Thanks to Netflix, it is easier than ever to binge watch show after show. Maybe it is the great soundtrack or the disgustingly excessive displays of wealth, but I frequently come back to Gossip Girl when I want to do anything other than homework. In season 1, episode 7 of Gossip Girl, the teenage queen of the Upper East Side, Blair Waldorf, loses her virginity to (spoiler) her boyfriend's best friend, Chuck, in the back of a limo. A few episodes later, she sleeps with her boyfriend in an attempt to fix their crumbling relationship.
Aside from being heterosexual intercourse after the age of 16, Blair's virginity loss narrative falls short of Maura Kelly's definition of appropriate virginity loss under the management script and she is punished appropriately. According to Kelly, "Virginity-loss narratives following the management script employed the following set of themes: (a) virginity loss as a rite of passage, (b) emphasis on 'appropriate' virginity loss (e.g., the teenager is at least 16, is in a monogamous romantic relationship, uses contraception, and discusses sex with an adult), and (c) positive consequences when sex is 'appropriate' and negative consequences when sex is 'inappropriate.'" Blair's negative consequences begin immediately after she sleeps with Chuck, but come to a climax in episode 13 when her best friend is caught buying pregnancy tests by the infamous Gossip Girl blogger. While at first her friend covers for her, Chuck soon sends in an anonymous tip to the blogger that the pregnancy test is for Blair and that she had slept with multiple men within the past week. For having inappropriate sex, Blair feels instant regret, loses her boyfriend, experiences a pregnancy scare and a baby daddy crisis, and public embarrassment. Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly) Blair's now ex-boyfriend and Chuck remain friends after a very short fight, which may demonstrate how inappropriate sex is not as much of an issue for men who are often portrayed as unable to control themselves. This is especially true for Chuck, who sleeps with just about every woman on Gossip Girl.
After our discussion of Kelly's article "Virginity Loss Narratives in 'Teen Drama' Television
Programs," I realized that Gossip Girl wraps up its virginity loss narratives and the idea of appropriate sex perfectly according to the management script. Although Blair goes on to sleep with other men and even get married to another man, in the end she ends up marrying and starting a family with Chuck. Another main character, Dan, also loses his virginity in the first season, only to end up married to the girl he lost it to in the final episode.
References
(2007). In Gossip Girl. New York City: The CW.
Kelly, M. (2009). Virginity Loss Narratives in "Teen Drama" Television Programs. The Journal of
Sex Research, 47(5), 479-489.
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