Marriage gets little respect on network TV shows that instead revel in the pleasures of extramarital and even kinky sex, according to a study released Tuesday.
The study by the Parents Television Council includes a strongly worded condemnation of prime-time TV, contending it "seems to be actively seeking to undermine marriage by consistently painting it in a negative light." Even more troubling, according to the watchdog group, is what it characterized as TV's recent obsession with what it termed "outre" or bizarre behavior, including partner swapping and pedophilia.
As for references to pornography, sex toys and "kinky" behavior, those are now common on TV, the report said. Visual references to practices such as voyeurism and sadomasochistic sex outnumbered married-sex references by a ratio approaching 3 to 1.
The effect on young viewers is dire, the Parents Television Council contends.
Behavior that once was seen as "fringe, immoral or socially destructive have been given the imprimatur of acceptability by the television industry" and children are absorbing or even imitating it, the report contends.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,398461,00.html