Who's Zoomin' Who?

When you’re watching TV it’s your time to relax, enjoy yourself or whatever is your reasoning. My guilty pleasure television show is Grey’s Anatomy. I have rewatched the series nearly once every year and without fail I cry at the same parts every time and still think maybe this time it’ll be different. Because I’ve watched it so much I am convinced I have enough knowledge to become a doctor, while that is not true I have learned a sufficient amount of lessons from the television show. Grey’s is filled with a lot of medical talk, but since it is a drama it includes a lot of relationships and sex.  In Collins study on entertainment as a healthy sex educator, he states that "while television presents a distorted picture of sexuality…and a vast majority of scenes with sexual content fail to depict the responsibilities concomitant with sexual activity or note the risk of pregnancy and contraction or sexually transmitted diseases;" however, I feel as though Grey’s has taught me some lessons on sex regarding sexually transmitted diseases that I otherwise would not have found out.

In episode 9 from season 1 titled Who’s Zoomin’ Who, I learned about syphilis. While I was aware that cooties were a thing, I didn’t understand what they were and what the effects are. In the episode one character contracts syphilis and as an outbreak occurs within the hospital, the Chief of Surgery holds a meeting where he tells all staff members what syphilis is, the symptoms, the effects and how it can be treated, followed by a demonstration on how to put a condom on. While the scene is supposed to have a comedic tone because they are doctors being told how to care for their own sexual health, it gives viewers information on syphilis.

I was not aware of sexually transmitted diseases such as syphilis at the time when I first watched this episode so I wasn’t likely to talk about it with my parents or be taught it at school. I can honestly say that this one episode has been the only encounter I’ve had with any syphilis discussion. This sexual education via the entertainment media was an important lesson to learn, but it also shows the efficiency of the message since I am still remembering it now. It could be that I have watched the series a bunch of times, but regardless of the amount of times I’ve seen it I remember what I learned from that one scene.
                              

While the Collins’ study did not observe strong effects of the Friends episode on condom beliefs, I believe that Grey’s was able to deliver a sexual health message with only a single episode that had lasting effects. Collins’ findings showed that “many young viewers maintain basic messages about condoms and the more specific condom facts presents, which suggest that if sexual risk and responsibility portrayals were more prevalent on television and had addressed subjects where the facts are less complex, the effects observed might be more powerful.” Meaning that if shows looked at sex through a more realistic lens like Grey’s Anatomy did, then there would be a change in how viewers take away lessons about sex from the media. While you don't come away from every sex scene in Grey's with knowledge of a new disease, this one scene in particular taught me what syphilis is, how it is basically undetectable in women, and can lead to blindness or death. I wouldn't have known that if I didn't watch the episode. Television doesn’t often have moments of learning like this episode of Grey’s anatomy or the episode of Friends where Rachel finds out she is pregnant, but it is important to note that learning does occur through entertainment. The viewing of television can effect viewers sexual behavior and make them view sex through a media lens, meaning that they aren’t getting full information on what sex is, how to have safe sex, or what is appropriate sex. I believe this one episode of Grey's Anatomy was an important part of my own sexual education, and I wouldn't have learned extensive details such as symptoms to look for in my sexual health class in 8th grade and I wasn't going to ask my parents about it.


Cite

1. Rhimes, S. (Writer). (2008, May 22). Who's Zoomin Who? [Television series episode]. In Grey's Anatomy. Seattle: Disney-ABC Domestic Television.
2. Collins, R. L., Elliott, M. N., Berry, S. H., Kanouse, D. E., & Hunter, S. B. (2003). Entertainment television as a healthy sex educator: The impact of condom-efficacy information in an episode of Friends. Pediatrics, 112(5), 1115-1121. doi: 10.1542/peds.112.5.1115