Television, Sex and Society Analyzing Contemporary Representations

Since the 1990s, the screening of sex on American, British and Asian television screens has become increasingly prolific. Considering not only the specificities of selected sexualised images in relation to popular series, this study also concerns itself with the ramifications of TV sex as well as discussing the various techniques that are used by TV producers/programme makers to establish the cultural worth of their texts in series such as Shameless, The Tudorsand True Blood. The contributions draw attention to shifting representations of sex on television away from the authoritarian state and patriarchal order, toward a more democratic form of representation. As a significant and under-represented aspect of contemporary television studies, this is the first full-length academic collection to consider the wide-ranging representations of sex in society on contemporary television.

Introduction - by editors

Part I - The [move toward] Democratization of Sex?

Chapter 1: Sex on the 'Set': Pornographic Transgressions Chapter 2: Shameless Sex, Democratizing Desire and Libidinous Ambitions

Chapter 3: Fangbanging Chapter 4: True Blood Part II - The Sublimination of Sex

Chapter 5: Examining the Importance of 'no-sex' Sex in Pushing Daisies (2007-2009) Chapter 6: My Lovely Sam-soon: Absent Sex and the Unbearable Lightness of Cute Korean Romance Chapter 7: Television X-cised: Viewing Habits of British Adult Channels Part III - Production Context and Representation of Sex Chapter 8: 'I Cannot Talk of Books in a Ball-room': Erotic Austen Chapter 9: Performance Anxiety and Period Dramas: Lesbian Sex on the BBC  Chapter 10: The Conquests of Henry VIII: Masculinity, Sex and the National Past in The Tudors Conclusion - by the editors