "great expecta- tions" in high school and college students. Would portrayals of sex in the media create unrealistic beliefs and standards for first coital experiences, resulting in disappointment and dissatisfaction? Questionnaires completed by more than 6 400 respondants revealed significant negative correlations between initial coital satisfaction and perceptions of TV characters, sexual prowess, and pleasure. For both groups an unpredicted positive relationship was found between per- ceived reality of TV sex and initial coital satisfaction. Building on Baran’s research, Courtright and Baran (1980) sought to correlate young peoples’ satisfaction in their state of virginity or nonvirginity with three varia- bles: media use, family influence and peer influence. For virgins, family variables offered no influence on the indi- viduals’ self evaluation. Media and peers were significant influences. Media variables acted independent of subject age and gender. Coital satisfaction was wholly media-based in statistical influence. In impact studies, beliefs are often measured by agree- ment to specific statements of "how things are". (Sometimes those statements are differentiated form statements of "how things should be" and the latter statements are considered statements of attitude). A large number of studies using .p..~ H1 ”/0 Cultivation Analysis have found that heavy TV viewers are N fiwvw‘ \W’m ”“w‘f’ "" '9’ Ad." MW I more likely to“expreSS~VieW§z beliefs and assumptions that ”M_Mii-iii_w- I are congruentmwitthV s portray lefnlife and society (//##MNMM, -.XNH.HHM,mH (Gerbner, 1978). Adolescents, who have fewer sources of information and real-world experiences than do adults, seem to be particularly vulnerable to TV’s construction of the world. For example, adolescent heavy viewers express exag- gerated fear of encountering violence (Gerbner et al., 1978, 7 1979, 1980). Television viewing also contributes to adoles- cents’ images of aging and aging roles (Gerbner et al., 1980), to beliefs about occupations (Morgan and Gerbner, 1982), health-related beliefs and practices (Gerbner et al.,1981), and sex—role beliefs (Morgan 1982). Adolescents who view TV heavily have sex-typed role definitions, consis- tent with those assigned on TV (Greenberg, 1982). Soap operas, whose content is heavily sexual, have been studied for impact in two relevant instances. Buerkel- Rothfuss and Mayes (1981) tested 290 college students and found that soap viewers estimated more occurrences of divorce, illegitimate children and abortions than did non- viewers. Sipes (1984) found that avid high-school viewers of daytime soaps were far more likely to make larger estimates of the occurrences of illegitimate pregnancies and the occurrence of rape. The results were replicated with viewers of night-time soaps. Media and Sexual Violence Some of the most important research in the investiga- tion of media impact involves adult viewers of pornography. Although those results are not directly generalizable to this study, the implications of the results are relevant. Moreover, the first Zillman study reviewed here stimulated a new body of research that has added greatly to our under- standing of sexual and aggressive learning from the media. Zillman and Bryant (1982) conducted research designed to 8 explore the consequences of continued exposure to pornography on beliefs about sexuality in general and atti- tudes toward women in particular. Using pornographic films and college students, the researchers found "numerous per- ceptual and dispositional changes concerning sexuality, especially female sexuality...during the third week after treatment" (p.14) in subjects exposed to "massive" levels of pornography (48 minutes of explicit films each week, for six weeks). The measurement of such effects three weeks after exposure suggests support for cultivation, and the inclusion of the film’s "lessons" in personal social reality. The Zillman study used films depicting heterosexual MH__'_ _, .‘n activities that did not entail coercion or deliberate _._.- ‘4'. ’7’” ' infliction or reception of pain..Students with massive expo- SUre to the films estimated various sexual practices in the general population at much higher levels than subjects not exposed to massive levels. Uncommon sexual practices were perceived as more common by the subjects with massive expo- sure, pornography was rated as less offensive and objection- able than it was rated by those exposed to less or to none, and students’ recommendations of restrictions on pornography was lower with massive exposure. Massive_exposuresubjects“ also showed significantly shorter recommended prison terms for a rapist whose offense was described to subjects. Sup- port for the woman’s movement was lower in the subjects with massive exposure than in other subjects. Two significant findings of Zillman’s study relate 9 explicit sexual content, devoid of violence, to a reduction in sensitivity to sexual violence as a serious offense against women, and to a reduction in sympathy and support toward women who question traditional power distribution between the sexes. Note again that these findings occurred without violence present in sexual material. TheHcombination of sex and violence may be especially potent for several reasons (Malamuth, 1984; Malamuth and Donnerstien, 1982). "First, thempairing of sex and_aggres- sion in violent pornographic depictions may classically condition viewers to become sexually aroused to violence...Second, much aggressive pornography has as its predominant theme the idea that victims secretly desire assault, often deriving sexual pleasure from it...Continued exposure to depictions which portray this message, or ’rape myth’ may affect both attitudes toward sexual violence and behavior" (Donnerstien and Linz, 1986 p.3). The theme discussed above is pertinant to the research proposed in this paper, although MTV is not explicitly sexual in content. In fact; "Most media sex falls short of pornography; but the dramatic demonstration of impact on sexual perceptions and attitudes suggests the possibility of impact from less explicit content,’ (Greenberg and Heeter, 1984, p.1). Research supports this suggestion. "There is also evidence that exposure to mass media that portray violence against women in sexually nonexplicit ,contexts may affect males’ attitudes and levels of aggres- \_‘ \ --. 10 §i¥§g§ehavior as measured in the laboratory" (Donnerstien“- and Linz, 1986.p.4). Malamuth and Chech (1981a) showed two mass-release feature length films portraying women as vic- tims in erotic contexts, but which were not pornographic or sexually explicit. The films were presented as part of a "Campus Film Program,’ ostensibly for rating purposes. The _researchers then measured the attitudes of the viewers of those films with a control group that viewed neutral con— tent. Results showed that viewing the sexually aggressive films significantly increased male but not female acceptance of interpersonal violence, and increased rape myth accep- tance. Two studies illustrate the possible impact of nonporno- graphic depictions of sexual violence against women on physiological arousal, attitudes toward women, and aggres- sive behavior in the laboratory. In a Donnerstien (1983a, 1983b) study, results indicated that for subjects angered by a female confederate, both violent-pornographic and vio- lence-only (against women) stimulus films produced heightened aggression in an experimental setting. Donnerstien and Berkowitz (1983) showed similar results -- angered subjects exposed to aggressive but not pornographic materials behaved more aggressively toward a female confed- erate than control subjects exposed to nonviolent porno- graphy. Permissive attitudes about rape and subjects’ will- ingness to say they might commit a rape were greatest in the aggressive, nonpornographic condition. 11 Linz, Donnerstien and Penrod (1984), and Linz (1985) ”Studied the impact of prolonged exposure to nonpornographic materials that portray extremely violent aggression toward _p--n-~—- .— .s-.,_. _ .. p womenx The films they used were mass-released, R-rated "slasher" films. Linz et al, (1984) found that men who were exposed to five movies depicting violence against women saw such films as significantly less violent and less degrading to women, and they indicated fewer negative emotional reac- tions to them. The authors further concluded that this desensitization generalized to subjects’ judgments of a female victim in another context. Male subjects who viewed large amounts of filmed violence against women judged the victim of a violent assault and rape to be significantly less injured and evaluated her as less "worthy" than a control group of subjects who saw no films. MTV and Sex and Violence Vin studies Of MTV’s nature and content, sex and vio- lence are consistently noted themes. In their extensive m..-v_. .7 “A u I ' I " analysis of MTV video content, Sherman and Dominick (1986)V ,, . . , ' .7 . _ M m...” fi~~~u~v~~~r~rm "uvun concluded that "Music videos are violent, male-oriented, and laden withflsexual content" (p. 92). They found EhRPIEiShPY,_ t\ .+ I. ‘ ‘ . . . . . one percent of Videos containing Violence also contained ,sexualeimagery. Sherman and Dominick found that men outnumbered women on MTV about 2-1. One fourth of all characters were dressed in "suggestive or provocative" clothing. One half of all 12 women were dressed in clothing that was "suggestive or provocative." Violence occurred in 56.6 percent of the videos analysed, averaging 2.86 violent acts per video._Meniacj_ counted for three fourths of all aggressors and slightly- more of the victims. Only one woman in ten was visibly affected by violence, but the authors state that the data suggest that victims on MTV are likely to be young and female. In contrast to the general television world, in which victims of violence are usually adults, MTV victims tend to be children and teens, with adults as aggressors. The presence of sexual‘intimacy appeared in more than three fourths of videos coded, averaging 4.78 aCts each. Only 25 percent of videos showed no sexual imagery. Pwvmw-q um. . ‘ . . «.—\' I . . .. U -..u i. . Sexual behaVIOr was more hmplied;than~overt -- flirtae .n————-*W_. I “-l 7 ' ~~ . ”a" tionmand non-intimate touching accountedmfor more than half the coded sex. Intimate touching (carressing and stroking) ”‘4. -.'~J.v..-t-- lbw.” . NV‘w—qr . accounted for 20 percent, embracing and hugging for 10 percent, kissing for 13 percent. More than 90 percent of kissing and 85 percent of hugs took place between members of the opposite sex. MTng 3 determined the "sexiest network" for music videos. Other shows and networksashowed far fewer "sexy" Videos. Zillman and Mundorf (1986), after altering music video segments with violent and sexual imagery, concluded that visual embellishments of that kind significantly influenced w‘ ,— 13 subjects’ appreciation and perception of rock music, and that perception differences were related to gender. Vincent, Davis and Boruszowski, in their 1986 analysis of sexist content in MTV, codedg94 videos for sexist por- trayals of women, seductive dress, male-female contact, social situations and violent acts against women.,The results suggest that music videos present very sexist images. The situation, they claim, is further complicated by a tendency for videos to be very unrealistic in their por- trayals of life. In a social analysis of MTV, Auferheide discusses male and female roles and images: "Male images include sailors, thugs, gang members, gangsters. Female images include pros- titutes, nightclub performers, godesses, temptresses, and servants. "Social critics ...have denounced sadomasochistic trap- pings and stereotypes of exotic women...women are often portrayed in videos as outsiders and agents of trouble..." (Auferheide, 1986, p.69) In Sherman and Dominick’s analysis of rock video content, they quote Lull (1984) and apply to MTV Lull’s caution that "not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted". "The still- emerging language of music television,’ Sherman and Dominick state, "stretches the content analysis model to its limits" (p.82). 