Sex, Love, and Romance in the Mass Media: Analysis and Criticism of Unrealistic Portrayals and Their Influence
Edition: 3
Copyright: 2019
Edition: 2
Copyright: 2018
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New Third Edition Now Available!
This pioneering research-based yet accessible text is a valuable tool in media analysis and criticism that has been used by thousands of students, educators, and media literacy advocates.
The book’s multidisciplinary perspective is grounded in Galician’s unique Seven-Step approach and centered around 12 unhealthy but widely portrayed media Myths and stereotypes paired with 12 counteracting antidotal Prescriptions that encapsulate the literature's healthy relationship strategies rarely portrayed by the media. Readers learn how to identify, deconstruct, evaluate, resist, and reframe Myth-laden media texts, clarify their own values, and share their insights.
Although critical of unrealistic portrayals and the damage they can cause unaware media consumers, the author—a media literacy advocate—is not anti-media. Her goal is to empower consumers to “use the media instead of having the media use you.”
The NEW third edition of Sex, Love, and Romance in the Mass Media:
- Is Practical! It covers foundational theories and practical applications of analysis and criticism of mass media portrayals of sex, love, and romance from a media literacy framework.
- Is Comprehensive! The content has been extensively revised (providing enhanced clarification of the central concepts and key components--and their application).
- Is Up-To-Date! The material has been updated and expanded with 140 exemplary classic and recent media portrayals and 50 new research studies.
Prologue
Stop!
Before You Begin to Read This Book, Take Dr. FUN’s Mass Media Love Quiz©
Preface
Why I Wrote This Book for You
Introduction
The Why, What, and How of This Book
PART I: Foundations of Analysis & Criticism of Sex, Love, & Romance in the Mass Media
Chapter 1
KEY FOUNDATIONAL TERMS & CONCEPTS
What Do They Mean?
Chapter 2
ILLUSIONS (UNREALISTIC MODELS)
Myths & Stereotypes of Sex, Love, & Romance that Ruin Real-life Relationships
Chapter 3
DIS-ILLUSIONS (REALISTIC MODELS)
Prescriptions (Rxs) for Happier & Healthier Sex, Love, & Romance
Chapter 4
MASS MEDIA NARRATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS
Mass Media Storytelling Approaches, Techniques, & Devices
Chapter 5
THE INFLUENCE OF MASS MEDIA
Research & Theories of Mass Media Effects on Individuals & Society
Chapter 6
STRATEGIES & SKILLS OF MEDIA LITERACY
Tools for Media Analysis & Criticism
PART II: Applications of Analysis & Criticism of Sex, Love, & Romance in the Mass Media
Chapter 7
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #1
Your perfect partner is cosmically destined, so nothing/nobody can ultimately separate you.
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #1
Rx #1: CONSIDER COUNTLESS CANDIDATES.
Chapter 8
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #2
There’s such a thing as “love at first sight.”
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #2
Rx #2: CONSULT YOUR CALENDAR AND COUNT CAREFULLY.
Chapter 9
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #3
Your true soul mate should KNOW what you’re thinking or feeling (without your having to tell).
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #3
Rx #3: COMMUNICATE COURAGEOUSLY.
Chapter 10
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #4
If your partner is meant for you, sex is easy and wonderful.
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #4
Rx #4: CONCENTRATE ON COMMITMENT AND CONSTANCY.
CHAPTER 11
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #5
To attract and keep a man, a woman should look like a model or a centerfold.
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #5
Rx #5: CHERISH COMPLETENESS IN COMPANIONS (NOT JUST THE COVER).
Chapter 12
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #6
The man should NOT be shorter, weaker, younger, poorer, or less successful than the woman.
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #6
Rx #6: CREATE COEQUALITY; COOPERATE.
CHAPTER 13
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #7
The love of a good and faithful true woman can change a man from a “beast” into a “prince.”
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #7
Rx #7: CEASE CORRECTING AND CONTROLLING; YOU CAN’T CHANGE OTHERS (ONLY YOURSELF).
Chapter 14
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #8
Bickering and fighting a lot mean that a man and a woman really love each other passionately.
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #8
Rx #8: COURTESY COUNTS: CONSTANT CONFLICTS CREATE CHAOS.
Chapter 15
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #9
All you really need is love, so it doesn’t matter if you and your lover have very different values.
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #9
Rx #9: CRAVE COMMON CORE-VALUES.
Chapter 16
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #10
The right mate “completes you”—filling your needs and making your dreams come true.
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #10
Rx #10: CULTIVATE YOUR OWN COMPLETENESS.
Chapter 17
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #11
In real life, actors and actresses are often very much like the romantic characters they portray.
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #11
Rx #11: (DE)CONSTRUCT CELEBRITIES.
Chapter 18
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #12
Since mass media portrayals of romance aren’t “real,” they don’t really affect you.
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #12
Rx #12: CALCULATE THE VERY REAL CONSEQUENCES OF UNREAL MEDIA.
Epilogue
DON’T STOP!
The End Can Be the Beginning of a Genuine Happily-Ever-After
Sources
Index
DR. MARY-LOU GALICIAN (rhymes with “physician”) — The Original “Dr. FUN” — is a media literacy advocate and award-winning researcher, educator, author, and speaker who came to academia after enjoying positions as a newspaper columnist, book editor, nighttime television talk-show host/producer, and special events anchor, as well as national executive posts in advertising, marketing, and public relations.
As Founding Head of the Media Analysis & Criticism Concentration in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication at Arizona State University, where thousands of students across all majors in her popular classes have learned how to be media literate (thinking critically and, as she puts it, “using the media instead of being used by the media”), she introduced hybrid courses combining the advantages of classroom and online education. And as Lead Professor of Cronkite/ASU Online, she created and taught totally online media literacy courses that enrolled hundreds of students around the world each term and demonstrated that online education can be rigorous and rewarding.
She is the creator of Realistic Romance® — The Thinking Person’s Relationship Remedy (of which three key components are her research-based Dr. FUN’s Mass Media Love Quiz©, Dr. Galician’s Prescriptions© for Getting Real About Romance, and Dr. Galician’s Seven-Step Dis-illusioning Directions©), and she maintains the media literacy website RealisticRomance.com.
The first edition of her pioneering textbook — Sex, Love, and Romance in the Mass Media — was honored as Recommended Resource by the Center for Media Literacy. Dozens of scholars contributed original chapters based on Dr. Galician’s work for the textbook’s companion reader Critical Thinking About Sex Love, and Romance in the Mass Media: Media Literacy Applications, which she co-edited with Dr. Debra Merskin.
She earned her doctorate at Memphis State University (now University of Memphis) with a clinical residency in human values and medical ethics at the University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences. Dr. Galician has been elected to office in a variety of national organization boards and has served on several editorial boards as well as serving as guest editor of prominent research journals. The Outstanding Americans Foundation honored her as Woman of the Year, and her biography is published in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World, and Who’s Who in Entertainment.
And she earned her “Dr. FUN” nickname, by which she is affectionately and internationally known, because of the musical motivation program she created — FUN-dynamics!® — The FUN-damentals of DYNAMIC Living — to empower people to get “F – U – N” (her acronym for “Fired Up Now!”) by generating energy and enthusiasm, balancing success and happiness, and beating burn-out, the blues, and the bad news.
Each year on Valentine’s Day, Dr. Galician announces her Dr. FUN’s Stupid Cupid & Realistic Romance® Awards™ for media portrayals of sex, love, and romance for the past year's worst and best mass media portrayals of sex, love, and romance.
Dr. Galician is happily married to Dr. David Natharius — a gender communication, visual media, and humanities expert who is Professor Emeritus of Communication (California State University, Fresno) — and with whom she “walks her talk.”
Dr. Galician was named the Cronkite School’s first Professor Emerita.
