Jane the Virgin & The Abstinence Script

A week ago today, The CW premiered its newest series, Jane the Virgin--a comedy-drama about a young Latina who has managed to avoid being deflowered all the way into adulthood. However, despite her feat to remain pure, she becomes pregnant after the reckless negligence on behalf of her gynecologist who accidentally inseminates her with a stranger's sperm sample. Jane must then struggle with the decision of having and keeping the baby, giving it up to the stranger's family, sacrificing her marriage engagement to mother be a mother to the child, or give it up altogether with the use of medical treatment. Since The CW has only aired the pilot, I will analyze the narratives on virginity set up thus far, the potential for the plot of the show for framing sex and virginity, and the overall questionable potential effects on viewers. 


An important premise for the show's plot is the fact that Jane has the value of virginity instilled in her from a very young age. Her grandmother gives her the metaphor of crumbling up a flower then trying to make it go back to looking good as new again, which is apparently impossible. For this reason, she engrains that belief in Jane's impressionable young mind. As we have seen before in Maura Kelly's Virginity Loss Narrative article, there are certain virginity scripts that prevail in media. Kelly lists a) the abstinence script, which places a high value on virginity and emphasizes delaying virginity loss; b) the urgency script, which defines virginity as a stigma and virginity loss as necessary to maintain social status and affirm gendered identity; and c) the management script, which suggest teenagers' sexual behavior is inevitable and focuses on managing the physical, social, and emotional risks associated with virginity loss. (Kelly, 2010) As she mentioned in her research, the abstinence script sets up virginity as a virtue that should not be compromised before marriage especially when considering the negative emotional, physical and societal consequences that stem from premarital sex. I would argue that Jane the Virgin, given the fact that the entire plot is based on Jane striving to remain a virgin for as long as possible, exhibits this type of script--the abstinence script. It is relevant to note that the pilot episode kicks off with this very scene where Jane's grandmother introduces this idea to her that will shape her behavior for the decades to follow. This idea that she will never be able to go back to perfection after virginity sets up this belief system that the plot will center around since the main conflict is the fact that she becomes pregnant even after she tries so hard to guard herself from illegitimate pregnancy as one of the consequences of premarital sex. Because of this type of portrayal of virginity in this media, I would say that it aligns with what Kelly's research proposed as the abstinence script. 

Moreover, the fact that this pregnancy is shown as something that could have or should be able to be avoided by simply avoiding the act of sex is also a relevant component of this media. As we see in Keren Eyal and Dale Kunkel's Effects of Sex article, exposure to shows that portray negative consequences of sex leads to more negative attitudes toward premarital intercourse and more negative moral judgements of characters engaged in this behavior. (Eyal & Kunkel, 2008) Thus, Jane the Virgin is an interesting example of where these effects might not necessarily

hold or might do so in an almost strange way. Even though Jane is pregnant could she still be considered worthy of positive moral judgement because of her ability to preserve her virginity for so long? How would that factor into this? Likewise, could the negative attitudes about premarital intercourse still hold true considering the fact that here no one had premarital intercourse yet still suffered the consequences? It is pretty interesting to think through considering the circumstances that this media portrays.

Despite what we know about virginity scripts and consequences of premarital sex, I am very

curious about other implications of this particular media's message about virginity and sex. Because Jane becomes pregnant even after conserving her virginity for so long, I wonder what this says about the effectiveness of abstinence in the first place? In other words, could it be said that this media frames virginity as obsolete because you can suffer the consequences of losing your virginity even without actually losing it? When watching Jane the Virgin, all I could think about was that if I was in her position, all I would be able to think about would be something like, "Sh*t, what was the point of remaining a virgin if I was going to end up getting knocked up anyway? I might as well have just lost it 2 years ago

to my fiancee. Have I been living a lie? Was keeping my virginity for the 'right reasons' just some bullshit I bought into for NOTHING? I literally got nothing out of it. I'm pissed. This is bullsh*t." Although it is probably too soon to tell what direction this show is taking in terms of overall message content, it would be interesting to keep in mind the ways in which it might render virginity as obsolete. It could be an interesting addition to media that frames pregnancy as accidental or inconvenient, which could open dialogue about things such as contraception, pro-choice vs. pro-life debates, etc. I think overall the show is an important addition to media in that it unpacks the idea of virginity for women. Also, the fact that it is a comedy series is relevant in order to examine the potential effects on how seriously individuals can/will take virginity.

Works Cited

Eyal, K., & Kunkel, D. (2008). The effects of sex in television drama shows on emerging adults' sexual attitudes and moral judgments. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 52(2), 161‐181.

Kelly, M. (2010). Virginity loss narratives in “teen dramas” television programs. Journal of Sex Research, 47(5), 479-489.