14 Adolescents and MTV Gerbner (1978) states that in our lives innumerable facts, problems and environments -- often combined to create complex situations -- outside the realm of personal experi- ence are learned from mass media or someone who has learned them from mass media. The inherent proposition is that innumerable situations, values neccessary to evaluate and respond to these situations, and beliefs about people involved in them, are consistently learned from mass media and then applied not only to experiences derived from the mass media, but to other, real-life situations, as well. This is especially true for adolescent viewers of MTV. Their realm of experience is limited, and likely does not include many of the experiences represented for them on MTV. Information about these experiences and values is com- municated directly and indirectly through the symbolic environment. "The environment that sustains the most dis- tinctive aspects of human existence is the environment of symbols. We learn, share and act upon messages derived from that environment" (Gerbner and Gross, 1976, p.72). On TV, (and for adolescents, especially on MTV), some common definitions characterizing youth subculture are con- veyed through a distinctive set of significant symbols. This "language of adolescence" interprets objects and behaviors somewhat differently than the adult world does (Coleman, 1980, Seltzer, 1982). "Television is one of the major vehic- les for spreading this language of youth and its accom- 15 panying social realities throughout our society. The focus of these significant symbols tends to be lifestyle issues, including heterosexual relationships, sexuality, music preference...clothing tastes, friendship ties, peer accep- tance and the use of drugs and alcohol" (Peterson and Peters, 1983 p.72). There is considerable overlap between the focus of the symbols of the language of youth and the reasons for viewing MTV that were given by the more than 600 adolescent subjects in an empirical inquiry of viewing motivations by Sun and Lull (1986). The alternative world that is open to MTV viewers is carefully structured and is built around the continuous advertising theme that is the raison d’etre of MTV. The world and the advertising is directed at teens. "The image of the program service is casual and carefree," says Auferheide. "The V-Js are chosen for fresh, offhand delivery and affect. They are themselves, their only claim to fame their friendly image to youthful viewers. The sets are designed to look like a 15 year-old’s ideal basement hide- away...MTV intends to offer viewers not just a room of their own but a room that is an alternative world" (Auferheide, 1986, p.64). There are two themes that pervade MTV videos, according to Sherman and Dominick. This paper has already dealt with the first, which is sex and violence. The second is young people being persecuted by the establishment. That is criti- cal to MTV appeal -- to create and offer up a world apart 17 emotion. There is likewise no comedy, Auferheide claims. Like dreams, videos create gestalts, and offer a world of ! vicarious and manufactured experience, in which 'sensations build and disolve" (Auferheide, 1986, p.66) In a 1986 essay, David Tetzlaff wrote: "MTV denies the existence of all but the moment, and that moment exists only on the screen. Don’t ask how? or why? or even what? Forget what’s happening in the world. Forget the past. Forget... school, work, society. They’re a drag. Nothing matters but the wildly exaggerated, ever-present MTV -now..." (p.17). In 1985, Gerbner noted a sense of defiance, basic \ insensitivity, an unemotional excitement expressed in many videos. He said "The sensations evoked by video imagery are disconnected from the realm of social responsibility alto- gether" (New York Times, 1985). Tetzlaff concurs. "MTV it- self assumes a pose of hip decadence, trendy cynicism and cavalier withdrawal" (1986, p.16). Subjects for this study were early adolescents. That group, made up of 14 and 15 year-olds, was chosen because of the changes in social circumstances and demands and social stresses that are so frequently associated with peer and family relations and the developmental tasks of junior high and high school aged teens. Pop music has been shown by researchers to play an important role in adolescent subcul- ture and subsequent socialization to the mainstream culture (Brown, Campbell and Fisher, 1986). Although the music is an integral element of MTV, it seems to be mitigated by the 18 visuals. Zillman and Mundorf (1986) showed increased appre- ciation of rock videos, especially among males, when sexual or violent imagery accompanied them. Tetzlaff asserts "For the MTV viewer, the music is dominated by the visuals. The sound is familiar, mundane, repressed by the low-fi TV speaker: the picture is novel, fast and loud" (1986, p. 17). The visuals provide the information that some MTV viewers want. sngrown et al. (1986) suggested that some teen viewers, primarily blacks and females, use MTV as a "school of life". From it they gather information about clothing and dancing, and they use MTV viewing as social support and stimulation (Brown et al., 1986). The researchers concluded that MTV plays a role, for those teens, in peer interaction. If teens are searching either for physical or interpersonal social referents, or for personal escape, while moving in an ado- lescent social milieu that values popular music highly, that carries its own dress code, jargon, standards of popularity, and ethic of "cool", then a popular music channel noted for all these things should be a resource for members of this age group milieu; adolescents who are simultaneously di- vorcing themselves from the adult-child world they have known, and engaging themselves in the social structure of teen culture. 19 Sex Differences and MTV As noted above, male and female viewers cite somewhat different motives for MTV use. Females are more likely than males to be watching MTV for trend surveillance (i.e dress, dance). Females are also more likely to be paying attention to the lyrics of songs. Males are more likely than females to report "feeling sexy" as a motivation for watching MTV (Brown et al., 1986). For all teens in the sample that pro- vided those results, MTV was seen as good for filling time and for entertainment. Brown concluded, though, that the subgroups of viewers might be affected in different ways by their MTV viewing. "The predominant picture of a violent, sexual and white male dominated world remains...If motiva- tion for media use does have an influence on learning from content, then the data suggest that... females would be most likely to be affected by the world of music videos." Zillman and Mundorf found that females, in contrast to males, reported less enjoyment for visuals that accompanied rock videos with sexual images than for those visuals devoid of sexual images. Females also objected more than males to the incorporation of sexual images in rock music videos. The differences in sexual and general portrayal of males and females on MTV has been well documented through content and qualitative analyses (see MTV and Sex and Vio- lence). Considering those portrayals, differing motives for MTV viewing and the difference in general enjoyment of the sexual images that are offered on MTV, different effects for 20 male and female viewers might be expected. "Television’s cultivation of conceptions and behaviors is a consistent process but it is integrated in different ways and with different results into different patterns of life" (Gerbner 1980, p.15). Adolescents are exposed to particular versions of social reality through television (Comstock et al., 1978, Gerbner et al., 1976, etc., Murray, 1980). "Television makes specific and measurable contributions to viewer’s concep- tions of reality. These contributions relate both to the synthetic world television presents and to the viewers’ real-life circumstances" (Gerbner, 1980, p.9). The social reality created by music videos is highly variable from one video to another. Through MTV viewing, though, adolescents can be exposed to the elements common to many videos, and use that information to construct the reality they per- ceive. "This underlying consistency, particularly when there is enough variation around a central theme to permit the isolation of a general rule or principle, makes it all the more likely that a child will learn from what he or she sees on television" (Himmelweit and Bell, 1980 p.). 21 HYPOTHESES The hypotheses to be tested in the study are straight- forward applications of cultivation theory. Gerbner and his colleagues contend that heavy exposure to violent fare on television, repeatedly and over time, results in a greater perception of the real world as violent. These hypotheses are based on the suggestion that that such exposure to any television view of the world will result in perceptions congruent with that view. Hypothesis 1 assumes that heavy MTV viewers are exposed to more sexual and aggressive human interactions than light viewers. Hypotheses 2, 3 and 4 concern impacts of specific popular videos which have been identified as having aggressive (H-2) sexual, (H-3) or sexually aggressive (H-4) content. H-l — Heavy MTV viewers will report greater agreement with statements of beliefs characterizing human interactions as sexual, violent, and sexually violent than will light MTV viewers. H-Z - Respondents who have been heavily exposed to music videos that show violent interactions will indicate more agreement with belief statements based on that content than will respondents with less exposure to the videos. i) H-3 - Respondents who have been heavily exposed to V music videos that show sexual male-female interactions will indicate more agreement with belief statements based on that content than will respondents with less exposure to the) 22 videos. / L/KH-4 - Respondents who have been heavily exposed to music videos that show violent and sexual male-female interactions will indicate more agreement with belief statements based on that content than will respondents with less exposure to the videos. Hypothesis 1 is based on Gerbner’s demonstrations that there is a correlation between exposure to television and the expression of views, beliefs and assumptions that are congruent with TV’s portrayal of life and society, partic- ularly among adolescents. Such correlation has been demon- strated in the areas of violence (Gerbner et al., 1978, 1979, 1980) and sex role beliefs (Morgan, 1982). Other studies that support Hypothesis 1 include two studies of soap opera viewers, in which viewers estimated real-life occurrences of situations depicted frequently on soap operas at higher incidence than did non-viewers (Buerkel-Rothfus and Mayes, 1981; Sipes, 1984). Zillman and Bryant (1982, p.14) demonstrated "numerous perceptual and dispositional changes concerning sexuality" during the third week after treatment when college students viewed pornographic films that did not include coercion or deliberate infliction or reception of pain. Finally, Malamuth and Chech (1981a) showed sexually aggressive, non-pornographic films to college students and demonstrated increased male acceptance of interpersonal 23 violence and rape myths. Reduced sympathy for and valuation of the female victim of male aggression after viewing films depicting such situations was demonstrated by Linz et al. in 1984. This hypothesis assumes that the several demonstrations of the impact of viewing violent, sexual or sexually violent content are generalizable to viewing of MTV, which includes such content, and that impact will be demonstrable in com- paring high levels Of exposure with less exposure. Hypothesis 2 is based on the Gerbner studies cited above, relating viewing of violence on TV to the expression of beliefs, assumptions and views congruent with TV’s por— trayal of violence in the world. It is assumed that Gerbners’s findings are generalizable to viewing of MTV, which includes violent content, and that impact will be demonstrable in comparing high levels of exposure with less exposure. RV“ Hypothesis 3 isflbasedon Morgan’s demonstration of associationvbetweeanV viewing and sex-role beliefs typical ._°§ those presented on TV, as well as the soap opera studies cited above.[In addition, Gebhard (1977), Roberts (1980) and Courtright and Baran (1980) have demonstrated the importance of TV as a source of sexual information for young people, and Greenberg, Perry and Covert (1983) demonstrated factual learning about sex from TV viewing. It is assumed that these findings are generalizable to viewing of MTV3>which includes ‘d' ‘v-F‘ ‘ ' sexual content, and that impact will be demonstrable in) 24 comparing high levels of exposure with less exposure. Hypothesis4 is based on the findings of Gerbner and of Morgan, cited above, which relate views, beliefs and assumptions about violence and sex roles to TV viewing. Other studies that provide a basis for Hypothesis 4 include the soap opera studies by Beurkel Rothfus and Mayes (cited above) and the pornographic, non pornograpihc and violent film findings also reported under Hypothesis 1. It is assumed that these findings are generalizable to viewers of MTV, which includes sexually violent content, and that impact will be demonstrable in comparing high levels of exposure with less exposure. Impact studies by Gerbner and others have Shown gender differences in viewing effect -- but those differences have not been consistent in direction or degree. Brown et al., 1986, found sex differences for MTV use, with females more attentive to lyrics, and watching for reasons that have more to do with trend surveillance. Based on a use-gratification model, Brown suggests that females might be more affected by MTV viewing than males. Her finding that males are more likely to cite "feeling sexy" as a reason for MTV viewing, though, invites the possible effects of desensitization to the victim of sexual violence that is documented for males in Zillman’s 1986 review of pornography research. Auferheide (1986), Brown (1986), Vincent (1985), Sherman and Dominick (1986) and others have noted the differences in portrayals of males and females on MTV. Because of these many gender- 25 related issues, each hypothesis will be tested separately by gender in addition to the overall sample to investigate sex differences. 