Although it’s quite toe-curling to say, there were many times growing up when I would play out the scenarios of all the romantic events that we deem as important in our society, from the first date to the first kiss to the first sexual experience. Binge-watching all my favourite teen dramas when I was supposed to be studying for my big exams definitely didn’t help, either. I couldn’t wait for the day I would find my very own Seth Cohen to live out my romantic fantasy. It’s safe to say that none of these events quite lived up to the high expectations I had in my head. I was rather disappointed, to say the least, but I was also quite relieved when I found out that there were a lot of other girls like me who were underwhelmed by all these ‘first time’ moments — and we could all agree that our favourite teen dramas added to this disappointment. I’m 21 and over it now. But when watching these shows back, that doe-eyed look of a young girl growing up turned into one of disgust. Not only are these scenes wildly unrealistic, they’re also very dangerous.
Pretty Little Liars is a teen drama/mystery inspired by the novel series of the same name. The show follows four girls — Aria, Spencer, Emily, and Hanna — as their lives take a turn for the worse when the mysterious ‘A’ blackmails them into doing questionable tasks, on threat of exposing their darkest secrets. Although it was a great escape from reality, I became drawn to how the four girls would navigate their personal lives — especially Aria Montgomery (Lucy Hale). She was the pretty and sweet 16-year-old who was destined to be a writer. She was also madly in love with her English teacher, as was he with her. It’s alarming to me now, being a 21-year-old who can clearly see how Aria was groomed into a relationship with her 20-something-year-old teacher. It was even more concerning to me when I rewatched the show and saw how much they tried to make Ezra Fitz (Ian Harding) out to be the good guy, and how anyone who tried to put a stop to their relationship was painted as the villain. Getting a handsome actor to portray a man entering an illegal relationship with his student was a great way to manipulate the young girls who were the target demographic of the show.
Although we can agree that this was an inappropriate relationship, the teacher/student relationship trope seems to be one that is continuously played out and romanticised in teen dramas. The writers cast a young and attractive actor and portray their predatorial ways as ‘forbidden love.’ Whilst this storyline could have been a great way to portray how a relationship with someone who is older and in a position of power can have negative effects on one’s life as they get older, the writers decided to take a different approach by having Aria marry her abuser in the end. It was clear as day that this poor girl was groomed — It was even more alarming remembering how I used to root for this relationship.
If there is one thing that most teen dramas never fail to do, it’s include a sex scene in nearly every episode. From Euphoria to Skins to Riverdale, almost every major character in these shows ends up engaging in sexual intercourse. Teenagers have sex; it would be naive to think otherwise. However, there is a difference between incorporating a sex scene to portray the realities of adolescence and using it for shock factor. One scene that comes to mind is the carnival episode in Euphoria when 17-year-old Cassie (Sydney Sweeney) begins masturbating on a ride whilst under the influence, making for an incredibly uncomfortable watch, even as a grown-up. This wasn’t the first time a scene this extreme in nature took place on the show. We saw it as early as the first episode when Maddy Perez (Alexa Demie, who also portrays a 17-year-old) was having sex in a pool with a college student during a house party. Seeing these kinds of scenes play out in the show made me question why series creator Sam Levinson, a man in his mid-30s, chose to portray these characters in such an explicit and many times degrading manner. Is this really showing us the realities of adolescence, or is this just another way of satisfying the male gaze by using adult actresses who could pass for young girls to act in such a provocative manner?
Another example of this in the show would be the character of Kat Hernandez (Barbie Ferreira). Kat seemed to have more of a realistic backstory. She was an awkward teenager who was learning to navigate her appearance whilst not having had any sexual experiences. This all began to change rather swiftly when she began to discover herself sexually by engaging in casual sex with older men and exploring the world of BDSM through online web chats. Kat would wear little to nothing and start dancing for middle-aged men, who became her regular viewers and target demographic. Not only was she making money through this, she was thoroughly enjoying it, as she garnered plenty of male attention and admiration. Although this can be a positive thing, it can also be alarming when young girls are portrayed to be engaging in sex work with adult men as some type of ‘girlboss’ moment. We see this in the episodes “Made You Look” and “Shook Ones Pt. II,” where she glides off in happiness, upbeat music in the back, after having sex with two adult men. It’s not everyday you see a regular teenage girl become a phenomenon in the world of sex work — and whilst this storyline is not realistic whatsoever, it also sets a very dangerous example for the young girls who watch the show. It encourages them to act in a way that is hypersexual all in the name of feminism and sexual liberation, when these terms are used to mask the fact that they are being sexually exploited by older men.
The sex scenes in most teen dramas tend to be very graphic and incredibly unrealistic. Everything goes to plan, and the actors look flawless in the process, when we all know teenagers are anything but. And in all these shows, almost every major character ends up having sex somewhere along the line. It is almost as if having sex is required for character development. I went to a school where there was not only a diverse group of students racially, but also culturally. My friendship circle alone consisted of Muslims, Christians, Hindus, and atheists. Having religious friends also meant that they went through their high school lives not having experienced anything remotely sexual. It wasn’t just the kids who followed religion — there were so many others who didn’t have sex. It was actually quite shocking to find out how many didn’t, considering how much these shows are oversaturated with countless sex scenes. The absence of this group in television shows implies that the kids who never have sex are unworthy and therefore do not need to be represented in the media, though I believe it’s important to show kids growing up that there are as many not having sex in school as those who are.
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate all these shows growing up — I loved them, actually. They’re staples in pop culture and filled a part of my childhood and adolescence with a lot of joy. I always look back and reminisce about the days my sister and I would watch 90210 together after school, or when I would pretend I was on my computer but really I was trying to sneak a peek of Skins when my older siblings were watching it. They’re shows that have a special place in my heart, but even the things and people we love have their bad parts. Watching these romantic and passionate love stories play out left me so disappointed when I floated through my adolescent years not even going on one date, let alone having someone who I could finally have my perfect first time with. It left me trying to fill a void and feeling unfulfilled after leaving school and being mistreated multiple times by men. If only I could see someone on a teen drama who had an experience like mine at the time, I wouldn’t have felt like my life was so incredibly mundane to the point where I had to make up for it later on in life. Even showing sex as messy and imperfect would’ve made a big difference, not only to me, but to many others who felt the same way I did.
If you cannot find a way to write a television show about kids in high school without getting actual teenagers to portray high school kids whilst adding an explicit sex scene every other page, then writers need to think about setting these shows in a place that isn’t for underage kids. If we want to continue writing shows about teenagers in a way that is relatable to the ones who have been or are going through this awkward phase in their lives, then we need to pay homage to every kind of teenager. I can only hope that the next generation of girls has a better introduction and representation of sex on-screen, so they don’t find themselves desperately seeking approval from another body the way I did.
