In case you did not notice in this Gossip Girl trailer (which by the way, came straight from CW themselves), in the first season of the show, these characters are supposed to be juniors in high school. And although most juniors would be 16-17 years old, the characters in the show are always running about town, going to clubs, bars, drinking uncontrollably, doing drugs, and having lots of sex with each other.
This show is watched by almost 4 million people (1). That is a crazy number. Especially telling is that the targeted demographic of the show is teenaged girls. When people see things on TV, especially at a young age, they want to emulate the behavior they observe, thinking it might make them “cool,” or help them to fit in, like the characters in the show. However, most teens have parents that watch over them slightly better than the parents of Gossip Girl; they are not able to fully engage in all of the activities in the same way that the characters of the show do.
When these kids arrive at college, they are pretty much given a free pass to do whatever they like, and for some, that means promiscuous sex. As someone mentioned earlier in a comment, for many, college is the first time that students are not watched over 24/7, and sometimes they get carried away with their newfound freedom. So American youth culture may also have something to do with what is deemed acceptable and what isn’t, and what kinds of activities teens desire to engage themselves in.
Although this blog has been just a brief overview of this topic, I hope it has shed some light on the phenomenon of people having sex in public. I tried to be broad with my research, and after looking a little at female and male sexuality, desire, sexual scripts, exhibitionism, voyeurism, sexual identity, as well as American youth culture, I have realized that this issue goes so much deeper than the aspects I have discussed. There are books and books that deal with each one of these topics, and although the information available is vast, I hope I have been able to summarize it accurately, and with the information I have provided, help others to understand why these practices take place.
(1) "Gossip Girl' hits record high, 'Terminator' declines." Entertainment Weekly 16 Sept. 2008. Hollywood Insider. 16 Sept. 2008. Entertainment Weekly. 4 Dec. 2008
2 comments:
I thoroughly enjoyed reading the blog “Very Public Displays of Affection”. I have dealt with very similar situations as the examples given in the first and second entries. I could sympathize with the character of Samantha from the vibrator story entitled “there’s a time and a place for everything”, as I was once put in a position to deal with this very predicament. The topic is especially intriguing as it is a subject that is often experienced in the college setting. I enjoyed the way that the entries progressed. The first half focused primarily on specific examples of students confronting cases of public sexuality, where as the latter entries were more research based and focused largely on outside sources of reference. I think that the questions that you ask truly get to the essence of what drives such public acts of sexuality. At the conclusion of your first entry, you ask the question of, “why some college students living in dorms feel that it is acceptable to engage in sexual acts among the presence of others.” The blogs following this first entry attempt to answer this question. One explanation that you give in “Sexual Relativism” is the existence of or in some cases development of sexual openness, as seen through the increasingly more popular sex toy parties. Another explanation given in the entry entitled “Fantasy, Desire, and Sexual Scripts” is that fantasy is what stimulates desire so “erotic excitement is greater when ‘fantasy outcome is uncertain-when it includes an element of risk, danger, mystery, or transgression”. Well, acts of public sexuality are quite risky and in a sense dangerous, so under this proposal, it seems understandable that people would be intrigued by this kind of ‘risky business’. Overall, through this blog I have gained some insight into the motives behind these ‘very public displays of affection’
I sincerely enjoyed reading this blog about public displays and openness of sexuality, specifically in the college setting. You have not only fulfilled all of the requirements for your cross-cultural blog, but you have also executed your points in a well thought out, interesting, and accurately researched way. We have all been there: “sexiled.” It was an effective topic to start with since it is a very college-specific thing. As you mentioned, there are things that can be done in college that could never happen in the real world. So blatantly asking someone to leave when all parties involved (2 sexual partners and the roommate) are aware that the partners are about to have sex is a very strange and equally awkward thing that could seldom happen in, say, life before or life after college.
I also thought it was interesting that in your entry “Go Find Someplace Else,” you brought up the point that people were more appalled with TheGirlfriend’s behavior than Boy1’s behavior. This just goes to prove the gendered stereotypes, cultural norms, and double standards that have been the source of countless discussions on the traditionally feminist campus of our college. This sexual double standard is proven when you quote the following in your entry “How About Some More Fun-Fries, Guys?”:
"...in many societies where nakedness is the rule, females cover their genitals; there is no known society where males cover their genitals and females do not; and exposure of the female genitals seems to be an almost universal form of sexual invitation throughout the mammalian scale...If the male looks, then the female must exhibit”
This quote works very effectively to prove this double-standard.
Also in this entry, you mention the very interesting point that women’s bodies are on display much more frequently than men’s. You also say that men are most often the ones doing the looking. It was a very supportive point for you to bring up the fact that “Guys Gone Wild” is marketed to gay men and not straight women. It was captivating and very interesting when you pulled these examples together by concluding that, since women are the ones that are expected to be “in control” of a sexual relationship (since men are perceived as not being able to control themselves sexually) women are the ones who are so outraged that TheGirlfriend would stoop down to doing such a thing as having sex with someone else in the room. They are disgusted with TheGirlfriend even though Boy1 is essentially doing the same thing, if not a worse thing by facilitating it in his own room. Again, you have put together a thoroughly enjoyable and informative blog.
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