26 METHODS A qualitative content analysis of MTV videos was con- ducted to identify videos with sexual, violent and sexually violent content. Belief statements about sex, violence and sexual violence were derived from the selected videos and validated by raters. A questionnaire was designed to assess MTV exposure, agreement with the belief statements and basic demographics. iiAnaiysis of Videos, The process of choosing themvideosewas intended to identify videos with target content from agree content areas (sex, violence and sexual violence) foruse in the survey, rather than to conduct a formal content analysis of levels of sex and violence on MTV. The researcher watched MTV for about 40 hours during the months August through January, 1986-87, to become familiar with the format and content of the MTV channel. In February and March the researcher watched 55 hours of MTV, recording 18 hours. From recorded videos, 27 videos were chosen (those videos are listed at the end of this section). Only "concept videos" were eval- uated for inelusion. Concept videos follow some story or theme. Performance videos, which show a band or singer performing a song in a simple or concert setting, were not evaluated. Neither were sound-track videos, which include clips from a movie along with a song from its soundtrack. Classic videos, those more than ten years old but broadcast 27 at regular intervals during the day, were not evaluated. Visualmcontent,was the criteria in selecting videos. Appen- 2""-\ ., /dix C Fontains descriptions of videos that were included in i. . , - .Mx hthis study in the three content categories. To be included in the Violent content category, video cantent_had to meet these criteria: Violent or threatening \phggical Contact had to occur between two or more persons playing victim - aggressor roles in the video. Pgshing, 'punghing, slapping and fOFQiDS,QUt of a window or into a vehicle are examples of clearly violent or threatening con- tent. Pointed guns with a clearly intended victim or victims were included if accompanied by shots or the subsequent presentation of a victim that had been shot. Threatening " I-.-.-fi.' 4.: gestures, explosions, smashing or,throwing of objects were w,“- not included unless contact was made between aggressor and victim. Implied violence or violent tone were notable in all videos chosen, but each supports the implication or tone ; through the above criteria. (The above criteria correspond; to Gerbner’s 1979 definition of violence: "The overt expres- I sion of force with or without a weapon, against another, compelling action against one’s will on pain of being hurt or killed..."). To be included in the Sexual content category, video content had to meet the following criteria: Intimate > physical contact between two or more male-female dyads or \ groups had to occur, OR a person shown in the video had to: touch their own sexual body parts in a setting that / 28 supported the touch as sexual (i.e. a bed or a strip-joint, not a bathroom or fitting room). Contact between male and female had to involve the touching of sexual body parts, or kissing and hugging, or general embracing if the setting was strongly sexual (i.e. in bed or shower, not in airport or at dinner table). Sexual body parts were considered breasts/chest, buttocks and pelvic area, upper thighs and torso if bared, and lips. Suggestive gestures in dance did not count unless they included or were followed by the touching of self or another person’s sexual body parts. Revealing clothing was notable in most of the videos chosen, but was supported by the above criteria. (The above criteria correspond to items on Silverman’s 1979 continuum of intimacy, which ranges from intimate touching to embracing, kissing and more explicit behaviors). To be included in the Sexual Violence category, a video had to meet the following criteria: A video that met the criteria for both sexual and violent categories could be included only if the victim - aggressor relationship defined under Violence criteria was played by members of opposite sexes -— that is, if violent criteria were met by a male - female dyad that also met the sexual criteria in the video, the video was eligible for inclusion. If the violence and sex were embodied in one encounter, the video included explicitly sexual violence. To be explicitly sexual, the violence had to be used in order to gain sexual contact between a man and a woman, one of whom was clearly 29 aggressing, the other clearly under force. Finally, a sexual encounter in which one person was injured while fighting was counted as sexual violence. Implied or threatened violence between men and women not meeting sexual criteria was not included. Judgements about the video content were made by application of the above criteria to a pool of recorded videos. Judgements were made by the researcher, with confirmation from a female advisor. Table 1 presents the number of videos in video content categories. Table 1 Videos in Each Content Category SEXUAL INTERACTION YES NO g 1 Eva YES 6 videos 2 6 videos HE" I 030 ' C04: : ma: , mm l 8; NO 7 videos i «:H : i Videos chosen for the Violence content Category were: "Don’t Need a Gun" by Billy Idol "Tonight, Tonight, Tonight" by Genesis "We’re Not Going to Take It" by Twisted Sister "Smuggler’s Blues" by Glenn Frye "Shock the Monkey" by Peter Gabriel "Brothers" by Brian Spence 30 Videos Chosen for the Sex content category were: "Kiss You When It’s Dangerous" by Eight Seconds "Wrap It Up" by the Fabulous Thunderbirds "Boys of Summer" by Don Henley "Goodbye Saving Grace" by Jon Butcher "I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight" by The Cutting Crew "Slip of The Lip" by Ratt "Open Your Heart" by Madonna Videos chosen for the Sexual Violence content category were: "Ain’t So Easy" by David and David "I’m No Angel" by Greg Allman "Is It Love" by Mr. Mister "Someone Like You" by Daryl Hall "Hungry Like the Wolf" by Duran Duran "Day In/Day Out" by David Bowie Belief.Statements Statements were generated to reflect-perceptionswabout violence, sex and sexual violencewhichmwere_suggested by —'— the content of one or more target videos. Target videos were ‘4‘ _ll-I-I. - watched repeatedly to derive sentences that described the 33323;-(for example "a gang of men beat up another man against a chain link fence that ran along a street") and the circumstances around the events ("no one tried to stop the beating, no police arrived, the singer observed but did not interfere"). Then the researcher wrote one hundred state- ments for each content category, generalizing the specific video events. Two undergraduate males and a female advisor reviewed the statements and reduced them to 50 for each category by eliminating those that they did not believe were representative of video content, or that were unacceptable in nature or form. The researcher and advisor reduced the 31 statement categories to their final size by eliminating those statements least general to category content. Belief Statements: Validated Statement validity was checked by using a panel of raters to view the videos and indicate which statements they believed were embodied in or descriptive of the content of each video. Raters were parents who volunteered, accessed through an area Parent-Teacher Association, ranging in age from 25-40. Six raters watched the videos and filled out the validity checklist after instruction. The checklist included all target statements and statements thought not to be supported in videos. Oral instructions were to watch a video, then indicate which statements were supported by the visual content of that video. Raters worked in two groups on two consecutive days. The first day four raters, two male and two female, completed the procedure, and the second day two more raters, both female, did the same. They were shown the videos one at a time, grouped by content. A short pause after each video was taken so raters could indicate support- ed statements. A sample page of the rating checklist is included in Appendix B. Validity of each statement was assessed through two calculations. First, an agreement ratio was determined by counting how many of the six raters judged that a statement was embodied in or descriptive of content presented in at least one video in the content category. Then the average 32 number of different videos within the content category with which each statement was associated was calculated. Thus each statement had two determinants of validity: an agreement ratio like 4/6 (4 raters out of 6 believed the statement illustrated some video or videos in the video content category) and a pervasiveness average, like 3.7, (responding raters saw this statement in an average of 3.7 videos from the video content category). Statements that were not marked by at least 3 out of 6 raters were elimi- nated from analysis (but retained on the survey), as were those that were supported in an average of less than one video. Eleven statements were eliminated from analysis on the basis of this validation. Ratings for each statement are included in Appendix B. As a final step in refining the belief statements, five teens in the subject age group (2 male, 3 female) reviewed the final draft to eliminate statements they found unclear or inappropriate. Three statements were eliminated. During factor analysis of sex statements, the factors failed to converge after twenty eight rotations on the Varimax. Seven sex statements that had not loaded .4 on any factor were then dropped from analysis. The Questionnaire The final questionnaire included 22 statements in the ViOIence set, 36 in Sex and 33 in Sexual Violence. Twenty one Neutral statements were also included, along with 33 gender-balancing statements, to mitigate the intensity and the depressing slant of the questionnaire. Table 2 illus- trates the statement sets as they appeared on the question- naire. All sets were reduced for analysis by eliminating repetitions and through the dropping of the seven Sex state- ments referred to above. Table 2 Number of Statements in Each Statement Set SEXUAL INTERACTION YES NO YES 33 statements 22 statements AGGRESSIVE INTERACTION NO 36 statements 21 statements The questionnaire is contained in Appendix A. It has threeparts: MTV exposure (with demographics), specific video exposure, and belief statements. Questions relevant to this thesis are summarized briefly below and will be discussed in detail later. MTV Exposure (with demographics): Cable subscription, VCR ownership, use of VCR to record or watch MTV or rented videos, and MTV viewership on school days and weekend days. Specific Video Exposure: Whether a video has been viewed, how many times viewed, how many times viewed on a VCR. Statement sets: Belief statements related to violence, sex, and sexual violence in MTV videos analysed. 34 VCR questions were included to assess MTV viewership on tape, especially in relation to the four videos with "subli- minal" content discussed in Appendix D. Gender was also assessed. The Sample The survey was administered to 317 eighth and ninth grade students from two schools in the same district. The school district serves a middle class suburban area that receives cable television. Surveys were administered on two consecutive days, over 11 class hours. All classes were required social studies classes whose teachers had consented to the research. Survey administration and instructions took about 40 minutes and were followed by a debriefing about the survey questions, class discussion about the survey, and at the teachers’ request, a general presentation about social research. The primary researcher (female) and a trained undergraduate student (male) administered the surveys. For each class, one researcher gave instructions, one debriefed and both participated in discussion. The mean age of respondents was 14.5 years. Fifty three percent were female, 47 percent male. Independent and Dependent Variables The independent (viewership) variables for this study are interval level, with a true zero and high scores indicating high levels of exposure. The dependent variables 35 are interval level summative indices of Likert scale items. Dependent Variables The Violence statement set included 18 items, the Sex statement set 25, and the Sexual Violence statement set 27 items. Factor analysis was used to identify underlying dimen- sions within the three sets of belief statements. A Varimax rotation was applied to factors. Summative indices of items loading .4 or higher were created. Individual item scores were added for each factor, and divided by the total number of items in the factor. Four Violence factors emerged from Violence items. Table 3 shows the factor indices with their labels, the statements that make them up, the percent of variance for which they account, and the factor loading of each statement. High scores on the scales associated with these fac- tors indicate agreement to the statements and suggest beliefs congruent with those expressed in the selected MTV videos. 