While recently watching
the season four premiere of New Girl (Season 4, Episode 3: Last Wedding) it was
apparent that the popular feminine courtship strategies, as described by Janna
L. Kim, were being reversed. In this particular episode the plot revolves
around the goal of attaining a one night stand at a wedding reception. Though
all of the main characters participate in this sexual competition, I found the
interaction between Jess and another female counterpart as the most
interesting.
Both Jess and another
female wedding guest named Kat are fighting for affection of the best man. To gain
his favor each girl utilizes courtship strategies found by Kim to be typically
implemented by men (Kim, 2007, p. 149-153). For example, one of the original
masculine courtship strategies states that “Men are sexual initiators”, but in
this episode Jess and Kat both aggressively pursue the eligible bachelor (Kim,
2007, p. 151). They both persistently attempt to lure the man in order to
engage in sexual activity. For example, Jess and Kat both are constantly approaching
the bachelor, initiating conversations, cutting in to dance, and even admitting
themselves into the men’s restroom!
But the most explicit example of the two
women acting as sexual initiators is when they state their sexual interest
directly to the bachelor. Jess gives the man a verbal invitation to engage in
sexual activity when stating “…if you want to take me home Ted we could defiantly
do some no bra stuff” (Season 4, Episode 3: Last Wedding). In
response to this statement Kat takes out her cell phone and shows the man a
picture and exclaims “That’s me naked” (Season 4, Episode 3: Last Wedding).
These examples defy the original script as proposed by Kim and depict the women
as sexual aggressors and the man as the chased.
During the women’s
sexual pursuit it is apparent that, unlike the popular
narrative stating that “Women want/need relationships”, the two women are not
seeking emotional intimacy but simply sex for recreation and reproduction (Kim,
2007, p. 153). Jess’ motto for the
evening is “sex fist” (Season 4, Episode 3: Last Wedding). This chosen phrase encapsulates
the ideal guiding the characters behavior, encouraging each of the five housemates
to end the summer with a BANG! Kat’s behavior also reveals a lack of intimacy, demonstrating
that along with Jess she has adopted the stereotypical male attitude claiming that
“Men prefer sexual fulfillment over emotional intimacy (Kim, 2007, p. 153). When
talking to Jess about Ted she states “That is the only eligible guy here and we
are his two best options for procreation” (Season 4, Episode 3:
Last Wedding). She later states that “You know what doesn’t whine and cry is
the sperm in my freezer. I am counting down the days that we don’t need men to
procreate” (Season 4, Episode 3: Last Wedding). It is clear that each of the
women have sexual intentions but they do seem to include emotional intimacy and
in Kat’s case she would rather sex didn’t even include a man!
Answering the proposed question
in Gail Markle’s article asking ““Can women have sex like a man?””, I would
answer YES (Markle, 2008, p. 45). As shown in the example above sexual intimacy
does not always equate to emotional intimacy for women. Some women engage in
sexual activity simply for pleasure or procreation and some engagements signify
an emotional connection. I don’t believe that there is any reason to assume
that women can’t engage in sex in ways similar to men simply because of their
biological sex. So can a woman have sex like a man? HELL YES!
References
Kim,
J. L., Lynn Sorsoli, C., Collins, K., Zylbergold, B. A., Schooler, D., &
Tolman, D. L. (2007). From sex to sexuality: Exposing the heterosexual script
on primetime network television. Journal of Sex Research, 44(2), 145-157.
Markle,
G. (2008). “Can women have sex like a man?”: Sexual scripts in Sex and the
City. Sexuality & Culture, 12(1), 45-57.
I think this is a great example. I love New Girl, which is why I chose to comment on this post. I think the show does a good job of exemplifying real life situations girls in modern society deal with. Jess is depicted as a real (not perfect) female, which is like most all of us in society.
ReplyDeleteYou did a good job of connecting your example to Markle's reading "Can women have sex like a man?" I think this is a perfect example of how women are not constantly looking for love, sometimes all they really want is just sex. And I think New Girl does a good job of trying to capture this new theory that woman are not overly emotional, relationship centered beings.
However, when looking at Kim's article and the scripts she describes, I can see this example kind of contradicts itself according to the scripts. Kim talks about how woman prioritize relationships, which could be trying to have sex with someone at a wedding. By Jess saying "sex first" she's somewhat prioritizing it and it could be argued that while she counters the Good Girl script, she is following the Feminine Commitment script. I guess a more clear definition of a "relationship" would be needed by Kim, because technically a sexual relationship is a type of romantic relationship.