Wallowing in Sex

The New Sexual Culture of 1970s American Television

Nonfiction, Entertainment, Performing Arts, Television, History & Criticism
Cover of the book Wallowing in Sex by Elana Levine, Lynn Spigel, Duke University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Elana Levine, Lynn Spigel ISBN: 9780822389774
Publisher: Duke University Press Publication: January 9, 2007
Imprint: Duke University Press Books Language: English
Author: Elana Levine, Lynn Spigel
ISBN: 9780822389774
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication: January 9, 2007
Imprint: Duke University Press Books
Language: English

Passengers disco dancing in The Love Boat’s Acapulco Lounge. A young girl walking by a marquee advertising Deep Throat in the made-for-TV movie Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway. A frustrated housewife borrowing Orgasm and You from her local library in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Commercial television of the 1970s was awash with references to sex. In the wake of the sexual revolution and the women’s liberation and gay rights movements, significant changes were rippling through American culture. In representing—or not representing—those changes, broadcast television provided a crucial forum through which Americans alternately accepted and contested momentous shifts in sexual mores, identities, and practices.

Wallowing in Sex is a lively analysis of the key role of commercial television in the new sexual culture of the 1970s. Elana Levine explores sex-themed made-for-TV movies; female sex symbols such as the stars of Charlie’s Angels and Wonder Woman; the innuendo-driven humor of variety shows (The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, Laugh-In), sitcoms (M*A*S*H, Three’s Company), and game shows (Match Game); and the proliferation of rape plots in daytime soap operas. She also uncovers those sexual topics that were barred from the airwaves. Along with program content, Levine examines the economic motivations of the television industry, the television production process, regulation by the government and the tv industry, and audience responses. She demonstrates that the new sexual culture of 1970s television was a product of negotiation between producers, executives, advertisers, censors, audiences, performers, activists, and many others. Ultimately, 1970s television legitimized some of the sexual revolution’s most significant gains while minimizing its more radical impulses.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Passengers disco dancing in The Love Boat’s Acapulco Lounge. A young girl walking by a marquee advertising Deep Throat in the made-for-TV movie Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway. A frustrated housewife borrowing Orgasm and You from her local library in Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. Commercial television of the 1970s was awash with references to sex. In the wake of the sexual revolution and the women’s liberation and gay rights movements, significant changes were rippling through American culture. In representing—or not representing—those changes, broadcast television provided a crucial forum through which Americans alternately accepted and contested momentous shifts in sexual mores, identities, and practices.

Wallowing in Sex is a lively analysis of the key role of commercial television in the new sexual culture of the 1970s. Elana Levine explores sex-themed made-for-TV movies; female sex symbols such as the stars of Charlie’s Angels and Wonder Woman; the innuendo-driven humor of variety shows (The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour, Laugh-In), sitcoms (M*A*S*H, Three’s Company), and game shows (Match Game); and the proliferation of rape plots in daytime soap operas. She also uncovers those sexual topics that were barred from the airwaves. Along with program content, Levine examines the economic motivations of the television industry, the television production process, regulation by the government and the tv industry, and audience responses. She demonstrates that the new sexual culture of 1970s television was a product of negotiation between producers, executives, advertisers, censors, audiences, performers, activists, and many others. Ultimately, 1970s television legitimized some of the sexual revolution’s most significant gains while minimizing its more radical impulses.

More books from Duke University Press

Cover of the book One Night on TV Is Worth Weeks at the Paramount by Elana Levine, Lynn Spigel
Cover of the book Crafting Mexico by Elana Levine, Lynn Spigel
Cover of the book The Myth of Political Correctness by Elana Levine, Lynn Spigel
Cover of the book Selling Modernity by Elana Levine, Lynn Spigel
Cover of the book Margaret Mead Made Me Gay by Elana Levine, Lynn Spigel
Cover of the book Religion and the Making of Nigeria by Elana Levine, Lynn Spigel
Cover of the book The Third and Only Way by Elana Levine, Lynn Spigel
Cover of the book Paradoxes of Hawaiian Sovereignty by Elana Levine, Lynn Spigel
Cover of the book The Politics of Culture in the Shadow of Capital by Elana Levine, Lynn Spigel
Cover of the book Racial Revolutions by Elana Levine, Lynn Spigel
Cover of the book Global Indios by Elana Levine, Lynn Spigel
Cover of the book In the Meantime by Elana Levine, Lynn Spigel
Cover of the book Getting Medieval by Elana Levine, Lynn Spigel
Cover of the book Groove Tube by Elana Levine, Lynn Spigel
Cover of the book Seven Faces by Elana Levine, Lynn Spigel
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy