The Parents Television Council is out with a report detailing what it says is a pattern of prime-time network TV shows fairly routinely airing content that sexualizes young girls, specifically between the ages of 12 and 17.

According to PTC President Tim Winter, the report, entitled Tinseltown’s New Target: A Study of Teen Female Sexualization on Prime-Time
TV, demonstrates the industry’s “eagerness to not only objectify and fetishize young girls, but to sexualize them
in such a way that real teens are led to believe their sole value comes from
their sexuality.”

Winter adds “Storylines on the most popular shows among teens are sending the message to our
daughters that being sexualized isn’t just acceptable, it should be sought
after.”

Researchers looked at 35 hours of programming involving 14 scripted series, including The Office, NCIS, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, The Vampire Diaries, Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Family Guy, House, Glee, The Cleveland Show, American Dad, and The Simpsons.

It’s worth noting that just because these 14 shows are among those studied they are not necessarily equal offenders or offenders at all. For instance, the report says “Sixty-seven percent of the episodes involving sexualized scenes of underage girls were in a comedic genre (comedy dramas and/or animated series).”

Among the study’s other major claims:

• Underage female characters are shown participating in a higher percentage of
sexual depictions compared to adults (47% and 29% respectively).
• Only 5%
of the underage female characters communicated any form of dislike for being
sexualized (excluding scenes depicting healthy sexuality).
• Out of all the
sexualized female characters depicted in the underage and young adult category
for the entire database, 86% were presented as only being of high school
age.
• Seventy-five percent of shows that included sexualized underage female
characters were shows that did not have an “S” descriptor to warn parents about
the sexual content.
• Based upon a definition established by the American
Psychological Association of “healthy” vs. “unhealthy” sexuality, the study
findings show that 93% of the sexual incidents involving underage female
characters occurred within a context that qualified as “unhealthy.”
• The
data revealed that 98% of the sexual incidents involving underage female
characters occurred outside of any form of a committed relationship.
• The
data show that 73% of the underage sexualized incidents were presented in a
humorous manner or as a punch line to a joke.

To view a PDF of the entire report, click here.