Mediated Eros: Sexual Scripts Within and Across Cultures

290 Pages·2015·2.66 MB·English

by  Miglena M. Sternadori

This book makes a unique contribution to the field of me-
dia studies by analyzing the perpetuation of sexual scripts
through news articles, films, TV shows, lifestyle magazines,
advertisements, and other forms of popular mediated culture.
Focusing on cultural differences between North America and
Europe, the book catalogues and contextualizes common sex-
ual scripts by looking at the ways in which people have or do
M
not have sex, eroticize each other’s bodies, penetrate each
other’s bodies, and give meaning to all these activities.
e
d
Other such analyses have explored whether, when, and why
people decide to have sex, and so on. This book instead fo- i
a
cuses on how the sexual interaction itself is culturally script-
t
ed to occur—what sequence of events takes place after a e
couple have decided to have sex. d

While the first half of the book catalogues sexual scripts in a E
general way, based on geography and sexual orientation, the
r
second half is framed around sexual discourses associated
o
with some degree of shame and social stigmatization. The
s
book ends by addressing the hegemonic perpetuation of me-

diated sexual scripts across cultures and the role of sexuality |
in fourth-wave feminism.

S
Mediated Eros is suitable as the primary or secondary text t
e
in seminars on media, culture, and sexuality, and would also r
n
be of interest to journalists and freelance writers whose work a
d
explores the sociocultural construction of sex and the sexual
or
self.
i
MIGLENA M. STERNADORI (Ph.D.,
University of Missouri) is an asso-
ciate professor in the Department
of Journalism and Electronic Media
at Texas Tech University. She has
published in Feminist Media Stud-
www.peterlang.com
ies, Journal of Media Psychology, P
E
Women’s Studies in Communica- T
E
R
tion, Newspaper Research Journal, Journal of Broadcasting & L
A
Electronic Media, Atlantic Journal of Communication, Forum: N
G
Qualitative Social Research, Media Report to Women, and
Journal of Media Education.
This book makes a unique contribution to the field of me-
dia studies by analyzing the perpetuation of sexual scripts
through news articles, films, TV shows, lifestyle magazines,
advertisements, and other forms of popular mediated culture.
Focusing on cultural differences between North America and
Europe, the book catalogues and contextualizes common sex-
ual scripts by looking at the ways in which people have or do
M
not have sex, eroticize each other’s bodies, penetrate each
other’s bodies, and give meaning to all these activities.
e
d
Other such analyses have explored whether, when, and why
people decide to have sex, and so on. This book instead fo- i
a
cuses on how the sexual interaction itself is culturally script-
t
ed to occur—what sequence of events takes place after a e
couple have decided to have sex. d

While the first half of the book catalogues sexual scripts in a E
general way, based on geography and sexual orientation, the
r
second half is framed around sexual discourses associated
o
with some degree of shame and social stigmatization. The
s
book ends by addressing the hegemonic perpetuation of me-

diated sexual scripts across cultures and the role of sexuality |
in fourth-wave feminism.

S
Mediated Eros is suitable as the primary or secondary text t
e
in seminars on media, culture, and sexuality, and would also r
n
be of interest to journalists and freelance writers whose work a
d
explores the sociocultural construction of sex and the sexual
or
self.
i
MIGLENA M. STERNADORI (Ph.D.,
University of Missouri) is an asso-
ciate professor in the Department
of Journalism and Electronic Media
at Texas Tech University. She has
published in Feminist Media Stud-
www.peterlang.com
ies, Journal of Media Psychology, P
E
Women’s Studies in Communica- T
E
R
tion, Newspaper Research Journal, Journal of Broadcasting & L
A
Electronic Media, Atlantic Journal of Communication, Forum: N
G
Qualitative Social Research, Media Report to Women, and
Journal of Media Education.
Mediated Eros
This book is part of the Peter Lang Media and Communication list.
Every volume is peer reviewed and meets
the highest quality standards for content and production.

PETER LANG
New York  Bern  Frankfurt  Berlin
Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw
Miglena M. Sternadori

Mediated Eros

Sexual Scripts Within and Across Cultures

PETER LANG
New York  Bern  Frankfurt  Berlin
Brussels  Vienna  Oxford  Warsaw
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sternadori, Miglena M.
Mediated eros: Sexual scripts within and across cultures / Miglena M. Sternadori.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Sex—Cross-cultural studies. 2. Sex in mass media—Cross-cultural studies.
3. Sex customs—Cross-cultural studies. I. Title.
HQ21.S64325 306.7—dc23 2015018820
ISBN 978-1-4331-2923-0 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4331-2922-3 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-4539-1665-0 (e-book)

Bibliographic information published by Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek.
Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the “Deutsche
Nationalbibliografie”; detailed bibliographic data are available
on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de/.

© 2015 Peter Lang Publishing, Inc., New York
29 Broadway, 18th floor, New York, NY 10006
www.peterlang.com

All rights reserved.
Reprint or reproduction, even partially, in all forms such as microfilm,
xerography, microfiche, microcard, and offset strictly prohibited.
To my sons, Raphael and Alexandre
With gratitude to my partner, historian Matthew Pehl

contents
Introduction: What’s “Okay” in Bed? Identifying and
Comparing Sexual Scripts in Media Content 1
Chapter 1. C onstructivist Theoretical Underpinnings:
Sexual Scripts and Media Frames 17
Chapter 2. L ook-Sees, Lysol, and Baseball:
Heterosexual Scripts in American Popular Culture 47
Chapter 3. S ex as an Existential Journey:
Heterosexual Scripts in European Popular Culture 75
Chapter 4. W hat’s Same-Sex Sex Like? Popular Imagination of
Gay and Lesbian Sexuality 101
Chapter 5. N ot Loud Enough, Too Loud: Gender and
Heterosexuality Construction in Sex Advice 123
Chapter 6. K inksters, Swingers, and Other Weirdos: Media
Depictions of Alternative Sexualities 145
Chapter 7. J ust What the Doctor Ordered:
The Scientification of Sex and Sexual Dysfunction 169
Chapter 8. T oo Young, Too Old: The Procreative-Age
Confinement of Socially Tolerable Sexuality 195
viii mediated eros
Conclusion: The Implicit Perpetuation of Sexual Scripts 219
References 235
Index 273