New Third Edition Now Available!
This pioneering research-based yet accessible text is a valuable tool in media analysis and criticism that has been used by thousands of students, educators, and media literacy advocates.
The book’s multidisciplinary perspective is grounded in Galician’s unique Seven-Step approach and centered around 12 unhealthy but widely portrayed media Myths and stereotypes paired with 12 counteracting antidotal Prescriptions that encapsulate the literature's healthy relationship strategies rarely portrayed by the media. Readers learn how to identify, deconstruct, evaluate, resist, and reframe Myth-laden media texts, clarify their own values, and share their insights.
Although critical of unrealistic portrayals and the damage they can cause unaware media consumers, the author—a media literacy advocate—is not anti-media. Her goal is to empower consumers to “use the media instead of having the media use you.”
The NEW third edition of Sex, Love, and Romance in the Mass Media:
- Is Practical! It covers foundational theories and practical applications of analysis and criticism of mass media portrayals of sex, love, and romance from a media literacy framework.
- Is Comprehensive! The content has been extensively revised (providing enhanced clarification of the central concepts and key components--and their application).
- Is Up-To-Date! The material has been updated and expanded with 140 exemplary classic and recent media portrayals and 50 new research studies.
Prologue
Stop!
Before You Begin to Read This Book, Take Dr. FUN’s Mass Media Love Quiz©
Preface
Why I Wrote This Book for You
Introduction
The Why, What, and How of This Book
PART I: Foundations of Analysis & Criticism of Sex, Love, & Romance in the Mass Media
Chapter 1
KEY FOUNDATIONAL TERMS & CONCEPTS
What Do They Mean?
Chapter 2
ILLUSIONS (UNREALISTIC MODELS)
Myths & Stereotypes of Sex, Love, & Romance that Ruin Real-life Relationships
Chapter 3
DIS-ILLUSIONS (REALISTIC MODELS)
Prescriptions (Rxs) for Happier & Healthier Sex, Love, & Romance
Chapter 4
MASS MEDIA NARRATIVE CONSTRUCTIONS
Mass Media Storytelling Approaches, Techniques, & Devices
Chapter 5
THE INFLUENCE OF MASS MEDIA
Research & Theories of Mass Media Effects on Individuals & Society
Chapter 6
STRATEGIES & SKILLS OF MEDIA LITERACY
Tools for Media Analysis & Criticism
PART II: Applications of Analysis & Criticism of Sex, Love, & Romance in the Mass Media
Chapter 7
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #1
Your perfect partner is cosmically destined, so nothing/nobody can ultimately separate you.
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #1
Rx #1: CONSIDER COUNTLESS CANDIDATES.
Chapter 8
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #2
There’s such a thing as “love at first sight.”
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #2
Rx #2: CONSULT YOUR CALENDAR AND COUNT CAREFULLY.
Chapter 9
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #3
Your true soul mate should KNOW what you’re thinking or feeling (without your having to tell).
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #3
Rx #3: COMMUNICATE COURAGEOUSLY.
Chapter 10
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #4
If your partner is meant for you, sex is easy and wonderful.
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #4
Rx #4: CONCENTRATE ON COMMITMENT AND CONSTANCY.
CHAPTER 11
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #5
To attract and keep a man, a woman should look like a model or a centerfold.
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #5
Rx #5: CHERISH COMPLETENESS IN COMPANIONS (NOT JUST THE COVER).
Chapter 12
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #6
The man should NOT be shorter, weaker, younger, poorer, or less successful than the woman.
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #6
Rx #6: CREATE COEQUALITY; COOPERATE.
CHAPTER 13
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #7
The love of a good and faithful true woman can change a man from a “beast” into a “prince.”
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #7
Rx #7: CEASE CORRECTING AND CONTROLLING; YOU CAN’T CHANGE OTHERS (ONLY YOURSELF).
Chapter 14
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #8
Bickering and fighting a lot mean that a man and a woman really love each other passionately.
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #8
Rx #8: COURTESY COUNTS: CONSTANT CONFLICTS CREATE CHAOS.
Chapter 15
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #9
All you really need is love, so it doesn’t matter if you and your lover have very different values.
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #9
Rx #9: CRAVE COMMON CORE-VALUES.
Chapter 16
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #10
The right mate “completes you”—filling your needs and making your dreams come true.
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #10
Rx #10: CULTIVATE YOUR OWN COMPLETENESS.
Chapter 17
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #11
In real life, actors and actresses are often very much like the romantic characters they portray.
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #11
Rx #11: (DE)CONSTRUCT CELEBRITIES.
Chapter 18
DR. FUN’S MASS MEDIA LOVE QUIZ MYTH #12
Since mass media portrayals of romance aren’t “real,” they don’t really affect you.
Dr. Galician’s Prescription #12
Rx #12: CALCULATE THE VERY REAL CONSEQUENCES OF UNREAL MEDIA.
Epilogue
DON’T STOP!
The End Can Be the Beginning of a Genuine Happily-Ever-After
Sources
Index
DR. MARY-LOU GALICIAN (rhymes with “physician”) — The Original “Dr. FUN” — is a media literacy advocate and award-winning researcher, educator, author, and speaker who came to academia after enjoying positions as a newspaper columnist, book editor, nighttime television talk-show host/producer, and special events anchor, as well as national executive posts in advertising, marketing, and public relations.
As Founding Head of the Media Analysis & Criticism Concentration in the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication at Arizona State University, where thousands of students across all majors in her popular classes have learned how to be media literate (thinking critically and, as she puts it, “using the media instead of being used by the media”), she introduced hybrid courses combining the advantages of classroom and online education. And as Lead Professor of Cronkite/ASU Online, she created and taught totally online media literacy courses that enrolled hundreds of students around the world each term and demonstrated that online education can be rigorous and rewarding.
She is the creator of Realistic Romance® — The Thinking Person’s Relationship Remedy (of which three key components are her research-based Dr. FUN’s Mass Media Love Quiz©, Dr. Galician’s Prescriptions© for Getting Real About Romance, and Dr. Galician’s Seven-Step Dis-illusioning Directions©), and she maintains the media literacy website RealisticRomance.com.
The first edition of her pioneering textbook — Sex, Love, and Romance in the Mass Media — was honored as Recommended Resource by the Center for Media Literacy. Dozens of scholars contributed original chapters based on Dr. Galician’s work for the textbook’s companion reader Critical Thinking About Sex Love, and Romance in the Mass Media: Media Literacy Applications, which she co-edited with Dr. Debra Merskin.
She earned her doctorate at Memphis State University (now University of Memphis) with a clinical residency in human values and medical ethics at the University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences. Dr. Galician has been elected to office in a variety of national organization boards and has served on several editorial boards as well as serving as guest editor of prominent research journals. The Outstanding Americans Foundation honored her as Woman of the Year, and her biography is published in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in the World, and Who’s Who in Entertainment.
And she earned her “Dr. FUN” nickname, by which she is affectionately and internationally known, because of the musical motivation program she created — FUN-dynamics!® — The FUN-damentals of DYNAMIC Living — to empower people to get “F – U – N” (her acronym for “Fired Up Now!”) by generating energy and enthusiasm, balancing success and happiness, and beating burn-out, the blues, and the bad news.
Each year on Valentine’s Day, Dr. Galician announces her Dr. FUN’s Stupid Cupid & Realistic Romance® Awards™ for media portrayals of sex, love, and romance for the past year's worst and best mass media portrayals of sex, love, and romance.
Dr. Galician is happily married to Dr. David Natharius — a gender communication, visual media, and humanities expert who is Professor Emeritus of Communication (California State University, Fresno) — and with whom she “walks her talk.”
Dr. Galician was named the Cronkite School’s first Professor Emerita.