36 Table 3 Factor Indices VIOLENCE FACTORS V-l The-World-Is-Full-Of-Danger Accounted for 20% of the variance Loading Item .63 . The world is full of danger .62 Nobody is safe these days .61 The world is full of people who will hurt you if they get the chance .60 This is a scarey world .55 This scarey world can drive you insane .49 Men are violent V-2 You-Have-To-Use-Violence Accounted for 9% of the variance Loading Item .73 Men have to fight to survive .62 Sometimes you have to use force to get what you want in this world .60 Violence is human nature .41 You can’t trust anyone in this world (also loaded .4 on V-l) V-3 Most-People-Have-Guns Accounted for 7% of the variance Loading Item .73 Nobody is very upset by violence these days .57 If you see someone getting beat up, you better mind you own business .47 People aren’t safe unless they have a gun .43 Most people have guns V-4 Families-Can-Hurt-You Accounted for 6% of the variance Loading Item .73 Kids would love to get back at their parents .67 Parents hurt their children .4 It is natural to hurt peOple when you are very angry 37 Table 3 (cont’d.) SEX FACTORS S-l Sexy-Is-Powerful Accounted for 23% of the variance Loading Item .67 Men want to turn women on .59 A sexy woman has a lot of power over men .58 A sexy man has a lot of power over women .57 Male musicians are sexy to women .53 Mysterious women are sexy to men .52 When a woman chooses a man to kiss, she expects him to want to kiss her .5 Women look men over to see if they want them .48 Women tease men sexually S-2 Men-And-Women-Always-Want-To-Kiss Accounted for 7% of the variance Loading Item .8 A man would like it if a woman he didn’t know came up and kissed him .74 A man would like to kiss any sexy woman 6 A woman would like to kiss any sexy man .56 A woman would like it if a man she didn’t know came up and kissed her S-3 Relationships-Are-Just-A-Game Accounted for 6% of the variance Loading Item .78 Men often kiss men they don’t know very well .75 Women often kiss men they don’t know very well .52 Relationships between men and women are just a game 8-4 Men-And-Woman-Trick-Each-Other Accounted for 6% of the variance Loading Item .64 In relationships between men and women, someone usually gets hurt .6 Sexy women play hard to get .59 Men and women try to trick each other .54 Men look women over to decide if they want them 8-5 For-A-Woman-Appearance-Says-A-Lot Accounted for 5 % of the variance Loading Item .77 You can tell if a woman is interested in sex from the way she is dressed Men don’t have to be good-looking to be sexy to women .5 To look sexy, women should wear revealing clothes n e l 38 Table 3 (cont’d.) SEXUAL VIOLENCE FACTORS SV-l Men-Are-Violent-Toward-Women Accounted for 19% of the variance Loading Item .72 Men force women to do things .57 Sexy men are forceful with women .55 Women are afraid of men .50 When men get angry they hit women .46 Men hurt women they love .45 Men are often violent to women they have sex with SV-2 Fear-Danger-Power-Are-Sexy Accounted for 7% of the variance Loading Item .6 It’s not bad for a woman to hit a man, since she can’t do much harm .58 Men are like hunters and women are like wild animals .57 Kissing a woman is a good way to show her who is boss .51 Men who look dangerous are sexy to women (also loaded .43 on SV-3) .48 Women look sexy when they are frightened SV-3 Women-Who-Run-Want-To-Be-Chased Accounted for 6% of the variance Loading Item .73 Women are turned on by men who chase them when they run .67 Women who look helpless are sexy to men .64 When a woman runs from a man, she wants him to chase her SV-4 Violence-Is-Part-Of-Love-And-Sex Accounted for 5% of the variance Loading Item .81 Violence is often part of love .76 Violence is often part of sex SV-5 Men-And-Women-Hate-Each-Other Accounted for 5% of the variance Loading Item .64 Lots of men hate women .57 Lots of women hate men 39 Table 3 (cont’d.) SV-6 Women-Can-Be-Dangerous-To-Men Accounted for 5% of the variance Loading Item .64 Men force women to do things .57 If a man beats a woman and treats her bad, she might kill him .54 Women hurt men they love (also loaded .46 on SV-7) .48 When women get angry they hit men SV-7 Women-Struggle-Against-Force Accounted for 4% of the variance Loading Item .71 Women hate men who force them to do things .40 If a woman really wants to get away from a man, she can 40 Independent Variables MTV viewing was assessed by combining responses to two questions about MTV viewing. A composite MTV viewing varia- ble was created by weighting school days by five, weekend days by two, and adding to get an MTV viewing average. The questions were: "On a typical school day, about how much time do you spend watching MTV?" and "On a typical Saturday or Sunday, about how much time do you spend watching MTV?" Each question was accompanied by the following scale and the directions "Circle the time that is closest to your usual 0 amount of time.' No Time 5 minutes 10 minutes 15 minutes 20 minutes 25 minutes 30 minutes 40 minutes 50 minutes hour hour and 15 minutes hour and 1/2 hour and 45 minutes hours and 1/2 hours Three hours more than three hours NNHHHH Responses were converted to minutes during coding. "More than three hours" was coded as four hours, or 240 minutes. Simple exposure to Violence, Sex and Sexual Violence videos was measured by summing "yes" reponses to "Have you seen the video...". These indices show how many of the videos in the content category the respondent had viewed at least once. Multiple exposure indices were created by 41 summing responses to the question ”How many times have you seen this video?" These indices give a general indication of frequency of exposure to MTV each video in each content category. These exposure measures were used as the indepen- dent variables in hypothesis testing. Data Analysis Pearson’s correlations were used to test the hypothe- sized relationships between the dependent variables and the independent variables. Those same correlations were also run separately for male and female respondents to examine differences by gender. 42 RESULTS Results of MTV use and exposure measures follow. Mean agreement to factors is also reported in Results, as well as the results of hypothesis testing. Eighty six percent of respondents have cable TV. Seven- ty seven percent have a VCR at home. Fifty six percent never watch MTV videos on a VCR; twelve percent do so often or very often and thirty eight percent do so not very Often. Fifty eight percent never watch rented music videos on a VCR; eleven percent do so often or very often and thirty one percent do so not very often. Sixty nine percent reported that when they watch music videos on a VCR they never watch in slow motion or use a pause button; seven percent do so often or very often and twenty four percent do so not very often. (Appendix D gives detailed results of VCR use for four videos). MTV Viewing Table 4 displays MTV viewing on school days and weekends. Almost fifty percent of respondents reported watching MTV more than fifteen minutes on a typical school day. Twenty four percent said they watch more than thirty minutes, and twelve percent of students watch more than one hour of MTV on school days. Slightly more than six percent of respondents reported watching MTV two hours or more on school days. The percentage of non-viewers remained almost the same 42 43 NN N~ ma Na ma mm fig ma o~ «H Xmm xmm A.O:ME m.om u cams. 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Table 5 Average Daily Minutes of MTV Viewing Minutes of Percentage of Respondants MTV (mean = 35.4 mins.) 0 17 1-5 11 6-15 19 16-30 16 31-60 17 61-240 19 (N=304) More than fifty percent of respondents watch MTV for more than fifteen minutes on an average day. Thirty six percent watch more than one half hour; almost twenty percent watch more than one hour. Six percent of the sample reported watching two hours or more a day. 45 Specific Videos Exposure to specific videos was high. Of the 27 videos listed, seven had been viewed by more than 75 percent of respondents. Seventeen had been viewed by more than 50 percent. Only three videos had been viewed by less than 25 percent of the sample -- one video from each content cate— gory. (Fully 94 percent of the sample reported having seen "Walk Like an Egyptian" by the Bangles). Using the Simple Exposure measure, respondents reported seeing an average of 3 of the 6 Violence content category videos, 3 of the 7 Sex videos, and 3 of the 6 Sexual Vio- lence videos. Using the multiple exposure measure, Violence videos had been seen an average of 35 times across all videos. Sex videos had been seen an average of 27 times across all videos, and Sexual Violence videos had been seen an average of 30 times. Correlations between multiple viewing measures for every category were high. Simple viewing for each category was also highly correlated with simple viewing for the other categories. Simple and multiple measures were correlated with each other. Overall MTV viewing was correlated with all other measures, but the correlations were not as strong as as those between other measures. Table 6 shows the correlations between Viewing measures. 46 me. me. me. me. as. _e. me. em. om. we. in. .wasm .Hasaz moszOH> J A me. an. em. >92 .HaDwz .HQEm .waudz >ez xmm mozmqu> mmwsmmmz mcwzmfi> :OO2aom mCOMumamwwoo m manmb 47 Belief Statements Mean agreement to each of the indices is reported in Table 7. Agreement was indicated on a scale of 1-5, where 5 : strongly agree and 1 = strongly disagree. Table 7 Mean Agreement to Factor Indices Factor Number and Name Overall Females Males N=304 N=161 N=143 Violence Factors 1 - This-is-a-scarey-world 3.196 3 135 3.267 2 - You-have-to-use-violence 2.788 2.537 3.073 3 - Most-people-have-guns 2.287 2.108 2 500 4 - Families-can-hurt-you 3.083 3.048 3.123 Sex Factors 1 - Sexy-is-powerful 3.524 3.414 3.656 2 - Men-and-women- 3.492 3.297 3.714 always-want-to-kiss 3 - Relationships-are- 2.850 2.761 2.955 just-a-game 4 - Men-and-women-trick- 3.398 3.364 3.436 each-other 5 - For-a-woman-appearance- 3.430 3.730 3.073 says-a lot Sexual Violence Factors 1 - Men-are-violent-toward- 2.628 2.634 2.621 women 2 - Fear-danger-power-are- 2.430 2.208 2.685 sexy 3 - Women-who-run-want-to- 2.764 2.630 2.914 be-chased 4 - Violence-is-part-of- 2.402 2.194 2.638 love-and-sex 48 Table 7 (cont’d.) Factor number and name Overall Females Males 5 - Men-and-women-hate- 2.472 2.416 * 2.535 each-other 6 - Women-can-be-dangerous- 2.716 2.554 * 2.909 to-men 7 - Women-struggle-against- 3.106 3.106 3.105 force * Difference between means for females and males is significant at P : < .05 There was strongest agreement overall with the Sex belief indices. Signifiganthgendenwdiffefienges emerged for eleven of the sixteen belief indices. In all but one instance, male adolescent’s beliefs were significantly more congruent with the belief statements derived from MTV videos than were female adolescents beliefs. The one exception was also the largest gender difference found: females agreed more strongly that For-a-woman-appearance-says-a-lot. Males more than females believed violence is neccesary, sexy is powerful, men and women always want to kiss, relationships are just a game, fear, danger, power are sexy, women who run want to be chased, violence is part of love and sex, men and women hate each other, and women can be dangerous to men. Hypothesis Testing Tables 8, 9 and 10 show the correlations between the MTV exposure indices and agreement to related factors. The 49 memo. mmmo.l mmv~.I* mmmo. ommo.| bmmo. vomo.1 mmm0.n sowtega: -mmmnuema ¢I> Nooo. >mmo.n. memo. ebmo. Nefio.i mmmc.l mmoo. mmeo.| >o~o.: mesolo>m= IOHQOOQ lumoz m|> memo. o>co.n m cocoHOw>IomD noulm>m= nouomm mwouomm OOCOHOM> wow mcofiomdmwhoo mm~.sw mmn~.* emeo. mafia. ammo. Hmmo.l hmmo.i NI> mo. v m mo:mo«m«:mwm mmumoflpcw * mafia. wage. ummfi.lu mmoo.| mumc.i wmoo.l wave. evmo.l O>N~.I hmmcmplmo uafismupawos H|> >92 Lmaxm oneness: umaxm manswm mmq92 smaxm Omawaazz nmaxm maasfim mmq52 wmmxm Ommwuasz wmmxm Odasfim JJO manawta> w mdamfi 50 emmfi. 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There was no correlation between MTV viewing and agreement to the Violence factors for the overall sample (see Table 8). However, significant correlations were found between MTV viewing and agreement to three of the five Sex factors (see Table 9). There were significant positive correlations between MTV viewing and the factors Sexy-is-powerful (S-1), Men-and-women-always-want-to-kiss (S-2), and Men-and-women- trick-each-other, (S-4). Significant correlations were also found between MTV viewing and agreement to four of the seven Sexual Violence factors (see Table 10). Positive correlations were found between MTV viewing and Men-are-violent-toward-women (SV-l), Fear-danger-power-are-sexy (SV-Z), and Violence-is-part-of- love-and-sex (SV-3). A negative correlation was found between MTV viewing and Women-struggle-against-force (SV-7). 