The British public takes a more relaxed attitude towards the portrayal of sex in the media, according to the National Centre for Social Research’s Annual British Social Attitudes Survey. The report entitled “Sex and the media: a shifting landscape” appears in British Social Attitudes (17th Report, 2000) published today.
The BBFC, ITC, BSC, BBC and Flextech sponsored the research, which asked many of the same questions which were posed in the earlier 1995 survey. The findings show that the public attitudes are becoming more permissive towards the portrayal of sex on adult subscription channels, video and the cinema, but retain a rather stricter attitude to free-to-air television.
This survey confirms the findings of the BBFC’s own public consultation exercise, which found that the British public is more tolerant of sexual depictions on film and on video, provided they are justified by the storyline. Even in the case of pornography, where the BBFC was recently required to liberalise its Guidelines as a result of a High Court ruling, the majority of those questioned felt that adults have the right to see explicit sex if they wish to. The survey also adds extra weight to the recent changes made to the BBFC Guidelines governing the amount of sex allowed at other categories, with the ‘15’ and ‘18’ categories now reflecting this more tolerant attitude.