Oprah sex complaint rejected
2009-08-06 14:18
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Johannesburg - The Broadcasting Complaints Commission of SA (BCCSA) has rejected complaints about an Oprah show on how mothers should talk to their daughters about sex.
The BCCSA received complaints from three people, who said the show, broadcast on June 30 at 17:30, contained explicit sexual information during a time when children may be expected to be part of the audience.
The show featured Dr Laura Berman who said mothers should give their daughters as much information about sex as possible, including masturbation from the ages of 10 onwards.
She spoke of how girls, especially in the United States, were used to giving oral sex to boys from a young age.
The show featured pictures of female and male sex organs.
'Disgusted'
"I was disgusted to switch on the TV... during family viewing prime time, to find Oprah Winfrey hosting Dr Laura Berman, explaining very explicitly about sex and how parents should be having this discussion with their children," Bridgit Atkins, one of the complainants.
"This programme should have been shown at a later time, after children have gone to bed, giving parents the option to record the programme and view with their child if that is their choice - the warning after every advert break is not sufficient in this case to be excused".
But the BCCSA said the show, which was aimed at mothers and daughters aged between 10 and 14, carried very clear PG13 warnings.
"These advisories were visual as well as verbal," said BCCSA commissioner Lynda Gilfillan, in the judgment which was released on Thursday.
Diagrams
"The information provided regarding sexual function was presented by way of diagrams rather than actual pictures of the human body.
"It therefore had the appearance of school textbook information, and there was nothing unusual in it, as this information already forms the curriculum from grades 3 to 4," she added.
Also, there was no "visual imagery illustrating masturbation", she said.
"There is, in my opinion, no contravention of the code," concluded Gilfillan.
- SAPA