53 The negative correlation to SV-7 is counter to Hypothesis 1. Hypothesis 2 was not supported. It stated: Respondents who have more exposure to music videos that show violent interactions will indicate more agreement with statements of beliefs and attitudes based on that content than will respondants with less exposure to the videos. There were no significant overall correlations between xposure to Violence videos and agreement with Violence factors for the overall sample (see Table 8). Hypothesis 3 was partially supported. It stated: Respondents who have more exposure music videos that show sexual male-female interactions will indicate more agreement with statements of beliefs and attitudes based on that content than will respondants with less exposure to the videos. Significant correlations were found between two of the five Sex factors and Sex video exposure measures for the overall sample (see Table 9). Positive correlation was found between both simple exposure and multiple exposure to Sex videos and the factor Men-and-women-always-want-to-kiss (S- 2). Positive correlation was found between multiple exposure and For-a-woman-appearance-says-a-lot (S-5). Hypothesis 4 was not supported. It stated: Respondents who have more exposure to music videos that show violent and sexual male-female interactions will indi- cate more agreement with statements of beliefs and attitudes based on that content than will respondants with less 54 exposure to the videos. Significant correlations were found between two of the seven Sexual Violence factors and Sexual Violence video exposure measures (see Table 10). Positive correlation was found between multiple exposure to Sexual Violence videos and the factor Men-are-violent-toward-women (SV-l). Negative correlation was found between simple exposure and the factor Women-struggle-against-violence (SV-7). The negative correlation is counter to Hypothesis 1. Gender Differences For females, overall MTV was positively correlated with one Violence factor, You-have-to-use-violence (V-2). Exposure to Violence videos was not significantly cor- related with any Violence factors in females (see Table 6). Results were very different for females and Sex fac- tors. MTV viewing in females was positively correlated with three of the five Sex factors: Sexy-is-powerful (S-1); Men- and-women-always-want-to-kiss (S-2); and Men-and-women- trick-each-other (S-4). Exposure to Sex videos was correlated with two of the five Sex factors for females. Men-and-women-want-to-kiss (S- 2) was positively correlated with multiple and simple expo- sure measures, and Relationships-are-just-a-game (S-3) was positively correlated with Sex video simple exposure (see Table 9). For females and Sexual Violence, MTV viewing was 55 correlated with four of the seven factors. MTV viewing in females was positively correlated with the factors Men-are- violent-toward-women (SV-l), Fear-danger-power-are-sexy (SV- 2) and Violence-is—part-of-love-and-sex (SV-4). It was nega- tivly correlated with "Women struggle against Force (SV-5) (See Table 10). There were no significant correlations for males’ agreement to factors and MTV viewing in males. There were significant correlations between exposure to Violence videos and Violence factors among males, though. A negative correlation was found between simple exposure to Violence videos in males and the factors This-is-a-scarey- world (V—1), You-have-to-use-violence (V-2), and Families- can-hurt-you (V-3) (See Table 8). Among males there were no significant correlations betweeen MTV viewing and Sex factors. There were, however, significant correlations between three of the five factors and multiple exposure to Sex videos. Positive correlations were found for Men-and-women-always-want-to-kiss-each-other, Men-and-women-trick-each-other, and For-a-woman-appearance- says-a-lot (see Table 9). There were no significant correlations between MTV viewing and Sexual Violence factors among males. There was one significant correlation between multiple exposure to Sexual Violence videos and agreement to a Sexual Violence factor. The correlation was positive and the factor was Women-struggle-against-violence (SV-5) 56 The relationships between exposure to MTV and agreement with MTV belief statements appears to be substantially different for adolescent males and females. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS This study found significant positive correlations .beefieen MTV viewing and belief statements about sexfthat were derived from selected MTV videos. Among female viewers, several significant positive correlations were found between MTV viewing and belief statements about sex and sexual violence. Among males, positive correlations were found between MTV viewing and belief statements about sex. Al- though the purpose of this study was not to conduct a con- tent analysis of MTV, it appears that the belief statements derived from specific videos are not unique to the nineteen target videos examined here. Overall MTV viewing amount was the independent variable most strongly correlated with agreement, rather than simple “ -~..... ~ 1“ a». 7-. and multiple exposure to videos (although these were signi- ficantly correlated with agreement in several cases). That pattern suggests that although exposure to particular video content is associated with congruent be- liefs, repeated exposure to many videos over time has a more consistent link to congruent beliefs. Such a conclusion is supported by cultivation theory and the conclusions of Himmelweit and Bell cited in Chapter 1. That finding may be accounted for, though, by the timing of questionnaire administration in relation to the analysis of videos included in the simple and multiple viewing measures. Videos were analysed in February and March of 1987. The questionnaire was administered at the end of 57 58 May 1987. Because play of videos on MTV changes very quickly, those videos chosen in February and March may not have been viewed recently enough in May to demonstrate a measurable correlation with particular belief statements embodied in them. If that time lag had an effect on the results, the relationship between congruent beliefs and MTV viewing over time would be supported, since consistency of content is suggested. Cultivation hypotheses were not supported for.violence beliefs. In fact, for males, viewing MTV was associated with fwfi'. "'- l ‘a’ violence in other broadcast media has a stronger impact than MTV. Perhaps watching MTV means not watching something else that could be more violent. Correlations for female viewers of MTV in this study were more numerous than those for males in the categories of sex and sexual violence. The "school of life" finding by Brown et al. (1986), suggests that females, more attentive to MTV content, were using the medium to gain information about the dominant (male) MTV culture. If that is so, then female respondents in this study might be searching for sex-role and male-female interaction information on MTV. Males would be less motivated to gain such information from MTV because of different motives for use (in Brown’s study males used MTV not as a school of life, but for general diversion), membership in the dominant culture group and less need for information about sexual roles and behaviors in male-female ‘r- ...- 59 interactions ascribed by that culture. Thus, gender differ- ences in MTV use and information needs emerging from cul- tural differences would mediate the impact of MTV messages. With or without MTV, male adolescents’ sex and sexual violence beliefs are more in agreement with the statements derived from MTV videos than female adolescents’ beliefs. Given an overwhelming predominance of males involved in the creation of MTV videos (only one female artist was featured in the nineteen target videos) and the heavily male content found in the MTV content analyses cited in Chapter 1, it could be inferred that MTV presents a male perspective, as suggested by Brown et al (1986). This is supported by the gender differences found in this thesis. It is interesting to note, then, that females who watch a lot of MTV are more likely to agree with the MTV (dominant culture, male) perspective than females who do not watch MTV and thus may not have been exposed as much to that perspec— tive. Watching MTV was found to have less influence on male’s_beliefs than on females’_beliefs. (It should be noted that throughout this study mean agreement to belief statements hovered around 3 on a scale of 1-5, with 1 indicating strong disagreement and 5 equaling strong agreement (see Table 7). Agreement to most statements is important as a relative agreement, a measure to be correlated or compared to other variables.) .*E2£W9§133: sexual violence beliefs were essentially uncorrelated With MTV viewing, with a single exception. An 60 interaction effect was observed for the factor Women- Struggle-Against-Force. Mean comparisons showed no differ- ence between male and female agreement with the factor index. However, MTV viewing was negatively correlated with the factor for females and positively correlated for males. The statements comprising that factor are: If a woman really wants to get away from a man, she can; women hate men who force them to do things. In disagreeing with those state- ments, female MTV viewers indicated belief in a state of relative impotence for females in relation to men. Male viewers, though, agreed with those statements, indicating beliefs like those portrayed in some of the target sexual violence videos, where women may be harrassed and pursued, but manage to get away if they really want to. The males indicated belief in the power of women to defend and protect themselves, if they really want to. The implication for males, then, is that if a woman does not get away, or does not hate a man, it is because she does not really want to -- she does not really mind the aggression. The belief indi- cated by females, though, is that a woman can not or should not resist a man to the degree of escape or hatred for a male aggressor. It cannot be determined on the basis of this study whether the sexes interpreted opposite messages from the same content, or whether other content influenced these beliefs. -Eor females, three of the remaining sexual violence indices were positively correlated with MTV viewing: Men- 61 are-Violent—Toward-Women; Fear,-Danger,-Power-are-Sexy and Violence-is-Part-of—Love—and-Sex. The impression supported is that female MTV viewers tend more to believe that women are endangered by men, and moreover, that such danger is a part of the experience of love and sex for women and men. Female viewers did not show correlation between viewing and agreement to Men-and-Women-Hate-Each-Other, or to Women-Can- Be-Dangerous, which completes the picture of female MTV viewers as believing in womens’ positions as victims who can not or should not defend themselves from the sexual aggres- sion of males. Perhaps the pattern of agreement and disagreement should also be considered in light of other implications of the sexual violence factor Women-Struggle-Against-Force. Implicit in the two statements that comprise that factor is the acceptance that women are victims. Males showed a positive correlation between exposure to sexual violence videos and that belief. The correlation for females was a negative one. So perhaps to the discussion of Women- Struggle-Against-Force should be appended -- by one factor index, male viewers see females as victims, females viewers ‘segwmgn as perpetrators, male viewers do not. MMM nun-Mm... ..r ;. -. ‘ H a'n‘”;‘—’vt~~ taxi-Id. . Results for males and females in impact studies have varied in type and degree from one study to another. Because of the irregular results reported in the literature, no female-male hypotheses were stated for this study. It was 62 expected, though, that males would Show correlations between viewing and beliefs about violence and sexual violence, as they have in some pornography research (Zillman, 1982; Linz et al., 1984; Malamuth and Check, 1981a). Males and females both showed correlations between MTV viewing and the sex beliefs. For both genders, viewing was correlated with Men-and-Women-Always-Want-to-Kiss and Men- and-Women-Trick—Each-Other. Females showed correlations be- tween viewing and Sexy-is-Powerful and Relationships-are- Just—a-Game. Males who watched a lot of MTV were more likely to agree that For-a—Woman,-Appearance-Says—A-Lot. Those factors and their statements reflect a sexually teasing, power-juggling atmosphere for men and women -- one in which relationships are not serious, partners are interchangeable and both sexes use sexual attractiveness to manipulate and judge the other. From the perspective of social impacts of MTV, these suggestions are bleak. From the perspective of cultivation theory and other impact studies’ results, though, they are both predictable and appropriate. Heavily stereotyped por- trayals of women, male-dominated content, and incidents and patterns that pair sex and violence are common on MTV, as shown in the quantitative and qualitative analyses cited in Chapter 1. A weakness of this study is that it made use of corre— lations, which do not show causality. From these results it cannot be determined whether MTV actually has an impact on 63 the beliefs of viewers, or whether people with congruent beliefs choose to watch MTV. The results do suggest that there may be some impact, that such impact might be espe- cially strong for females, and that the impact is strongest from overall exposure, rather than from a particular video’s content. Qualitative content analysis using belief statements, or perhaps the application of derived belief statements to a systematic sample of videos through a large group of raters, would document pervasiveness of themes. Further impact studies are indicated, with close atten- tion to issues of sexual violence and to gender differences for exposure and beliefs. LIST OF REFERENCES LIST OF REFERENCES /)Oé;ferheide, P- (1985) "Music Videos: The Look of the Sound." Journal of Communication (winter): 57-78. F 9mJ'6 Baran, S. (1976a) "How TV and Film Portrayals Affect Sexual Satisfaction in College Students." Journalism Quarterly: 468-473. Baran, S. (1976b) "Sex on TV and Adolescent Sexual Self- Image." Journal of Broadcasting 20 (winter):1: 61-68. Brown, J. (1986) "Teenage Victims of the Sexual Sell." Planned Parenthood Review 6 (winter):1: 4-7. Brown, J., K. Campbell, L. Fisher (1986) "American Adolescents and Music Videos: Why Do They Watch?" Gazette 37:19-32. Buerkel-Rothfus, N., S. 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Unpublished MA Thesis, Michigan State University, East Lansing MI. Sun, S-W., J. Lull (1986) "The Adolescent Audience for Mu ic Videos and Why They Watch." Journal of Communication \; (winter): 115- Tetzlaff, D. (1986) "MTV and the Politics of Post-Modern Pop." Journal of Communication Inquiry 10:1 (winter) 80-91.., 68 Thornton, W., L. Voigt (1984) "Television and Delinquency: A Neglected Dimension of Social Control." Youth and Society 15:4: 445-468.125. TV Viewer (1980) "Impact of TV on Adolescent Girls’ Sexual Attitudes and Behavior 13: February 14: 1-2. Vincent, R., D. Davis, L. Boruszowski (1986) "Sexism on MTV: A Content Analysis of Music Videos." Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Chicago, IL, May. Zillman, D. (1986) "Effects of Prolonged Consumption of LfrPornography" Paper prepared for the Surgeon General’s ’ Workshop on Pornography and Public Health,, Arlington VI June 22-24. Zillman, D., J. Bryant (1982) "Pornography, Sexual Callousness and the Trivialization of Rape." Journal of Communication 32:4: 10-21. ) Zillman, D., N.Mundorf (1986) "Effects of Sexual and Violent .7 Images in Rock Music Videos on Music Appreciation." Presented at the Slst Annual Convention of the Broadcast Education Association, Dallas, TX April. APPENDICES APPENDIX A Survey Instrument 69 This questionnaire is part of a study about teenagers and MTV. You don't have to answer any questions on this questionnaire. i would appreciate your help, though, and if you choose to answer these questions, that would be great. Please work quickly and carefully and answer questions honestly. And relax...there are no right or wrong answers and I will never know who filled these questionnaires out. You can quit filling this out anytime you want to. Do not write your name anywhere on this questionnaire. if you have any questions now or later, please ask. Thanks! 70 Please answer these questions about yourself. Your answers are anonymous. l. How old are you? 2. What grade are you in at school? a 9 3. Are you female or male? female male 4. Do you have a TV in your home? yes no 5. Do you have cable TV? yes no 6. Do you watch MTV (music video channel 32) at home? yes no 7. Do you watch MTV anywhere else? yes no a. Do you have a VCR- (video cassette recorder) in your home? yes no 9. Do you ever watch MTV videos on a VCR? very often often not very often not at all 10. Do you ever watch rented music videos on a VCR? very often often not very often not at all i l. When you watch music videos on a VCR, do you ever watch them in slow motion or use the pause button to watch them? very often often not very often not at all 71 12. On a typical school day, about how much time do you spend watching MTV? (circle the time that is closest to your usual amount of time) No time 5 minutes 10 minutes l5 minutes 20 minutes 25 minutes 30 minutes 40 minutes 50 minutes i hour 1 hour and 15 minutes i hour and 1/2 1 hour and 45 minutes 2 hours 2 and 1/2 hours three hours more than three hours 14. On a typical Saturday or Sunday. about how much time do you spend watching MTV? (circle the amount of time closest to your usual time). No time 5 minutes 10 minutes l5 minutes 20 minutes 25 minutes 30 minutes 40 minutes 50 minutes i hour 1 hour and 15 minutes 1 hour and NZ l hour and 45 minutes 2 hours 2 and l.’:.’ hours three hours more than three hours 72 15. Yesterday, about how much time did you spend watching MTV? (circle the right amount closest to the time you spent yesterday). No time 5 minutes 10 minutes 15 minutes 20 minutes 25 minutes 30 minutes 40 minutes 50 minutes 1 hour 1 hour and 15 minutes 1 hour and 1/2 1 hour and 45 minutes 2 hours 2 and 1/2 hours three hours more than three hours Thanks for the information. Please go on to the next section. 73 Please answer these questions about music videos. For each video, the first question is ”Have you seen ( --------- ) 7“ If you have seen the video, there are four more questions to answer. If you have not seen the video, just answer "no' to that first question and go on to the next video. Have you seen Ain't So Easy by David and David? yes no About how many times have you seen it? How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? Have you seen l'm No Angel by Greg Allman? yes no About how many times have you seen it? _— How much did you like it? . Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? Have you seen is It Love by Mr. Mister? yes no About how many times have you seen it? How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn‘t like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? 74 Have you seen Someone Like You by Daryl Hall? yes no About how many times have you seen it? _— How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? Have you seen Hungry Like the Wolf by Duran Duran? yes no About how many times have you seen it? How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? Have you seen Day ln/Day Out by David Bowie? yes no About how many times have you seen it? How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? 75 Have you seen Kiss You (When It's Dangerous) by 8 Seconds? yes no About how many times have you seen it? _— How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? Have you seen Wrap it Up by the Fabulous Thunderbirds? yes no About how many times have you seen it? _— How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? Have you seen Boys of Summer by Don Henley? yes no About how many times have. you seen it? __ How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? 76 Have you seen Goodbye Saving Grace by Jon Butcher? yes no About how many times have you seen it? .— How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? Have you seen I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight by the Cutting Crew? ' yes no About how many times have you seen it? How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? Have you seen Slip of the Lip by Rott? yes no About how many times have you seen it? How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? 77 Have you seen Open Your Heart by Madonna? yes no About how many times have you seen it? How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn’t like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? Have you seen With or Without Vou by U-2? yes no About how many times have you seen it? _— How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? Have you seen Don't Need A Sun by Billy Idol? yes no About how many times have you seen it? __ How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? 78 Have you seen Tonight Tonight Tonight by Genesis? yes no About how many times have you seen it? How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? HavengseenfieleJloLGojng to Take It b Twisted Sister? " ' yes no About how many times have you seen it? _— How much did you like it? Liked very much . liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? _— Have you seen Smuggler‘s Blues by Glen Frye? yes no About how many times have you seen it? _— How much did you like it? Likedvery much liked some didn‘t like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? 79 Have you seen Shock the rlonkey by Peter Gabriel? yes no About how many times have you seen it? _— How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn‘t like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? Have you seen Brothers by Bryan Spence? yes no About how many times have you seen it? How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? Have you seen That Ain't Love by RED? yes no About how many times have you seen it? __ How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? __ 80 Have you seen Lets Go by Wang Chung? yes no About how many times have you seen it? How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? Have you seen Come As You Are by Peter Wolf? yes no About how many times have you seen it? _— How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? Have you seen Walk Like An Egyptian by the Bangles? yes no About how many times have you seen it? _— How much did you like it? Liked very much liked some didn't like much didn't like at all About how many times have you watched it on video cassette? 82 l'm really glad that you are filling out this questionnaire. This is the last part. You are doing great. Now i would like to know what you think about some different things. Please read each statement and show how much you agree or disagree. For example: if you strongly agree, you would circle 5. stronl agree strongly disagree g . 3 2 i if you strongly disagree, you would circle 1. strongly agree strongly disagree 5 4 3 2 if you agree or disagree but not so strongly, you would circle a number in between. strongly agree strongly disagree These days, things change fast. 5 4 3 2 i Exercise cheers people up. 5 4 , 3 2 l Young people like to dance. 5 4 3 2 l People never forget their home towns. S 4 3 2 l A man would like to kiss any sexy 5 4 3 2 l woman. strongly agree strongly disagree 82 i'm really glad that you are filling out this questionnaire. This is the last part. You are doing great. Now i would like to know what you think about some different things. Please read each statement and show how much you agree or disagree. For example: If you strongly agree, you would circle 5. stronl agree strongly disagree g . 3 2 i If you strongly disagree, you would circle 1. strongly agree strongly disagree 5 4 3 2 if you agree or disagree but not so strongly, you would circle a number in between. strongly agree strongly disagree These days, things change fast. 5 4 3 2 i Exercise cheers people up. 5 4 A 3 2 i Young people like to dance. 5 4 3 2 l People never forget their home towns. 5 4 3 2 l A man would like to kiss any sexy 5 4 3 2 l woman. strongly agree strongly disagree 83 strongly agree strongly disagree Violence is often part of love. 5 4 3 2 1 Sometimes you have to use force to get what you want in this world. U] A LA to Music really gets people's attention. 5 4 3 2 i Sexy women play hard to get. 5 4 3 2 l Men look women over to decide if they want them. 5 4 3 2 l When a woman runs from a man, she wants him to chase her. 5 4 3 2 1 Lots of men take care of their own homes. 5 4 3 2 l Women want to turn men on. S 4 3 2 l Most people have guns. ‘5 4 3 2 i People of all ages like to have fun. 5 4 3 2 i It is natural to hurt people when you are very angry. 5 4 3 2 1 strongly agree strongly disagree 84 strongly agree strongly disagree Neighborhoods are full of friendly people. 5 4 3 2 l The woman who dresses sexiest gets the man. 5 4 3 2 l Relationships between men and women usually don't last very long. 5 4 3 2 1 Women who look helpless are sexy to men. 5 4 ' 3 2 l Musicians have a lot of fun performing songs. 5 4 3 2 1 Lots of people are always afraid in this world. 5 4 3 2 l A man would like it if a sexy woman he did not know came up and kissed him. 5 4 3 2 l Men force women to do things. '5 4 3 2 l People wish they could get back to the good old days. 5 4 3 2 1 Violence is often part of sex. 5 4 3 2 1 strongly agree strongly disagree 85 strongly agree You can't trust anyone in this world. 5 4 If a man beats a woman and treats her bad, she might kill him. 5 4 The world is full of danger. S 4 Musicians might show up anywhere. 5 4 A woman would like to kiss any sexy man. 5 4 Men have to fight to survive. S 4 People never forget their high school years. 5 4 Men hurt women they love. 5 4 To look sexy, women should wear revealing clothes. 5 4 Women are violent. S 4 Male musicians are sexy to women. 5 4 Nobody is safe these days. 5 4 strongly agree strongly disagree 2 l l\) 2 5 strongly disagree 86 strongly agree Lots of men hate women. 5 4 Peeple wake up feeling lousy. S 4 Mysterious women are sexy to men. 5 4 Love and sex usually go together. 5 4 Violence is human nature. 5 4 Women are afraid of men. ‘5 4 Women look sexy when they dance. 5 4 A woman who really loves a man will be kind to him even if he beats her up sometimes. 5 4 Dancing from other countries is fun to watch. 5 4 This is a scarey world. 5 4 Men and women are always trying to trick each other. '5 4 strongly agree LA strongly disagree 2 l 2 l strongly disagree strongly agree strongly disagree Sexy men are forceful with women. 5 4 3 2 i The world is changing all the time. S 4 3 2 l A sexy woman has a lot of power over men. 5 4 3 2 1 Women are turned on by men who 5 4 3 2 l chase them when they run. Parents hurt their children. 5 4 3 2 1 Women look sexy when they are frightened. S 4 3 2 1 Old fashioned people would like today's music. 5 4 3 2 1 Women tease men sexually. S 4 3 2 l Lots of women hate men. S 4 3 2 i If you see someone getting beat up, you better mind your own business. 5 4 3 2 i When men get angry, they hit women. 5 4 3 2 1 strongly agree strongly disagree 88 strongly agree People all over the world like to dance. Mysterious men are sexy to women. if a woman really wants to get away from a man, she can. People aren't safe today unless they have a gun. Women force men to do things. When you break up with someone you love, you can't stop thinking about them. This world is dangerous for children. Men are like hunters and women are like wild animals. A sexy man has a lot of power over women. The world is full of people who will hurt you if they get a chance. '5 4 S 4 5 4 ‘5 4 5 4 S 4 5 4 S 4 5 4 5 4 strongly agree strongly disagree l‘\) h) strongly disagree 89 strongly agree Sexy women are like little girls. Men are violent. Holding someone you love in your arms is a wonderful feeling. Women often kiss men they don't know very well. Women force men to do things. Danger can be exciting. Female musicians are sexy to men. Kissing a woman is a good way to show her who is boss. To look sexy, men should wear revealing clothes. if a man starts hurting a woman, it is likely that no one will help her. When a woman chooses a man to kiss, she expects him to want to kiss her. 5 5 S 4 4 strongly agree strongly disagree 2 l l\) 2 1 strongly disagree strongly agree 90 Relationships between men and women are just a game. Men force women to do things. Old people have a good sense of humor. ‘ The world is dangerous for women. Women don't have to be good-looking to be sexy to men. Nobody is very upset by violence these days. When women get angry, they hit men. Kids would love to get back at their parents. Men often kiss women they don't know very well. This scarey world can drive youinsane. S ‘5 4 strongly agree LA strongly disagree 2 1 strongly disagree 91 strongly agree Men hate women WhO force them to do things. 