Recently, Netflix announced that it would not include depictions of smoking in any new programming aimed at younger viewers. In a similar vein, on the advice of medical experts, it has removed the suicide scene from the first season of its teen drama “13 Reasons Why.”
These efforts to protect the physical and mental health of young people are commendable. But if we are reconsidering what gets set before adolescents in the context of entertainment, there’s a serious and striking omission in the announced changes: depictions of rape.
Graphic portrayals of sexual assault are now surprisingly easy to find among popular programs aired on subscription channels. HBO’s “Game of Thrones,” a series made for adults that is also watched by many teenagers, has received a lot of press about its many rape scenes. But parents may be surprised to learn that sexual assault is also a feature of shows aimed squarely at adolescents, such as HBO’s recently released “Euphoria” and, once again, “13 Reasons Why.”
Just as research suggests that we should shield young viewers from seeing fictional depictions of smoking and suicide, studies indicate that watching rape scenes can also do harm.
To start, there is the risk of intense and sometimes lasting psychological distress. As many of us know from personal experience, seeing disturbing content, even if it is dramatized, can be upsetting at the time and haunting for years to come. One study found that more than a quarter of college students continued to experience persistent anxiety about a distressing scene in a television show or movie they had watched, on average, at age 14.
Indeed, it is much more powerful to see an event than to read or hear about it. “Imagery is really strong,” notes Jill Murphy, the editor in chief at Common Sense Media, a nonprofit group that rates and reviews media consumed by children and teenagers. Knowing about acts such as rape and seeing them, she says, “are two different things.”
Karyn Riddle, a professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Wisconsin-Madison who researches the effects on children and adolescents of viewing violent media, echoes Ms. Murphy’s concerns. “Watching sexual violence could be traumatizing,” she explains, “and that fear could stay with you for many years.”
If you suspect that your teenager has already encountered a rape scene on television, look for an opening to talk about it. You might get the conversation started by addressing the fact that depictions of sexual violence have not always been a regular part of television.
When “13 Reasons Why” first aired, I found myself talking about the sexual assault scenes with a group of 14-year-old girls at the school where I routinely consult. “You know,” I said, “we never used to show rape on T.V.” One girl quickly replied, “That’s what my dad said!” Another girl chimed in: “Good. Because it was the most upsetting thing I have ever seen.”
We can also remind teenagers that they might want to avoid shows that depict sexual assault, just as many of them choose not to watch horror movies. “There are things you can’t unsee, so think about whether you want to put yourself in that position.” Further, we can add, “If you’ve already seen something that is bothering you, it may help to talk about it.”
Beyond this risk of hard-to-shake personal distress is another concern that is at least as troubling. Fictional rape scenes may help shape how viewers think about actual sexual violence in the real world. Even a single exposure to dramatized sexual assault — such as what many young people now see — has been found to influence attitudes and inclinations. In two different experiments, college students who watched a movie that included a rape scene were compared to peers who watched movies with content that was either violent or sexual, but not sexually violent.
The studies found that the young men, but not young women, who viewed rape scenes in commercial films (including the same-sex attack in “Deliverance”) were subsequently more at ease with violence against women and more attracted to sexual aggression than those who had not watched a rape scene. These findings held true regardless of the gender of the victim.
[Men tell their stories of sexual assault and rape in the military.]
Dramas often take pains to portray rape as the traumatizing and destructive act that it is. Unfortunately, doing so may not guarantee it will have the hoped-for effect. Neil Malamuth, a professor of psychology and communication studies at U.C.L.A. who studies the effects of mass media violence, has found that, “exposure to sexual violence — even if it is intended to help people see the horror of it — will be sexually arousing to a small but significant percentage of young male viewers. And we do know that such sexual arousal to violence is one of the contributing predictors of actual aggression against women.”
And if some viewers are aroused by rape scenes, others may become numb to them. Research on undergraduate men found that repeated exposure to sexually violent movies led to dampened distress while watching them, a reduced concern for victims of sexual assault and an increased acceptance of degrading depictions of women. (Similar findings are amply reported in the research literature on violent and nonviolent pornography.)
Titillation and desensitization aren’t easy topics to address with young people, but it can be done. Consider saying, “Here’s the problem with rape scenes, and also with a lot of pornography. People sometimes find that they are turned on by things they know are wrong, and sometimes they start to see rape — and the general mistreatment of women — as one of those things that just happens. Either way, it’s not good.”
What about the “trigger warning” statements made at the beginning of shows, meant to let the viewer know of potentially upsetting content ahead? Do they help? While trigger warnings may reduce the surprise of seeing sexual violence, research finds that they neither buffer the psychological impact of disturbing scenes nor steer vulnerable viewers away from them.
For example, a study published in March by Mevagh Sanson, Deryn Strange and Maryanne Garry in Clinical Psychological Science found that receiving a trigger warning did not change the level of distress felt by college students and other internet users who read or watched violent content, and that “few if any subjects used the warning to avoid negative material.” Notably, their findings also held true for research participants who reported having experienced trauma in the past.
To date, research on trigger warnings has focused solely on adults, yet there’s little reason to expect that such warnings are somehow more protective for adolescents. Teenagers, as we know, are still developing their ability to make good judgments and are often drawn to taking risks.
While some teenagers enjoy pushing boundaries, none of them like being manipulated by adults. Here, at last, is some good news: Research finds that when adolescents are made aware of hidden marketing agendas, they become critical consumers.
“T.V. shows have an interest in trying to out-sensationalize one another,” we might say. “If you see a trigger warning, there’s a decent chance you’re being played.” We can acknowledge that we can’t always stop tweens and teens from watching disturbing television while helping them recognize that what upsets them might profit someone else.
Worry over what it means for young people to watch rape scenes should not be confused with prudishness about sex or naïveté about sexual assault. Without question, adults need to talk with teenagers about physical intimacy and sexual ethics, and do so in thoughtful and age-appropriate ways.
Teenagers weave together their understanding of sex with the threads made available to them. Accordingly, it falls to those who care for adolescents — and those who create the mass entertainment they are likely to watch — to address the known risks of exposing teenagers to rape scenes.
“I believe in creative freedom,” says Ms. Murphy, “but when you’re dealing with a young teenage audience you have to be responsible with that freedom.”