Bibliographic details and abstracts are available to all. Downloads of full-text dissertations are restricted to University of Portsmouth members who must login. MPhils may be accessed by all.

Abstract

This research project has been undertaken to criticise both the harmful messages and stereotypes created by teenage dramas from the early 2000s, but also to critique theories that are unnecessarily unforgiving of overt female sexuality. By looking into what previous work had been done regarding the chosen shows and the influence they have had, I discovered that while the shows themselves have been criticised for their harmful messages, the research surrounding the female characters and their overt sexualisation is lacking. Most of the research previously done continues to shame and blame the girls in these shows for their sexual choices, rather than vilifying the screenwriters themselves for writing such overly sexual characters in the first place. Therefore, to exemplify how these shows maintain a negative attitude towards women that have any opinion of sex whatsoever, I have identified three tropes by which female characters are identified; the prude, the whore and the girl-next-door. These tropes have been analysed in terms of the stereotypes they maintain about female sexuality, and regarding the judgment faced by my chosen characters for their decisions to have or not to have sex for enjoyment. Overall, this project has criticised previous research surrounding the chosen topic and offered a new, progressive outlook and criterion regarding the way the girls in teenage dramas are presented.

Course: English and Media Studies - BA (Hons) - C1255

Date Deposited: 2020-10-28

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis13595.html