We've all done it: sat watching a romantic movie and fantasized that one day our prince or princess would come. As much fun as it is to think about, at ASU, one professor is challenging these ideas. Dr. Mary-Lou Galician, or "Dr. Fun" as her students know her, has taught Sex, Love and Romance in the Mass Media since 2002. SPM sat down with Dr. Fun as she talked about her "damsel in distress" moment and the importance of getting real with romance.
SPM: How did the idea for this class first come about?
Galician: I really started this for myself. The motivation to research this came from my own personal failures in sex, love and romance at a time when I would expect a little more success.
SPM: In your class, you talk about the moment you had an epiphany about relationships? What happened?
Galician: After yet another disastrous relationship had ended, I was on the phone with a friend. I was whining and complaining, and he said, 'Mary-Lou do you want to know what your problem is?' He told me, 'You're looking for a night in shining armor, and no man in his right mind would ever think of you as a damsel in distress.' It really made me think, and I realized he was right.
SPM: Why is that?
Galician: I realized, after seriously thinking about this, that despite having an incredible role model as a mother who was not traditional, … somewhere in my primitive mind, I was looking for a Prince Charming or knight in shinning armor to rescue me.
SPM: How was the class first introduced?
Galician: Right before I was ready to present a year-long study, this talk show came to the University. The producers asked if I could put my ideas into a quiz form for the television show. I created my Mass Media Love Quiz in 1995, and I got a great response from my appearance on this show. I shared the findings and research with my [Media and Society] classes, and people said there should be a whole class on this topic.
SPM: The Love Quiz is based on the myths that you have found through your research, such as the idea of love at first sight and the idea that the love of a good and faithful women can turn a man from a beast into a prince. How did you come up with them?
Galician: Each myth was from content analysis of a great variety of media, movies, television, music and magazines. And there are more. People have come up with more, but I wanted it to be a manageable amount.
SPM: What do you want people to learn about myths in the mass media?
Galician: I want people to realize that we can enjoy the portrayals of sex, love and romance in the mass media, but we should not use the mythic, stereotypical ones for the basis of our own real-life behavior.
