Growing-Up Is Awkward.

Just recently, MTV aired a new “coming of age in a not so typical way” themed high schooler-oriented show called Awkward. To give a synopsis of the show thus far, the show follows Jenna, a girl who was unseen to her peers until a rumor went around that she tried to kill herself. Throughout the process of the first season, Jenna ends up hooking-up with Mr. Popular of her school, Matty. Towards the end of the season, she also ends up dating Matty’s best friend, Jake. Upon first viewing this show, it really felt like I was watching just another teen show, like a Degrassi spinoff or something. Upon closer viewing, it struck me that this show deals with sex and all of the problems that come with it a lot more frequently and in more depth than many of the other “teen shows” on the market these days.

An example of sexual health content in Awkward.

It is quite unusual to flip on the television and see a show about high school kids not only talking about sex in an open forum with their peers, but actually having it as well. Not only does this show depict teens having real, in depth conversations about the consequences of sex, it actually has a few examples of pro-sexual health messages weaved organically into the plot. As Hust, Brown and L’Engle (2008) point out in their study on the depiction of sexual health content in popular adolescent media, depictions of real-life sexual health concerns, questions, and topics are often largely unseen. Hust, Brown and L’Engle (2008) also point out three major themes that show up when sexual health content is visible: puberty is humiliating and something to be mocked, boys are obsessed with sex, and girls are the ones responsible for contraception. While Awkward does introduce the topic of sexual health in a fairly believable way, it does also fall back on some of these themes. For example, the first episode of the second season (which you can watch here) opens up with a scene depicting Jenna and her current boyfriend Jake not only engaging in sexual activity, but talking about it to each other, which then segues into Jenna opening up Christmas gifts from her parents. Her dad gives her a box of condoms and says “this is something to remind you of how precious you are to me.” This example completely goes along with the theme found by Hust, Brown and L’Engle’s (2008) study: that girls are responsible for not only their own virtue, but for taking control of using contraceptives when they engage in sexual activity. Another overarching theme of the show is that puberty (or, “growing up”) is somewhat embarrassing or humiliating. The show as a whole details the “awkward” situations that Jenna and her friends go through when dealing with sexual partners, finding out who they are, and what their sexual virtues are. 

Although Awkward falls back on a few problematic themes found in Hust, Brown and L’Engle’s study (2008), I would argue that it is also contradicting a few themes and possibly doing the audience some sort of good at the same time. The other theme discussed, that boys are sex crazed, is somewhat contradicted. In the same episode mentioned before, Jenna and her friends are shown getting ready for a New Year’s Eve party, and Jenna’s friend Tianna, gives her advice on how to dress, saying she should be “sexified” because she would want that kind of attention. Also contradicting this theme is the character of Jake, Jenna’s boyfriend. In a later episode in the season, Jenna discusses with her friends whether or not she is ready to have sex with Jake, and Jake is the one to tell Jenna that she should not feel pressured into having sex with him if she is not ready. Not only does this go against the theme that boys are the ones who are sex-crazed, it also demonstrates a rare example of sexual health content. As Hust, Brown and L’Engle (2008) found, couples in the media actually discussing the consequences or their readiness to have sex is pretty rare. What this episode might demonstrate is the media’s acknowledgement that adolescents are going to have sex, and if they are going to have sex, they might as well be prepared for it. Not only this, but depicting the teen characters being able to discuss sex and relationships with their own peers and parents (Jenna often discusses sex with both her mom and dad), might make the idea of discussing sex with peers instead searching for answers in less credible and flawed sources more palatable. 

This show may be flawed in its nod toward gendered sexual scripts, but it is not all bad. It does sort of challenge a few of these scripts, and depicts teens in a seemingly real scenario being responsible for their sexual health. Compared to the less than 1% or sexual health content found on television (Hust, Brown and L’Engle, 2008), this could be considered a step-up. At the very least, it shows that the media is slightly more willing to depict sexual responsibility in a way that does not stigmatize teens for wanting to have sex, unlike the much more prevalent PSAs that play during the commercial breaks.