Category Archives: Television

Responding to Channel 4 on The Joy of Teen Sex

By Dr Petra | Published: 27 June, 2011
TweetYou may remember earlier in the year Channel 4 ran a new series called The Joy of Teen Sex (JOTS). Series 2 is currently in production. Practitioners and educators were anxious about JOTS while it was being made. When the series aired we continued to be very worried about the core messages shared, the way [...]
Also posted in Activism and Open Access, Bad science, Child(ren), Commercialisation, Expert(s), Parents, Sex education, Teachers, Teenager(s), Uncategorised | Comments closed

Channel 4 sent complaint from practitioners re problem sex broadcasting

By Dr Petra | Published: 9 February, 2011
TweetOver the past few weeks parents, practitioners, young people and journalists have been concerned about the Channel 4 series ‘The Joy of Teen Sex’. This has led to a number of us deciding to complain to the Channel and recommend a way forward to ensure future programming is improved. Below is a copy of our [...]
Also posted in Activism and Open Access, Bad science, Homo/transphobia, Parents, Reproductive health, Sex education, Sexuality, Teenager(s) | Comments closed

“The Joy of Teen Sex”

By Dr Petra | Published: 19 January, 2011
TweetLast summer myself and several other sex educators, therapists and reproductive healthcare staff were approached by researchers from Betty TV working on a new programme commissioned by Channel 4 called ‘The Joy of Teen Sex’. The show was described as a cross between the established (and popular) Embarrassing Teenage Bodies and The Sex Education Show. [...]
Also posted in Commercialisation, Intercourse, Medicalisation, Parents, Sex education, Sex positive, Teenager(s) | Comments closed

“VD is for everybody”

By Dr Petra | Published: 3 November, 2010
Tweet There’s been a lot of interest online today about a 1969 Public Service Advert – ‘VD is for everybody’, which shows a range of people who could have a sexually transmitted infection. You can see it here: Having been flagged up on Boing Boing debate has centred on whether the advert was counter productive [...]
Also posted in Condom(s), Movie(s), Sexually transmitted infection(s) | Comments closed

80% of women have enlarged labia? That would be a ‘sex panther’ statistic

By Dr Petra | Published: 6 September, 2010
TweetFans of the movie Anchorman will no doubt be familiar with the men’s fragrance ‘Sex Panther’. If you hadn’t heard of it before, here’s your introduction… The fantastic line ‘they’ve done studies you know. 60% of the time it works every time’ has become a well known catchphrase. But I think it deserves far wider [...]
Also posted in Health/care, Journalism, Medicalisation, Vulva | Comments closed

Controversial advert for abortion services to be screened on UK TV tonight

By Dr Petra | Published: 24 May, 2010
Tweet Tonight the UK will see the first television advert for abortion services. Shown at 10.10pm on Channel 4 the advert for Marie Stopes will highlight for viewers where to get help and advice about pregnancy. The advert has already been opposed by charity Life and will not be shown in Northern Ireland (where termination [...]
Also posted in Abortion/TOP | Comments closed

Politics, PR, science and evidence making – lessons from the field

By Dr Petra | Published: 27 April, 2010
TweetOne thing that has marked this election is the growing focus on science issues. This has partly been down to the interest of some politicians in the subject, and mostly due to the activism of a number of scientists (natural and social), science journalists and bloggers. The focus of these discussions has been around tackling [...]
Also posted in Evidence based, Reproductive health, Safer sex, Sex education, Sexually transmitted infection(s), Surveys/questionnaires, Technology | Comments closed

How television constructs sex – an evolving case study of a prime time sex series

By Dr Petra | Published: 7 February, 2010
This is a longer blog than usual that tracks my observations over the past few weeks a TV series I’ve been involved with. It looks at how ‘sex’ is framed for prime time television, and discusses whether our current approach to sex programming may not be presenting sex in accurate or informative ways.
Also posted in Case studies, Celebrity, Sex education, Surveys/questionnaires | Comments closed

TV company make some changes to a sex survey, but not enough to make it useful and unbiased

By Dr Petra | Published: 22 January, 2010
It's pretty common for journalists to throw together slapdash surveys to inform or underpin stories/programmes. And it's equally common for social scientists like me to be irritated by this bad practice. Usually feedback to improve surveys is ignored, but here's an example where it seems like journalists did pay attention - and improved their practice.
Also posted in Surveys/questionnaires | Comments closed

Journalists who run bad and biased surveys beware! Your audience is starting to speak out against shoddy practice

By Dr Petra | Published: 21 January, 2010
A UK television show has been caught out running a dodgy survey. This blog talks about why the survey was duff, the ramifications of such bad research, and explains how such slipshod practice is very easily avoided.
Also posted in Breasts, Surveys/questionnaires | Comments closed