The One Where Rachel Tells...

I swear by the fact that I have seen every episode of Friends at some point in my life. I know by heart the layout of Rachel and Monica's apartment and the relationships that will or won't work out. When my boyfriend's roommate recently started watching every episode from season 1 forward, I realized that even with all of my Friends knowledge, I wasn't aware of how frequently sexual content was discussed. I recently watched two episodes from season 8  in which Rachel tells her friends that she is pregnant and plans to tell the father, whose identity is kept a mystery throughout the first of the two episodes. She tells Pheobe her plan for telling the father, to which Pheobe tells her that it is a bad idea and asking their other friend Joey what he would do if someone called to tell him that he was going to be a dad. When Joey freaks out, Rachel rethinks telling the father at all. In the next episode she does tell the father (Ross) who immediately blames her, asking how this could possibly happen even though he was the one who provided the contraception. After a long discussion he decides that they have to get married, which she turns down, and then goes to her doctor's appointment with her.

It could just be my general dislike for Ross' character, but this was such a stereotypical depiction of the negative consequences of sex outside of marriage that I was kind of disappointed. The woman is held responsible, not only for her choices (not theirs), but for ruining or disrupting the life of the guy she slept with. Once the man accepts that he is having this baby he rushes to propose marriage even though they are not and have not been in a relationship for an extended period of time, as though it is unacceptable for her to have this baby out of wedlock.

In "Understanding the role of entertainment media in the sexual socialization of American youth: A review of empirical research," L. Monique Ward discusses how "the media are often forthcoming and explicit about sexuality when others are not," which is very true of Friends. The entire cast of characters is sexually active and constantly seeking sex. Ward also discusses how the media generally avoids topics like STDs, pregnancy, and contraception. Friends does take on pregnancy multiple times, but contraception only comes up in reference to the condom breaking. STDs, even though the characters all have various sexual partners, are not discussed. Congruent with Ward's article, the show focuses on the emotional consequences of sex. Unfortunately, the show also follows societal scripts, portraying Rachel as the one at fault for the unplanned pregnancy.

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Ward, L. (2002). The media are often forthcoming and explicit about sexuality when others are not.
     Developmental Review, 347-388.