Have you heard of moralistic pornography? This appears to be a unique genre invented by certain Tamil TV channels.
These sexology programmes feature a doctor (Dr M Palani, a Siddha doctor, appears to be the popular choice) and have a female anchor who is dressed in err...a racy way. Typically, the anchor reads letters or takes calls from viewers about their sexual problems and the doctor advises them on what to do. There's usually a chosen subject for the day too.
While it's a good thing that there are sex education programmes on TV, considering it's the need of the day in a country like ours where anything to do with sex is taboo, these programmes appear to be propagating misinformation.
Take this episode from "Antharangam" on I TV in which Dr M Palani appears with anchor Shakeela, the one-time porn queen of South India.
Watch:
When a caller confesses that he masturbates twice a week and has nocturnal emissions sometimes, the doctor tells him that masturbation is “wrong” and that it will even lead to impotency! He further tells the caller that he could be suffering from “weak nerves” and that he should take medical treatment to resolve this.
Masturbation is considered to be a completely normal and common activity – which does not lead to any ill effects – by most medical practitioners. Occasional nocturnal emissions are normal too. Of course, anything which becomes an addiction can have consequences and it is the same with masturbation – but someone who indulges in it twice a week cannot be termed an addict!
In Ayurveda and Siddha medicine, masturbation is considered to be sinful and an abuse of the body, but there's no scientific evidence for this claim.
The doctor appearing in this episode says masturbation is not wrong if the man is single but sinful if he is married. Would this be religious advice or medical one?!
Watch:
Although the show takes a moralistic point of view when it comes to sex, the female anchors speak in innuendo-filled language that is clearly MEANT to titillate its male viewers. In the above video, the female anchor asks a male caller if Ayutha puja went well and if he worshiped his “ayutham” (weapon) too! The dirty talk is part and parcel of the show.
In another programme, "Samayal Manthiram" which appears on Captain TV, the doctor makes crass remarks about the anchor's body as part of the show.
Take the episode on breasts, for instance. The doctor says that women are jealous of other women who are large-breasted and says that the anchor, who has big breasts, must have experienced this. He also cooks on the show – a dish with raisins and spinach that supposedly increases the size of the breasts –and asks the anchor if she's eaten much of this, considering what she looks like.
In this show, "Thitthikkum Iravugal", soft porn shots from anchor Shakeela's "erotic" films are played in between.
What really is the purpose of these shows? Titillation rather than sex education appears to be the priority. The imposed "morality" is perhaps their defence to keep the show on air. There's nothing wrong with age-appropriate consumption of erotica but the propagation of misinformation is certainly concerning.
Not all sexology shows on Tamil TV channels are the same though. Here's one called "Doctor X" which airs on Sun News. Well-known sexologist Dr Kamaraj appears on the show with a male anchor – the show sticks to creating awareness and doesn't seek to achieve anything else. Perhaps that's why this doc is cool with masturbation!
(This article has been published in an arrangement with The News Minute.)
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