Many haters of ‘Jersey Shore,’ ‘Teen Mom 2,’ ’16 and Pregnant’ and ‘Real World’ have always somewhat jokingly said these shows are harming society. Turns out they might be right, at least when young ladies are concerned. A study released on Wednesday by The Parents Television Council (PTC) shows that females in these shows engage in 88 percent of the sexual dialogue and insult each other more than the men.

“The most shocking finding – or at least the most disturbing – was the way the two genders spoke of themselves. The women were overwhelmingly more disparaging when speaking of themselves. With so much being invested and so much at stake in empowering one’s self, especially for girls, the overwhelming message from reality television targeted at teen girls is to be overly negative to yourself,” said PTC President Tim Winter.

The study also reveals that only 24 percent of what females said about themselves was positive across all shows combined. The only positive dialogue females did have in regard to each other focused on their appearance and their ability to be resilient when it comes to personal attacks from other females.

According to Nielsen data, these kinds of MTV shows are the most watched by 12- to 17-year-olds during prime time. Based on the results of the study, the PTC is urging parents to pay more attention to what their teens are watching. Advertisers and producers are also urged to consider more realism in their “reality” TV and take more seriously the harmful messages they are sending to young girls.

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