Why is Losing Your Virginity So Awkward??

The pilot episode of Awkward is a great example of virginity loss scripts described in Maura Kelly’s Journal of Sex Research as well as the heterosexual scripts of males and females described by Kim et al. Kelly claims that there are three prevalent scripts in teen dramas. The first script Kelly describes is the Abstinence Script which depicts virginity as a gift and talks about the pleasures of virginity and the dangers of sex. The next script Kelly describes is the Management Script and displays virginity loss as a rite of passage, and emphasizes “appropriate” virginity loss with positive consequences. The last script Kelly describes is the Urgency Script which is the desperate desire young people have to partake in sexual interactions to avoid stigmas attached to being a virgin. In Kim et al’s study she describes females on primetime television to be sexual gatekeepers, passive and indirect in their attraction of men, and prioritizing their sexual relationships. Contrary, males use sex as a form of showing off their masculinity and are powerful in attracting sexual partners as well as avoidance of commitment. 

Keeping these ideas in mind, in this episode Jenna is at her last day of summer camp with the hottest guy from her high school, Matty McKibben. Jenna doesn’t know him very well besides the fact that he’s one of the most popular soccer players at her school. She usually admires him from a far. But this summer, Jenna got her braces off and her new smile caught Matty’s eye. To her surprise, Matty picked her out of everyone at the camp to hookup with on their last night at the camp. The episode makes it seem that Matty is way out of Jenna’s league and more sexually experienced than her. So when they have sex for the first time it is noticeable that Matty takes charge of the experience. This was Jenna’s first time and it was not exactly as romantic as she expected, considering it occurred in a utility closet. When breaking down Jenna’s first sexual encounter you can see she fits in to more than one script described by Kelly. 

From Jenna’s perspective, I would say her experience in loosing her virginity relates to the Management Script. I believe this because she describe that she used contraception during the loss of her virginity contributing to the “appropriate” virginity loss. I also believe she fits the Urgency Script because she was so willing to have sex with Matty even though they are not in a serious relationship. Not being in a serious relationship may be the main reason why after their first sexual encounter Matty seems very uninterested in starting anything serious with her after they have sex. He even says to her, “no one can know I like you.” 

My question here, is “why?” This is interesting to me because according to Kim et al’s study about the heterosexual script in primetime television, men are usually depicted as the sexual initiators while also avoiding commitment and relationships. So you’d think that Matty would want to boast about taking Jenna’s virginity without being in a committed relationship with her. Instead he is hiding this from his peers and avoiding Jenna. This pushes the question further why the male heterosexual script involves men to avoid commitment when they admit to liking someone. Matty seems to be okay with taking away Jenna’s virginity and at the end of the episode claims via Facebook he can’t stop thinking about her. So why can’t he talk to her and maybe start a relationship?  why isn’t that allowed? It’s also interesting because Kim et al claims in the female heterosexual script women are the sexual gatekeepers (Good Girls) which Jenna doesn’t seem to fully encompass considering she was so willing to have sex with Matty. 

So It is clear that this episode of Awkward creates some grey area between the different scripts the researchers of these studies describe. This can leave viewers of these shows to be unclear what is appropriate sexual activity between the characters when they overlap and contradict the scripts they describe. 

References 

Kelly, M. (2009). Virginity loss narratives in “teen drama” television programs. Journal of Sex Research. 

Kim et al. (2001). From Sex to Sexuality: Exploring the Heterosexual Script on Primetime Network Television.