Sexual Teasing in Chinese Entertaining TV Programs

Abstract: Humor is a shared characteristic of human beings. Among various kinds of humor, teasing is one of the most risky forms. Teasing related to sex is even more sensitive in most cultures. As is learned in previous studies, females tease less than males in general and both males and females tend to tease males more than females. It is due to the power difference and social asymmetry between different genders. This phenomenon is what has been found in natural occurrence of teasing. However, it is not the case in entertaining TV programs. We examined two Chinese TV talk shows, and found that the hostess is as aggressive as the host when making sexual teasing towards guests. Furthermore, the host/hostess does not consider the gender of the guests when teasing them about sexuality. That is in contrast with the natural occurrence. The explanation to this difference can be attributed to the asymmetrical power between hosts/hostesses and guests in the entertaining TV programs. Key words: sexual teasing, gender, power, entertaining TV programs Résumé: L’humour est une caractéristique partagée des êtres humains. Parmi les diverses sortes d’humour, la taquinerie est une des formes les plus risquées. La taquinerie relative au sexe est même plus sensible dans la plupart des cultures. D’après les études précédentes, on sais que le