This week, I decided to think through the advice that MTV's Girl Code gives its viewers on navigating recreational sex. The show, which has been airing since 2013 on MTV, delves into issues that young women deal with in their lives such as the biological functions unique to females, social life obstacles, style and more that might interest the "average" girl. Although the show features advice about a variety of different topics, I selected an accessible episode that included a segment of advice specifically for casual sex. This interested me given what we have been talking about in class this past week. Among these recreational sex topics were "one-night stands" and "rebounds." Overall, the show depicted recreational sex as a natural tendency for women and gave certain suggestions for rebound-hunting that fell in line with the research literature on this topic. I would say that the show has a pretty positive portrayal of recreational sex lives of women and contributes to a trend of having women be more open and in control of their sexuality.
The element of casual sex that I looked at was "rebounding" which was a topic in question in episode 21 of season 1. Here, the women and men of the cast all gave their two cents on what it is like running to the arms of someone new after going through a break up. Overall, members of the cast seem to agree that it is a very natural tendency, almost a necessary one. Some even go so far as to advise viewers to immediately go out and find a rebound after leaving their relationship.
The agreement that appears to be reached is that a rebound is not someone who you can actually see yourself in a relationship with but it has to be someone who you feel can fulfill you sexually. According to the show, we learn that "you have to get under somebody to get over somebody" and that the line of reasoning behind getting a rebound is something along the line of "Hey, just got out of a relationship. I'm vulnerable. Do you wanna hit this?" as I quote directly from the cast's words. Thus, I would definitely consider Girl Code's idea of rebounding as recreational sex according to what the cast shares.
However, some of the cast of Girl Code also shares very specific advice on who to target as good rebound material. As we see in the episode, cast members would prescribe a good looking man and one who possesses the opposite qualities that you would want in your ideal man. One cast member suggests that you should genuinely just target someone who you have a crush on or think is very attractive at the bar. Another says that he would want to know about your ex in order to be the ideal rebound. He explains that he would want the ex's great qualities listed so he could proceed to be the complete opposite.
I couldn't help but think a lot about Taylor's Cads and Dads article. This combination of superficial, physical qualities with the opposite character traits of "Mr. Right" leads me to believe that if the ideal candidate for a rebound were presented in the episode, he could potentially be coded as a "Cad" as we discussed in our class discussion this past week. Although this media would not be one where we could code or study cads, dads, or women's preferences in a perfectly replicable way to Taylor's work, it is relatable to the themes that we saw in the article. It can be useful to through what was found in the Cads and Dads article. From what we read, we know that the researchers predicted that recreationally framed media would lead to participants who express a more superficial desire or seek superficial qualities in a candidate for a short-term relationship. Although the hypothesis was only partially supported, they did observe that participants who read recreationally framed articles listed more superficial desired traits for their short-term partners (Taylor, 2008). Considering how Girl Code portrays what women should expect from a relationship with a rebound, it could be the case that certain viewers' perceptions about this specific type of short-term relationship may fall in line with what this study found. 
In addition to Taylor's work, Markle's "Can women have sex like a man?" definitely plays into what we see going on in Girl Code. I would argue that by framing rebound sex in a way that almost assumes that this recreational sex will take place and not only encouraging it but even prescribing it after a break up, I would say that this reflects an assumption that women can indeed have sex "like a man." As we see in Markle's work, women in Sex and the City were portrayed to have extensive experience in recreational sex even though it was not representative of
the actual sexual experiences of women in the population. However, according to the article, sex in the context of the show could potentially be seen as a fantasy rather than a reality for women (Markle, 2008). In contrast to this, I would argue that Girl Code is a show that frames women's recreational sex as very real, not a fantasy. The cast gives advice to viewers such as getting over a break up including but not limited to: "crying into some dude's wiener," "taking advantage of him just to have sex with," and "waiting a certain amount of time before getting with your rebound...like 1 to 6 hours." By expressing the need, the immediacy, and the ease of finding and going through with a rebound, it is assumed by all of these people that a woman can do it. According to their line of reasoning, women can have casual, no-strings-attached sex, and should.
Overall, I would say that in this context Girl Code is contributing to the trend of framing women as owners of their sexuality. It portrays women as active agents and encourages them to use that agency to better their emotional and sexual health. It acknowledges that women need sexual fulfillment to and by providing an open space to talk about rebound hunting, it portrays the idea that it is a natural tendency that women can and should embrace.
Works Cited
Markle, G. (2008). “Can women have sex like a man?”: Sexual scripts in "Sex and the City". Sexuality & Culture, 12(1), 45‐57.
Taylor, L. D. (2008). Cads, dads, and magazines: Women’s sexual preferences and articles about sex and relationships. Communication Monographs, 75(3), 270‐289.
First of all, I love the show Girl Code. I think the comedians are hilarious. Also, I really enjoyed how you tied in both the Markel and Taylor articles. I think its important that the media perpetuates the idea that women and man can both be searching for something short-term and fun. In our generation women are becoming more open about their sex goals and desires, and as the media currently reflects women as often depicted as being overly obsessed with commitment, and I think that shows like Girl Code serve to help break this barrier and start to reflect the new up and coming norm. However, while I think it is an important show for said reason, I also find it a little concerning that the “ideal” one nightstand is being perpetuated as well. I think our society spends too much time creating the “ideal” and not thinking about the “real” and this is a great example of that.
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