5 4 Men tease women sexually. S 4 Musicians are sexy people. 5 4 in relationships between men and women, someone usually gets hurt. S 4 A woman would like it if a sexy man she did not know came up and kissed her. 5 4 it's not bad for a woman to hit a man, since she can't do much harm. S 4 if a man beats a woman up, she will move out of the house. 5 4 Men don‘t have to be good-looking to be sexy to women. 5 4 if a woman goes around dressed in sexy clothes she is asking i' :r trouble from men. 5 4 women look men over to deCide if they want them. S 4 strongly agree LA strongly disagree IN) to 2 1 strongly disagree 92 strongly agree strongly disagree Men are angry at sexy women. 5 4 3 2 1 Women hurt men they love. 5 4 3 2 i You can tell if a woman is interested in sex from the way she is dressed. S 4 3 2 1 When a man chooses a woman to kiss, he expects her to want to kiss him. 5 4 3 2 l Men want to turn women on. 5 4 3 2 . l Men who look dangerous are sexy to women. 5 4 3 2 i Women hate men who force them to do things. 5 4 3 2 l Men are often violent to women they have sex with. S 4 3 2 1 Old people like to dance. 5 4 3 2 i This is a fast-paced world. S 4 3 2 i There are some things in life that people never forget. S 4 3 2 1 strongly agree strongly disagree 93 You have finished the questionnaire. Thank you for your time. if you have any time left, you might look back over the questionnaire to make sure you didn't skip any questions accidentally. Thanks again for your help! APPENDIX B Statement Rating Materials RATING INSTRUHENT (Sample Page) Women who look helpless are sexy to men. A man would like it” a sexy woman he did not know came up and kissed him. Violence is often part of sex. A woman would like to kiss any sexy man. To look sexy, women should wear revealing clothes. Women are violent. llole musicians are sexy to women. rlyste ious women are sexy to men. Love and sex usually go together. Women look sexy when they dance. lien and women are always trying to trick each other. sexy man are forceful with women. sexy woman has a lot of power ver en. When women get angry they hit men. women tease men sexually. Mysterious men are sexy to women. if a women really wants to get away from a man, she can. “when you break up with someone you love, you can't stop thinking about them. Most people have a gun. VIDEO I VIDEO 2 94 VIDEO 3 VIDEO 4 VIDEO 5 VIDEO 6 VIDEO '1' VIDEO 8 | General impressv .._— _u wwwu— —._- A sexy man has a lot of power over women. 95 Validity Ratings for Analyzed Questionnaire Items VIOLENCE SET QUESTIONNAIRE ITEM .‘ RATERS (of 6) AVG. ‘ VIDEOS indicating item in which raters appeared in videos identified item Sometimes you have to use 5 2.2 force to get what you want in this world. Most people have guns. 5 1.2 It is natural to hurt people when 4 l.8 you are very angry. Lots of people are always afraid 4 2.5 in this world. You can't trust anyone in this 4 3.5 world. The world is full of danger. 5 3 Men have to fight to survive. 4 2.5 Nobody is safe these days. 6 2 Violence is human nature. 6 1.7 This is a scarey world. 5 2.4 Parents hurt their children. 4 l if you see someone getting beat up, 4 1.3 you better mind your own business. 96 QUESTIONNAIRE ITEH RATERS (offi) AVG. ‘ VIDEOS People aren‘t safe today unless they 3 2.2 have a gun. The world is full of people who 5 3 will hurt you if they get a chance. Men are violent. 4 3.3 Danger can be exciting. 4 2.8 Nobody is very upset by violence 4 2.5 these days. Kids would love to get back at their 6 1 parents. This scarey world can drive 5 2.5 youinsane. ITEl‘lS ELIHINATED FROI‘I VIOLENCE SET 8? LOW RATINGS: Women are violent. The world is dangerous for women. The world is dangerous for kids. 97 SEX SET QUESTIONNAIRE ITEM ' RATERS (of 6) AVG. ‘ VIDEOS A man would like to kiss any sexy 6 2.3 woman Sexy women play hard to get. 6 2.3 lien look women over to decide if 5 2 they want them. Women want to turn men on. 6 3.6 Women who look helpless are sexy 3 2 to men. A man would like it if a sexy 6 2.5 woman he DIG not know came up and kissed him. A woman would like to kiss any sexy 5 3.4 man. To look sexy, women should wear 6 5.8 revealing clothes. Male musicians are sexy to women. 6 3.5 Mysterious women are sexy to men. 5 4.2 Love and sex usually go together. 5 1.6 Women look sexy when they dance. 6 2.7 Men and women are always trying 3 1.2 to trick each other. A sexy woman has a lot of power 6 3.? OVBI' men. QUESTIONNAIRE ITEI‘I Women tease men sexually. 98 ' RATERS (of 6) When you break up with someone you 6 love, you can't stop thinking about them. A sexy man has a lot of power over 3 women. Holding someone you love in your arms is a wonderful feeling. iliiomen often kiss men they don‘t know very well. To look sexy, men should wear revealing clothes. iwhen a woman chooses a man to kiss, 5 she expects him to want to kiss her. Relationships between men and women 4 are just a game. Men often kiss women they don't know very well. Men tease women sexually. Musicians are sexy people. A woman would like it if a sexy (II man she did not know came up and kissed her. Men don't have to be good-looking to be sexy to women. AVG. ‘ VIDEOS 4.5 1.7 2.3 4.5 L3 4.3 2.3 4.2 99 QUESTIONNAIRE ITEI‘I ‘ RATERS (OF 6) AVG. “ VIDEOS Women look men over to decide if 5 2 they want them. You can tell if a woman is interested 5 3.6 in sex from the way she is dressed. When a man chooses a woman to kiss, 4 3 he expects her to want to kiss him. Men want to turn women on. 5 2.2 A sexy man has a lot of power over 4 1.6 women. ITEMS ELIMINATED FROM SEX SET B? LOW RATINGS: Female musicians are sexy to men. Mysterious men are sexy to women. Sexy women are like little girls. Women don't have to be good looking to be sexy to men. The woman who dresses sexiest gets the man. 100 SEXUAL VIOLENCE SET QUESTIONNAIRE ITEM ' RATERS (of 6) AVG. " VIDEOS Violence is often part of love. 6 4.3 When a woman runs from a man, she 4 5 wants him to chase her. Women who look helpless are sexy 4 2.8 to men. Men force women to do things. 5 2.4 Violence is often part of sex. 5 3.4 if a man beats a woman and treats 6 1.8 her bad, she might kill him. Men hurt women they love. 6 3 Lots of men hate women. 6 3.5 Women are afraid of men. 6 3.3 A woman who really loves a man 4 1.8 will be kind to him even if he beats her up sometimes. Sexy men are forceful with women. 5 2.6 Women are turned on by men who 6 2 chase them when they run. Women look sexy when they are 5 3 frightened. Lots of women hate men. 4 2.8 101 QUESTIONNAIRE ITEH ‘ RATERS (of 6) When men get angry, they hit women. if a women really wants to get away from a man, she can. Women force men to do things. Men are like hunters and women are like wild animals. Danger can be exciting. Kissing a woman is a good way to show her who is boss. If a man starts hurting a woman, it is likely that no one will help her. When women get angry, they hit men. in relationships between men and women, someone usually gets hurt. It's not bad for a woman to hit a man, since she can't do much harm. If a man beats a woman up, she will move out of the house. Women hurt men they love. Men who look dangerous are sexy to women. Women hate men who force them to do things. 6 AVG. ‘ VIDEOS 2.3 2.2 1.5 2.7 4.2 2.4 2.5 3.7 1.6 I.5 2.2 102 QUESTIONNAIRE ITEI‘I ‘ RATERS (of 6) AVG. ‘ VIDEOS Men are often violent to women 5 3.2 they have sex with. ITEMS ELIMINATED FROM SEXUAL VIOLENCE SET 8'! LOW RATINGS: Men are angry at sexy women. Men hate women who force them to do things. If a woman goes around dressed in sexy clothes she is asking for trouble from men. APPENDIX C Description of Videos 103 CONTENT CATEGORY: Violence VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: Don't Need a Gun, by Billy idol GENERAL TONE: Fast-paced, gritty, explosive STORY or THEME: Video takes place at scene of liquor store robbery, at night. A young man has been shot and killed. A young man is arrested by police. Onlookers crowd around ambulance and store. A middle-aged man drives by several times -- the last time he is crying. Billy Idol and another musician dance and sing at scene and on a nearby roof. TARGET CONTENT: Shooting (gun in association with the dead man); Struggle of other man with police. CONTENT CATEGORY: Violence VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: Tonight, Tonight, by Genesis GENERAL TONE: Somber, mysterious, menacing STORY or THEME: A man walks active city streets at night. Money changes hands in an apparent drug deal; cars go by, etc. Several men brutally beat another man (or men) against a fence. The singer watches and sings. TARGET CONTENT: Prolonged beating 104 CONTENT CATEGORY: Violence VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: We're Not Going to Take It, by Twisted Sister GENERAL TONE: Broadly comedic STORY or THEME: A father enters the room of young teenage son and insults him, screams at him. Teenage son becomes member of the band Twisted Sister. All brothers in the house become the rest of the band. They drag father down stairs, force him out windows, smash him with doors, etc. Father tries to outsmart them to get in house. Mother lends inneffectual aid to father when he is injured. TARGET CONTENT: Acts against father, including dragging down stairs. forcing out windows, hitting with doors, etc. CONTENT CATEGORY: Violence VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: Smuggler's Blues, by Glen Frye GENERAL TONE: Slick, stylish, 'realistic' STORY or THEME: Man goes into a house with a briefcase of money while driver waits in expensive sports car. Man flees house under gun fire -- he and driver speed away. First man shot and is dead. Driver eludes pursuers and gives money and drugs to a woman who dresses elegantly, passes through customs, arrives by plane in another city. Driver shaves, dresses, drives to the second city. Woman arrested at airport and man greeted by police. Both interrogated. Police find no drugs in driver's house. He is free. Gets pulled over while driving and is shot by police officer who isione of the men who shot the driver's partner in opening scene. TARGET CONTENT: Shootings 105 CONTENT CATEGORY: Violence VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: Shock the Monkey, by Peter Gabriel GENERAL TONE: Obscure, menacing, unstable STORY or THEME: Man is tormented by thoughts and torture activities in a room with a spinning light, collapsing walls and ceiling, etc. Three small men climb on him and batter him. He struggles throughout. Video is cut with scenes of the man as lunatic, prisoner, businessman, and with the face of a monkey. TARGET CONTENT: Battering by the three men CONTENT CATEGORY: Violence VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: Brothers, by Brian Spence GENERAL TONE: Nostalgic, triumphant STORY or THEME: Boy is beaten up by several other boys. He arrives home and shows two brothers his injuries. All brothers start working out at a f ighter's gym together. The boy wins fight with the several other boys. TARGET CONTENT: Beating; fighting. 106 CONTENT CATEGORY: Sex VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: Lock and Key, by Madonna GENERAL TONE: Cartoon-ish, moody STORY or THEME: Boy lingers in front of strip-theatre looking at posters of the performer inside. He tries to see behind paper strips covering her breasts, dances sexually in front of a mirror. Inside, the woman performs on a stage surrounded by booths with glass fronts. Men watch inside the booths as she dances sexually and sings. After performance, men adjust clothes and leave booths. Woman leaves theatre and finds boy sleeping outside. She kisses his lips and they run away from the theatre, dancing arm in arm. TARGET CONTENT: Kiss; self -touch while dancing CONTENT CATEGOR‘I: Sex VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: Kiss You When it's Dangerous, by Eight Seconds GENERAL TONE: Mystical, puzzling, sensual STORY or THEME: Male band plays song outdoors near a large marble table, slab or alter. Women on slab are laid out sleeping or dead in costumes representing the seasons. The women appear and disappear from slab. Lead singer kisses or attempts to kiss each woman. Video ends with band members sleeping or dead, leader on slab with head in one woman's lap. TARGET CONTENT: Passionate kisses; embraces. 