Sexual Health and Behavior Messages in How I Met Your Mother

For the past few weeks, I have been binge-watching How I Met Your Mother. I had just finished One Tree Hill and wanted to watch a comedy, and it seemed like everyone and their mother (haha) has seen HIMYM, so I figured I may as well watch it so I wouldn't be out of the loop. I am already almost done with season 8, and while everyone says "Don't watch the last season, it's awful!" I still plan to be finished with the series sometime next week. Or tomorrow. It's Valentine's Day and I'm single, don't judge. Anyway, if you haven't watched it, HIMYM is hilarious. But I would be lying if I said I stayed interested in watching the show for any other reason than Barney. A caricature of a modern ladies' man, Barney is crass, sexually explicit, misogynistic, and in my opinion, the best character on the show. I'm not alone in this opinion- Neil Patrick Harris was nominated for four Emmys for playing Barney. However, as I listen to the things Barney says and find myself laughing out loud, I can't help but wonder about the influence that TV characters like Barney have on viewers' perceptions about sexual health and norms.



In Hust, Brown, & L'Engle's (2008) article "Boys Will Be Boys and Girls Better Be Prepared: An Analysis of the Rare Sexual Health Messages in Young Adolescent's Media," the researchers analyzed messages about sexual health in different forms of media, including television. They found that sexual health content is rare on television, and is both humorous and humiliating when it is actually talked about. They also found that boys are obsessed with sex, girls are responsible for maintaining everyone's sexual health, and condoms are shown as a kind of toy. Not surprisingly, but perhaps disappointingly, I found these findings to be consistent with How I Met Your Mother, and with Barney's behavior, in particular. He has had sex with over 200 women, and it is really all he seems to care about. Despite this, he never mentions having dealt with an STD, pregnancy, or any concern over either of those things aside from joking about them. He is often insinuated that he uses condoms, but they are usually shown as a joke. 

Similarly, Chia & Gunther's (2006) article "How Media Contribute to Misperceptions of Social Norms About Sex" shows that HIMYM is sadly negative in its portrayals of sexual behavior. They found that media portrayals of casual sex as the norm influences adolescents to overestimate their own peers' sexual behavior. So it could be said that Barney sends a message to viewers that his behavior is realistic, normal, and encouraged. 

What makes this difficult is that Barney is so likable. He shouldn't be, but he is. It's also easy to look past his misogynistic comments and behavior because it's all done for laughs. With this in mind, I wonder if HIMYM could have been so successful, or funny, if Barney was more well-behaved. He makes for great entertainment, just like countless other womanizing media characters. Sadly, I don't think I would enjoy the show nearly as much were Barney different. However, I do think there could have been some way to incorporate more positive sexual health messages into the show without taking away from the hilarity of Barney's character. 

References:
Chia, S.C.,& Gunther, A.C. (2006). How media contribute to misperceptions of social norms about      sex. Mass Communication & Society, 9(3), 301-320.
Hurst, S., Brown, J., & L'Engle, K. (2008). Boys Will Be Boys and Girls Better Be Prepared: An           Analysis of the Rare Sexual Health Messages in Young Adolescent's Media. Mass                               Communication & Society, 11, 3-23.