Physical Consequences of Sexual Decisions on Television: Rewarded, Punished, or Absent All Together

It seems that if we can draw one consensus from the research and scholarly writing on sexual decisions and behavior in the media that it would be that the media educates us- we learn by watching which characters or figures are rewarded and which are punished for their sexual conquests. Turning to television, specifically, Ward (2003) has found that there is lack of discussion and depiction of sexual planning and consequences of sexual decisions, with few references to disease, contraception, pregnancy prevention, and abortion within the television content that she examined. She did, however, find that emotional consequences of sex like betrayal, pain, and embarrassment were highlighted much more frequently (Ward, 2003, 351-355). In the event that unwanted pregnancy was portrayed, Hust, Brown, and L'Engle (2008) found that "teen pregnancy often is considered a 'girl's problem,'" girls being solely responsible for their children in the absence of teen fathers as well as responsible for preventing pregnancy and STDs (16).




















In thinking about today's media environment, I have to say that I think Ward's finding in 2003 that physical consequences of sex were quite absent is frankly outdated in 2015, which is to be expected. However, I don't know that I can argue that the presence of these physical as well as emotional consequences of sexual decisions are all healthy and realistic. The particular media that comes to mind when I thought about this particular finding was ABC Family's The Secret Life of the American Teenager and the WB's Gilmore Girls. 

The first aired on ABC Family from 2008 to 2013, becoming a hit just as I was leaving middle school and entering high school. I remember scoffing at this show, refusing to watch it because I couldn't believe what it was portraying, yet still being intrigued by the drama of the teen star's pregnancy. The show centers around Amy who, after a fling at band camp, becomes pregnant. She must deal with the consequences but she still lives at home, still lives with her parents, still attends school, and still manages to raise her son at the age of 16. A similar situation is portrayed in one of my favorite shows of all time, Gilmore Girls. This show aired on the WB from 2000-2007 and portrays the lives of mother Lorelai and daughter Rory, the witty, beautiful, and fast talking duo in the storybook town of Stars Hollow, Connecticut. Lorelai gives birth to Rory at the age of 16, a consequence of her first sexual experience with teenage sweetheart Christopher. While the show's first season begins with Rory at the age of 16, one episode flashes back to Lorelai giving birth in 1984:

The two examples briefly described here kind of throw a wrench into what we have learned from our readings in this course so far. Shows like this that incorporate teen pregnancy are not in short supply. Thus, while Ward's findings in 2003 might be outdated, Hust et al.'s conclusion that responsibility for teen pregnancy is relegated to the mother is much more acute. However, Hust et al. seems to conclude that this responsibility is assumed by the teen girl in a negative way. These shows contradict this notion. These television shows that acclaimed much success with teens and young adults show two young girls that are rewarded in some sense for getting pregnant and having a child at 16. Amy and Lorelai both thrive as characters, and in a literal sense are rewarded with a television show centering around them for having a child as a teen. Amy and Lorelai both face hardships from getting pregnant when they did and they both exhibit a range of emotional consequences from their sexual decisions. Yet, they are both characterized as strong women that have figured out motherhood, thriving in the absence of the fathers of their children.

Therefore, television is working to portray a very specific picture of teen pregnancy and what it should look like. The script here follows teens that are coming from an upper-middle class background that are witty, very stereotypically attractive, and rewarded in the long run for the way they handled their teen pregnancy. If options for abortion or adoption are brought up in these two shows, they are dismissed readily, and both television shows depict the teen mother as figuring things out and truly happy with their children and the lifestyle that having a child creates. This says something about what is being rewarded and punished. Even though there is some element of social punishing or ostracizing in these shows from friends and family, the overall theme is reward.

Where does this leave us? What kind of message or new scripts is this kind of media creating? From this limited analysis it seems to me that the new script around teen pregnancy is that is not something we all should strive for, but in the event that it does happen, the results will be overall quite positive, something I think is far from the reality of teen pregnancy off of the television screen.

Works Cited:

Hust, 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 adolescents' media. Mass Communication & Society, 11, 3-23.

Ward, L. (2003). Understanding the role of entertainment media int he sexual socialization of the American youth: A Review of empirical research. Developmental Review, 23, 347-388.

Life is Short, Talk Fast (2009). Lorelai giving birth to Rory. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAAa53zcsns.