# Any other couples don't watch T.V. at all?



## FormerlyCareFree (Nov 25, 2011)

Just wondering if any other couples out there have made the choice to eliminate TV from their lives?

I wasn't really raised in front of the T.V. I grew up playing outside, so for me it's always been a natural thing to choose physical activity over the T.V., which till this day I find so odd that people do. Not judging. 
I have a friend who has 2 little girls (less than 9 y.o.) and she watches all the crap on tv, all living day long.  That I judge, because now her daughters are watching all the crap with her like JS, and the kards, etc.

When I got my first Apt. I started watching T.V. on my days off and became hooked for a few years. I realized then how powerfully addicting T.V. can be, but this is not something the average person is willing to step back and examine. I hear so many people say they would like to watch a lot less tv, but they never seem to do anything about it because they're too hooked.

What finally made me stop watching T.V. altogether was the portrayal of women in the media. Especially commercials. The media definitely glamorizes so many negative things that has deeply affected our society today. 


Here are just a few of the top reasons why I decided to quit T.V. :
-Sexualization of young girls (minors)
-Glamorizing infidelity
-Dumbed-down women syndrome (Snickers commercials are famous for this) 
-Hyper-sexualized programming. 
-Exploitation of children
-Misleading product information
-Offensiveness/insult of pretty much every subject on T.V. from consumer products to sex.

So in essence I feel T.V. is a big farce. Not to mention totally unproductive.
I don't judge anyone who watches T.V. I sometimes even get a kick out of hearing second-hand stories of what my friends are entertained by on TV. However, it doesn't stop people by judging *me* when I tell them I don't watch television. They look at me like I'm suppose to spend the rest of my life in front of the tv, and I'm missing out on an essential part of socialization.
Luckily for me my husband felt the same way and so together we chose productive activities that add enrichment to our lives instead of watching mindless tv for the rest of our lives, and I tell ya, we have experienced things that otherwise we would have missed out on, and we recognize that it's because we chose life over TV.

Wondering If there are any other TV-free couples out there, and how do you spend your time at home? 

Please excuse any errors in my writing/grammar. I'm multi-lingual.

Eta: We do watch netflix from time to time because we get to choose what we want to watch, and it's commercial free. I have no issues with educational progamming.


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## deejov (Sep 24, 2011)

I watch the news, netflix, occasionally go out to movies.
Tv I do watch is history channel, discovery, etc. 

I read books, do stuff around the house, go to the gym, visit with friends, get things ready for the next work day. Just busy.. in general, and not one to just sit around the house in the evenings.

I am a social leper at the office. I don't have a clue about these dancing shows or anything. But I thought Breaking Bad on netflix was worth watching, and now I'm stuck trying to buy season 4 (no spoilers please)


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## FormerlyCareFree (Nov 25, 2011)

lol, that's how I feel at work too. Left out of the fun tv talks. But that's ok. I started watching Chimp Eden on netflix and loved it. I love series of any sort, so long as their generally wholesome or educational.


eta: I read a lot. I jog and do yoga. I also love to cook (I'm a chef). My husband and I enjoy discussing news, world events and books we read. I honestly believe it makes a couple closer in their relationship.


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## CallaLily (Jan 13, 2011)

I have a friend who her and her husband don't watch TV nor do they let their two daughters. They say its corruptful. 

Once when they decided to let their guard down and let the kids watch a kid friendly show, a commercial for Vagisil feminine products came on, the husband quickly turned it off and said "thats not for kids eyes, this is why we don't watch it. When his daughter asked what that was on the commercial, he then said "you can discuss it with your mother sometime, not learned on TV."


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## FormerlyCareFree (Nov 25, 2011)

CallaLily said:


> I have a friend who her and her husband don't watch TV nor do they let their two daughters. They say its corruptful.
> 
> Once when they decided to let their guard down and let the kids watch a kid friendly show, a commercial for Vagisil feminine products came on, the husband quickly turned it off and said thats not for kids eyes, this is why we don't watch it. When his daughter asked what that on the commercial, he then said "you can discuss it with your mother sometime, not learned on TV."



I agree with this. Parents should be the ones who teach their kids ALL about sex. They shouldn't find out anything from watching television.


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## TwoDogs (Jul 29, 2011)

I am the non-TV watcher; he does watch some at his own house.

When we're at my house (which is most of our time spent together) our normal leisure activity is reading, we're both bookworms. Otherwise we're walking/playing with the dogs, discussing our work or current events, having meals, etc.


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## Mistys dad (Dec 2, 2011)

I transformed.

Used to have it on in the background and as a void filler.

I really started to get annoyed at the horrible portayal of men in most shows. 

Stupid male, married to hot, super intelligent female who treats him as a child. She must always "save" him from his own overwhelming stupity.

If there are children in the show, they are generally disrespectful to the parents, especially the father. Disney shows are the worst, the children are outright insulting to adults and portrayed as self-centered. Kids are shoved into adult like positions where they are in charge.

Now, I just watch the very few shows I like and shut off the rest.


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## Almostrecovered (Jul 14, 2011)

that's the nice thing about TV's, they have off buttons


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## expatforlife (Jun 12, 2011)

We don't own a TV. It was not due to sex or violence. It just our MMORPG addiction killed that addiction, so we go rid of it a few years ago. We no longer play MMORPG's, we successful eliminated that addiction last year. We now fill our time with working out and other fun things/hobbies. We do watch movies on the computers, though.


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## Hope1964 (Sep 26, 2011)

I would love to get rid of the TV. About the only thing I would miss is football.


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## Halien (Feb 20, 2011)

For the first 12 years of marriage, we didn't own a TV. I intentionally gave mine away because I knew it could be a big problem for me. My wife never liked TV. When the kids were around five to six, we got one but only hooked it up to a video player for disney movies and such. Once, they were watching normal TV at a friends house and one of them commented about the previews that came in the middle of movies. They were talking about commercials in a Discovery channel show. We decided it was time to get television. Still, we each only picked one show each to watch until they are finally college aged. Incidentally, my daughter was a published author in high school - and has read thousands of books. I write as a hobby. Our son has been doing voluunteer work since he was 13.


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## that_girl (Jul 6, 2011)

We don't have cable. We watch movies. My kids don't get commercials  I love it.


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## AgentD (Dec 27, 2010)

We have TV but we watch very few things. And the news, don't even get me started. There seems to be so much negativity in news these days we don't even watch that.


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## OOE (Mar 17, 2011)

I haven't had cable in 4 1/2 years. My GF hasn't had it for 3. We watch movies from Netflix or Redbox when we want that type of entertainment.

Our kids have adjusted fine.

I agree that the bits of mainstream TV I've seen over the past few years have really left a bad taste in my mouth.

Of course, the other point is that the TV is a HUGE hidden time sink.


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## CalifGuy (Nov 2, 2011)

I have discovered that the more TV, the less sex there is...better to sometimes turn the TV off early or not turn it on at all!


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## Patricia B. Pina (Nov 22, 2011)

You are better off reading book.


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