Elke Van Damme

Let's Talk about Sex: Audience Research of Flemish Teenage Television Viewers and Their View on Sexuality.

Teenage sexual identity is shaped within a complex cultural landscape in which the issue of protecting the ‘innocent’ (children/teens) from sexually suggestive images is high on the public agenda. Intimate relationships and sexuality have entered the public domain and are presented on the screen, offering audiences possible roles to play in reality. Trepidation of teenagers being ‘corrupted’ by sexualised media has urged many scholars to investigate this issue. However, sexualised, mediatised representations can also empower and emancipate teens who are often savvy, active and critical media consumers. We aim to study how young audiences (aged 14–19) in Flanders consume fictional sexual scripts, and how these scripts can help in the development and articulation of sexual identity. A qualitative approach was taken using 57 teenagers divided into eight, in-depth focus groups. Sexual norms and values, as well as the sexual double standard and sexual scripts were discussed. Talking about and watching televised sex has become less of a taboo among teens, but this does not imply their permissiveness is unlimited. Traditional norms and values regarding relationships and sexuality are still highly valued, and although most respondents are tolerant towards casual sex by others, they distance themselves from such behaviour.

Sex as spectacle: an overview of gender and sexual scripts in teen series popular with Flemish teenagers

In recent years, research focusing on representations of sexuality in entertainment has gained momentum. Television content can sometimes be characterized as “hypersexual,” and according to Jacobson (2005), such “hypersexual” representations can be found in two-thirds of programs. However, beyond offering teenagers more sexual content, the nature of the content has also changed. Using a qualitative textual analysis, this article gives an overview of the gender scripts represented in series that are popular with Flemish teenagers: One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, Skins, Degrassi: The Next Generation, and 16+. Specifically, this article focuses on the relation between gender and sexuality. Sex(uality) has become part of the spectacle, and the tendency to “casualize” sexuality is apparent. This pinpoints the possibility that it may be time to reconsider sexual license in the twenty-first century as part of youth-as-fun instead of youth-as-trouble.In recent years, research focusing on representations of sexuality in entertainment has gained momentum. Television content can sometimes be characterized as “hypersexual,” and according to Jacobson (2005), such “hypersexual” representations can be found in two-thirds of programs. However, beyond offering teenagers more sexual content, the nature of the content has also changed. Using a qualitative textual analysis, this article gives an overview of the gender scripts represented in series that are popular with Flemish teenagers: One Tree Hill, Gossip Girl, Skins, Degrassi: The Next Generation, and 16+. Specifically, this article focuses on the relation between gender and sexuality. Sex(uality) has become part of the spectacle, and the tendency to “casualize” sexuality is apparent. This pinpoints the possibility that it may be time to reconsider sexual license in the twenty-first century as part of youth-as-fun instead of youth-as-trouble.