Girls and Sex: A Content Analysis of Sexual Health Depictions in HBO’s Girls

Elise M. Stevens; Kyla P. Garrett

doi:10.1007/s12119-016-9365-y

Girls and Sex: A Content Analysis of Sexual Health Depictions in HBO’s Girls

Elise M. Stevens, Kyla P. Garrett

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

6 Scopus citations

Abstract

Sex on television has been a topic of interest to scholars and critics alike. History has shown that certain programs break the mold when talking about sex. One show that is currently leading this trend is HBO’s Girls, a fictional comedy-drama show with 4.1 million viewers that has received much attention for its portrayals of sex. This systematic, quantitative content analysis is a case study of the first three seasons of Girls. It examines sexual behaviors, sexual talk, and sexual risk and responsibility. Results revealed kissing to be the most prevalent sexual behavior and talking about own or other’s sexual interests/actions was the most frequent form of sexual talk. Most surprisingly, sexual risk/responsibility was represented much more in Girls than in shows evaluated in previous television content analyses.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	923-935
Number of pages	13
Journal	Sexuality and Culture
Volume	20
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-016-9365-y
State	Published - Dec 1 2016
Externally published	Yes

Keywords

Health
Humor
Media
Sex
Television

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Gender Studies
Cultural Studies

Access to Document

10.1007/s12119-016-9365-y

Cite this

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title = "Girls and Sex: A Content Analysis of Sexual Health Depictions in HBO{\textquoteright}s Girls",

abstract = "Sex on television has been a topic of interest to scholars and critics alike. History has shown that certain programs break the mold when talking about sex. One show that is currently leading this trend is HBO{\textquoteright}s Girls, a fictional comedy-drama show with 4.1 million viewers that has received much attention for its portrayals of sex. This systematic, quantitative content analysis is a case study of the first three seasons of Girls. It examines sexual behaviors, sexual talk, and sexual risk and responsibility. Results revealed kissing to be the most prevalent sexual behavior and talking about own or other{\textquoteright}s sexual interests/actions was the most frequent form of sexual talk. Most surprisingly, sexual risk/responsibility was represented much more in Girls than in shows evaluated in previous television content analyses.",

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Girls and Sex: A Content Analysis of Sexual Health Depictions in HBO’s Girls

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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