Our culture often celebrates teenage boys for engaging in sex, while punishing girls for participating in the same acts. In a technology centered world, the media plays a huge role in reinforcing these ideas. More specifically, films that are targeted at teenagers play a tremendous role in forming teen’s views on sex. Oftentimes, the plots of these films are sex centered, portraying sex as only desired by men.
(Gif courtesy of GIPHY)
Let’s take a look at the movie American Pie. This film opens with one of the characters, Jim, masturbating. It then cuts to another character, Victoria, getting accepted into college. Throughout the entirety of the film, the teenage male characters are portrayed as only concerned about sex, while their female counterparts express a desire for love and romance.
The gendered division of sexual desire is laid out in the film from the get go, which is extremely problematic. It promotes the idea that teenage boys are entirely sex focused while teenage girls are supposed to focus their attention elsewhere. It can lead to young girls feeling significantly more restricted in their sexual expression or being slut shamed for acting on their desires.
(Gif courtesy of GIPHY)
Another highly problematic trend in teen films is the way teenage girls are portrayed as needing to be convinced or tricked into having sex. In the film Superbad, one of the characters, Seth, believes he needs to get his classmates drunk in order for them to want to have sex with him. The normalization of this mindset in films is incredibly dangerous. Under no circumstances should alcohol be used as a tool for getting laid, because it can hinder the ability to give proper consent.
I am not suggesting that these films are inherently bad or that they shouldn’t be watched. However, I think it’s incredibly important that we attempt to be more conscious of the messages we are promoting through film, especially in teen films, because they have a prominent role in shaping the outlooks that adolescents develop regarding sex.