Promiscuity and Rape in Friday Night Lights

After reading Ferguson et al.’s (2005) article, I started thinking about incidents of sexual harassment and promiscuous women that I have seen I media.

The first incident that came to mind was from Friday Night Lights - great show if you haven’t seen it!

A character, Tyra Collette, is portrayed as a confused, troubled girl who in the past has been very promiscuous. The other main characters know her as the school slut, more or less. She is described as the town’s former bad-girl who is now “hoping to rise above the stereotype of the blonde, over-sexed female” (Wikipedia). As the seasons progress, the show dives deeper into her story and she is portrayed less promiscuously as she begins to rearrange her life around college dreams and a healthy relationship.

 

In the second half of the first season (Episode 20 “Mud Bowl”), Tyra is studying at a diner where she is approached by a man. After they speak, she heads out to her car alone. As she is walking out, the man follows her, attacks her, and tries to rape her. Tyra ends up fighting him off by burning him with a cigarette and pushing and shoving her way out of there…

First, I think it is interesting that it is her character that falls victim to this harassment. Of course it is the over-sexed, promiscuous girl that almost gets raped... Lyla Garrity, the wholesome hometown sweetheart in the show, for example, would never have been sexually harassed. Even though at this point in the season, Tyra is getting her act together, studying for exams, etc, the show still chose to put her in this situation, which is stereotypical due to the fact that she was once the troubled, promiscuous girl. This reinforces the idea that Ferguson (2005) was pointing out that it is a common misconception that more promiscuous girls are more likely to be involved in harassment or rape, because they’re “asking for it”. 

While the show uses the stereotype of the promiscuous woman as being the victim of sexual harassment, the show combats these conceptions as well.  Tyra’s promiscuity does not affect the seriousness or injustice of the event, as the issue is handled in a very serious tone and lasts throughout season 1 and in to season 2.  The trauma that Tyra goes through is extremely emotional and shows that she was significantly affected by it. The show also makes it clear that she was not at all responsible (seeing as how she was sitting at a table doing homework before it happened). These two things contrast the Ferguson et al. (2005) article which shows a link between the victim’s promiscuity and viewing the victim as being less traumatized and more responsible. 

Overall, I find it typical that it is the promiscuous girl who almost gets raped. The show may give the idea that Tyra’s overtly sexual nature (boobs, lips, reputation, etc.) leads her to be more susceptible to these acts. At the same time, however, while it is characteristic of this type of character to get in trouble, the show makes sure that it is not taken lightly as it is clear that she is seriously traumatized.

As the Ferguson et al. (2005) article stated, physical, rather than verbal, harassment is more consistently seen as being inappropriate, traumatizing, and in no way the victim’s fault. The fact that Tyra’s incident was seriously physical, it seems obvious that the show would not make light of the incident. But that leads me to wonder about less physical or less observable acts of harassment. Would the show make such a big deal if Tyra was verbally harassed? Probably not, and though I’m not certain, I’m sure in earlier episodes she was verbally harassed - clearly they didn’t take it seriously as I cannot even remember for certain. It is media portrayals like this that reinforce the idea that verbal harassment is not serious and can be dismissed, especially when made towards promiscuous characters like Tyra. If verbal harassment were always portrayed with such seriousness as physical harassment, people would realize that comments, requests, or gestures of that nature are inappropriate.