107 CONTENT CATEGORY: Sex VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: Wrap It Up, by the Fabulous Thunderbirds GENERAL TONE: Light-hearted, teasing STORY or THEME: Male band plays as women sunbathe. Women recline on cars while men choose which ones to buy -- band leader dangles keys before the woman on his car but pulls them away when she reaches. Men sing to a woman while she works at a food cart. Men approach the women at a bar, women drink, one eats a sucker, men touch women. Women lead men away, one by one, to showers, private rooms, etc. Women are undressed. TARGET CONTENT: Kiss; embraces; touches of bare torso CONTENT CATEGORY: Sex VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: Boys of Summer, by Don Henley GENERAL TONE: Nostalgic, sad, sensual STORY or THEME: Old movies of a man and woman at a beach play at reduced speed as back-drop to activities of a little boy playing drums, a teenaged girl in lingerie on bed and next to a pool, and a business man in office. Beach couple runs, they are happy, they laugh, embrace, kiss. TARGET CONTENT: Passionate kisses; embraces 108 CONTENT CATEGORY: Sex VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: Goodbye Saving Grace, by Jon Butcher GENERAL TONE: Sensual, menacing, crowded, slow STORY or THEME: Butcher performs song in room filled with men and women who dance sexually alone, in pairs and in groups, simulating sexual contact and intercourse. Video cut with scenes of a woman's hand clutching at windows and walls. The woman is outdoors on a rainy night, apparently fleeing. TARGET CONTENT: Sexual dancing with intimate touching; simulated intercourse; kisses. CONTENT CATEGORY: Sex VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: I Just Died In Your Arms Tonight, by the Cutting Crew GENERAL TONE: Mysterious, grim, f ast-paced STORY or THEME: Video is impressionistic, with many scenes passing quickly and frames superimposed, presented in different arrangements, etc. Most frames are of a woman in bed wearing lingerie (she touches her breast); the woman standing in lingerie (she touches her thighs and pubic area); the woman's face in apparent ecstacy; the woman with arms and neck extended as if dead or sleeping; the woman wearing a head-dress made of burning candles and walking down steps; or pictures of fruit, flowers, jewelry, rope, on the bed, table or slab that appears under woman. Video is cut with scenes of the male band performing the song. TARGET CONTENT: Woman touching breast and thigh area. 109 CONTENT CATEGORY: Sex VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: Slip of the Lip, by Ratt GENERAL TONE: Festive, light-hearted, f ast-paced STORY or THEME: A photographer is assigned a secret mission to collect photographs of a band for a magazine (Mission Impossible style). The woman secretly takes pictures as male band performs, at backstage party, while band members spend evening in city. After concert, the woman goes to the leader's dressing room -- they kiss and he unzips her dress and exposes her film while she kisses him, unaware. During concert, a female dancer strips to a G-string. At party, people kiss and embrace. TARGET CONTENT: Kisses; embraces CONTENT CATEGORY: Sexual Violence VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: Ain't So Easy, by David and David GENERAL TONE: Grim, regretful, menacing STORY or THEME: Husband arrives home and throws around furniture while wife shrinks next to wall. He attacks her, later overcomes her on a couch. Video is cut with scenes of this struggle.They lie in bed, embrace, they are gentle. She turns away and cries. Woman covers black eye with makeup, packs bags, sneaks away in the morning. He examines own face, remembers night before. He realizes she is gone, and smashes their wedding momenta she looked at earlier. He sits alone in house while frames of them dancing together as she cries are projected behind him. TARGET CONTENT: Beating; struggle; embraces in bed 110 CONTENT CATEGORY: Sexual Violence VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: Someone Like You, by Daryl Hall GENERAL TONE: Nostalgic, sad, troubled STORY or THEME: Man in bedroom watches 8mm films of himself and his ex-lover. They are in a car, at a beach. They kiss and embrace sexually, and laugh, then have a fight in which she hits him repeatedly. He pushes her down and walks away. They are shown in simulated intercourse, she with bare torso. Video ends with him watching films, tormented. TARGET CONTENT: Hitting; pushing; kisses; embraces; sexual touching,- simulated intercourse; touches of bare torso CONTENT CATEGORY: Sexual Violence VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: I'm No Angel, by Greg Alman GENERAL TONE: Fantasy, grim and comic STORY or THEME: Male band arrives in ghost town and begins to perform in an empty saloon. The saloon fills up with cow-boy/gun fighter ~like women. The women drink and fight while the men perform. The women aim their guns at the band leader and f orce him to gallows outside. They put a noose around his neck. The band leader kisses one woman hard, and she wipes her mouth and spits. She pulls the rope to hang him. The women disappear and the men leave the ghost town. TARGET CONTENT: Guns used to force man to gallows; hanging; kiss 111 CONTENT CATEGORY: Sexual Violence VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: Is It Love, by Mr. Mister GENERAL TONE: Surreal, stylish, mysterious, menacing STORY or THEME: The lead singer is in a mansion, watching on closed circuit TV as a woman is attacked by a man who forces her down on a large marble table or slab and kisses and touches her. The man harasses her. At a party he pulls her dress down while others watch. She runs from him in a large garden. He chases and catches her and she strangles him with a scarf while the watching band leader becomes alarmed. She kisses the strangled man through the scarf that still covers his face. The man and woman reappear at the party, where she throws a suitcase at him. When he tries to chase her he falls. She runs outdoors and is trapped at a gate. The band leader follows in a car and approaches her, menacing. TARGET CONTENT: Attack with kissing, touching (rape); man pulling dress down; man chasing woman; woman strangling man, woman kissing dead man,- woman tripping man as he chases her 112 CONTENT CATEGORY: Sexual Violence VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: Day In/Day Out, by David Bowie GENERAL TONE: Gritty, grim, realistic, threatening STORY or THEME: Young mother considers getting food for her child through stealing but does not. Carries son through streets of neighborhood. Her male companion steals, they rejoice. She buys a wig and dresses as a prostitute. A man pulls her into a car, she struggles. The singer puts his head into the car and watches struggle. No one helps her. She escapes through a car window and flees in underwear. As she runs through the neighborhood, people taunt her and a group of men we have seen before also attack her. She escapes and is arrested by police after a struggle. She returns to neighborhood with baby. She plays with baby in her house and police arrive and batter house with tanks. The male companion flees. TARGET CONTENT: Attack by man in car, with tearing off of clothes (rape); attack by men in the street; struggle with police. CONTENT CATEGORY: Sexual Violence VIDEO NAME and ARTIST: Hungry Like the Wolf, by Duran Duran GENERAL TONE: Cinematic, surreal, f oriegn STORY or THEME: A man in safari clothing searches Asian villages and jungles for a woman. He stalks her in the jungle and sees her briefly -- she is made-up and clothed like an animal. He sees her at a party, still feline but dressed in clothes and not made-up. He returns to jungle and chases her. He catches her and she struggles. They fight. He has bloody claw marks on his neck. They kiss. The video ends as they continue to fight. TARGET CONTENT: Kiss; chase and struggle; his wound; fighting and kissing APPENDIX D Selected Videos and VCR Use 113 Name of Video: With or Without You, by U-2 General Tone: Mysterious, menacing, grim. Story or Theme: The band (all male) performs song in shadowy, misty place. Unclear images pass on screen. Video is intercut with scenes of a woman. Target Content: Images of a woman I) laid out on sheet as if dead 2) moving across screen with breast and nipple exposed 3) in apparently sexual embrace with a man whose face is at her breast Target Content Category: Male/Female sexual embrace breast exposure “dead woman' Name of Video: Goodbye Saving Grace, by Jon Butcher General Tone: Sensual, menacing Story or Theme: Butcher performs song in room filled with men and women who dance sexually and simulate sexual contact. Intercut with scenes of woman's hand (clutching?) at rainy window from outdoors, night-time. We see her apparently fleeing. Target Content: 1) Two women and one man, nude in our view (shoulders and backs) embrace . 2) Brief frames of woman and man in apparently sexual contact, his hands on her breasts and his face above her 3) Woman's hand at window may be bloody Target Content Category: Male/Female embrace 114 Name of Video: I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight, by the Cutting Crew General Tone: F ast-paced, sensual Story or Theme: Band performs song in video intercut with scenes of woman in bed, f riut and flowers on bed and woman in lingerie. Woman sometimes laid out as if dead. Target Content: 1)Woman in bed in lingerie touches own breast 2) Woman in lingerie holds hand between legs; video cuts to her face “in ecstasy" -- strong masturbatory suggestion 3) Laid out as if dead Target Content Category: Self-touch 'dead woman“ Name of Video: Day ln/Day Out, by David Bowie General Tone: Fast-paced, gritty,'realistic' Story or Theme: Young mother tries to make money through prostitution, is sexually assaulted by customer in view of other people -- noone helps. Woman escapes him and runs past other men on street who also attack her. Police arrive and handcuf f her. Video ends with police tearing down her house while she and child play inside. Her male companion flees. Target Content: As woman runs from attackers and is cornered by police one of her brests is bored. Target Content Category: Breast exposure 115 The Significance of These Videos Psychological Significance The four videos listed here have no apparent content that is out of step with MTV videos as a group. Even when non-apparent content is viewed, it is not terribly disturbing of itself. It is not visually clear, it is of short duration, it is heavily symbolic and implied. The brief glimpses of women's breasts and male/female embraces that we see are probably not what we normally consider to be graphic portrayals of nudity or sexual acts. The psychological significance of these videos is not the content of a few obscure frames. It lies in the fact that these sexual frames are consistently presented in a context that strongly implies or portrays outright violence against helpless women. The 'masturbating" woman in 'Died In Your Arms' is the same one we see laid out on a sheet, motionless and bare and pale. The woman whose breast passes across the screen and who we see in an embrace with a man at her breast is also lying still, nude, shrouded on a slab or table with her head hanging limp over the edge. The woman in 'Day In/Day Out' is fleeing sexual attackers when we see a few frames of her bare breast. We see it as she stands backed-up, arms akimbo, against a wall, crying out. In 'Goodbye Saving Grace“ the video is cut with scenes of a woman who seems to be fleeing, coatless in the rain at night. A woman's hands 1 16 (presumably hers) clutch at windows and walls. A man sings about her, pacing, tormented, through a room full of sexual dancers. It is this coupling of images that is significant, and disturbing. The images are of violent or menacing men acting upon passive or struggling women who are presented in sexual positions and states of dress. If perceptual messages are communicated by the brief, grainy, repetitive images in these videos, the messages are something like 'violence against women is sexy;" 'there is something sexy about a woman in danger;' 'sexy women are helpless;‘ 'f ear is sexy;' 'dead women are sexy;' 'men scare women;' 'men harm women;'. Subliminal Perception? Another area of significance is the presentation of this non-apparent content. Why is it included? For whom? On clear TV screens and in original broadcast state (unrecorded), the frames targeted here are visible but they go by quickly, camera angles are intentionally odd, film is grainy and black-and-white. This content is not readily percieved the first or second time videos are viewed, but it certainly exists and is intended to be perceptible at some level. Once the content has been consciously percieved it is both extremely clear and fascinating. As with the perception of an optical illusion, once you think you've seen it 'right', you can't stop looking at it. 117 RELAVENT RESULTS OF THIS STUDY As reported in Chapter 4 of this study, seventy seven percent of respondents have a VCR in their home. Forty two percent indicated that they watch MTV videos on a VCR very often, often, or not very often. Forty one percent watch rented music videos on a VCR very often, often, or not very often. Twenty six percent reported that when they watch music videos on a VCR they use the slow motion or pause button very often, often or not very often. Of the videos described in this appendix, '1 Just Died in Your Arms Tonight,“ by the Cutting Crew showed the greatest VCR use. Two hundred twenty one of the 304 respondants (732) had seen this video. Among those who had seen it, the mean number of times viewed was 10.6. Nine percent of them had watched it on a VCR. “With or Without You,‘ by U-2, had the next greatest VCR use. One hundred ninety eight respondants had seen it (65%),with mean number of viewing times among them at 4. Eight percent had seen the video on a VCR. "Day In /Day Out“ had been seen by 163 respondants, a mean number of 6.3 times. 'Goodbye Saving Grace had been viewed by only 33 respondants, mean 3.3 times. For both these videos, less than 4 percent of respondants had seen the video on a VCR. _ .'.'..' -......,.,,,,__ . -..... Al-.m I'E --.... A; 1iiiiijjijijjjlily