Do the Depictions of Sexual Attire and Sexual Behavior in Music Videos Differ Based on Video Network and Character Gender?

Abstract

This study examined the sexual messages depicted in music videos aired on MTV, MTV2, BET, and GAC from August 2, 2004 to August 15, 2004. One-hour segments of music videos were taped daily for two weeks. Depictions of sexual attire and sexual behavior were analyzed via a four-page coding sheet (interrater-reliability = .93). Results indicated that there were 39,559 depictions of female sexual attire (M = 278.58 per video, SD = 626.93) and 3,032 depictions of male sexual attire (M = 21.35 per video, SD = 55.14). There were 7,291 depictions of sexual behavior for females (M = 51.35 per video, SD = 135.07) compared to 2,511 sexual behaviors for males (M =17.68 per video, SD = 40.35). Female sexual attire and sexual behavior were displayed more frequently than male sexual attire and sexual behavior. Sexual attire and sexual behavior were displayed significantly more frequently on BET than on MTV, MTV2, or GAC. Music videos on BET scored an average of 758.88 sexual depictions per video, followed by MTV with an average of 206.75 sexual depictions per video. Potential implications of these results and recommendations for future research are offered.