Asexuality on tv shows: a socio-historical analysis

Abstract

TV shows have been prominent in contemporary cultural production. Using them as a resource for scientific research aims to build a methodological path capable of supporting the socio-historical analysis of psychosocial aspects materialized and massively disseminated by this culture production channel. Its interface with gender and sexuality studies seeks to build dialogues that make it possible to advance a critical bias in proposing concepts about how asexuality is presented in these products. For this, a descriptive-interpretative study was developed, based on the online Internet Movie Database (IMDb). In the database, the titles “Better Half” from the TV show House M.D. and “The Laws of Gods and Men” from Game of Thrones, were identified as potentiators of the discussion of asexuality. From the investigated episodes, it was possible to assess asexuality in the following contexts: treated as a deviant and pathologized phenomenon; as an aspect little represented in the TV shows; or as part of the possibility of being and existing in the world. Finally, the TV shows are able to give visibility to the asexuality category and also demonstrate the need to build more inclusive perspectives of sexuality and less guided by hegemonic ideals, based on pathologization and invisibilization.