Representations of Sexually Inexperienced Emerging Adults in Fictional Television Series and Movies

Boislard, Marie-Aude; Boisvert, Stéfany; Millette, Mélanie; Dion, Laurence; Lavigne, Julie

doi:10.1007/s12119-021-09930-w

Original Article
Published: 13 January 2022

Representations of Sexually Inexperienced Emerging Adults in Fictional Television Series and Movies

Sexuality & Culture volume 26, pages 1031–1059 (2022)Cite this article

233 Accesses
1 Citations
11 Altmetric
Metrics details

Abstract

Despite sexual imperatives and social norms marginalizing non-sexualities–referred to as compulsory sexuality –, representations of sexually inexperienced emerging adults (SIEA) in works of fiction have been overlooked. The goal of this research was to document media representations of SIEA in popular fictional television series and movies in a contemporary North American context. We conducted in-depth analyses of fictional television series and movies that portrayed at least one lead or secondary SIEA character. Eleven characters were analyzed through a conceptual framework based on social clock, script, and stigma theories. A hybrid qualitative analysis combining tenets of dialectical team-coding, textual, narrative, and critical discourse was conducted. First, each character was assessed regarding the virginity script it best depicted. Three characters (Anastasia, 50 Shades of Grey; April, Grey’s Anatomy; Jane, Jane the Virgin) fit the gift script, five characters (Shoshanna, Girls; Charlene, F**ked Up; Brian, The Young Kieslowski; Jules, L’heure bleue; Peter, The Late Bloomer) best belonged to the stigma script, and three characters (Kala, Sense8; Chiron, Moonlight; Sam, Atypical) exemplified the process script. However, there was some script overlap in many of these representations, which were found to be insufficient to adequately capture the complexity of each characters’ situation with regards to their sexual inexperience. Second, we developed a matrix in which each character was positioned on four axes: (1) intentionality of sexual inexperience, (2) identity, (3) social skills, and (4) social integration. Third, stigma manifestations of SIEA characters were found at the individual, interpersonal, and structural levels. Gender differences were salient in our corpus: male characters’ inexperience was depicted as a by-product of extrinsic or uncontrollable factors (e.g., medical condition), whereas female characters were held responsible for their inexperience and asked to “justify” it. In fact, gender was the primary characteristic through which characters were represented, and superseded the place given to sexual inexperience in the narratives.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Access options

Buy single article

Instant access to the full article PDF.

USD 39.95

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Notes

For instance, in the GLAAD 2019–2020 report, “Where We Are on TV,” which provides statistics regarding sexual and gender diversity in U.S. television, neither sexual inexperience, virginity, nor asexuality are mentioned.
Age was unknown for two characters (Jules in L’heure bleue and Chiron in Moonlight). However, they were retained based on their social and vocational roles coherent with those of 18- to 29-year-olds (i.e., university setting).
Naturalizing fiction can be interpreted through the lens of their “realism”, at least with regards to the representation of interpersonal relations (Jost, 2009).

References

Allrath, G., & Gymnich, M. (2005). Narrative strategies in television series. Palgrave Macmillan.
Book Google Scholar
Andersen, J. (2018). Archiving, ordering, and searching: Search engines, algorithms, databases, and deep mediatization. Media, Culture & Society, 40(8), 1135–1150. https://doi.org/10.1177/016344371875465
Article Google Scholar
Attwood, F. (2018). Sex media. Polity Press.
Google Scholar
Averett, P., Moore, A., & Price, L. (2014). Virginity definitions and meaning among the LGBT community. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 26(3), 259–278. https://doi.org/10.1080/10538720.2014.924802
Article Google Scholar
Barry, A., & Born, G. (2013). Interdisciplinarity. Routledge.
Book Google Scholar
Bauer, J. J., & McAdams, D. P. (2004). Personal growth in adults’ stories of life transitions. Journal of Personality, 72(3), 573–602. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0022-3506.2004.00273.x
Article Google Scholar
Bay-Cheng, L. Y. (2015). The agency line: A neoliberal metric for appraising young women’s sexuality. Sex Roles, 73(7), 279–291.
Article Google Scholar
Barry, A., & Born, G. (2013). Interdisciplinarity: Reconfigurations of the Social and Natural Sciences. Routledge.
Book Google Scholar
Bény, J. (2020). Typologie des adultes émergents vierges (Master’s Thesis). Université du Québec à Montréal, Montreal, Canada. https://archipel.uqam.ca/13798/
Berridge, S. (2014). Glances, dances, romances: An overview of gendered sexual narratives in teen drama series. In C. Carter., L. Steiner & L. McLaughlin (Eds.), The Routledge companion to media and gender (pp. 332–341). New York: Routledge
Biscarrat, L. (2019). Montrez ce sexe que je ne saurais voir: Genre et sexualité dans la série Sex Education (Netflix, 2019). Mouvements, 3(99), 104–110. https://www.cairn.info/revue-mouvements-2019-3-page-104.htm
Boislard, M. A. (2014). La sexualité. In M. Claes & L. Lannegrand-Willems (Eds.), La psychologie de l’adolescence (pp. 129–154). Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal.
Chapter Google Scholar
Boislard, M. A. (2020). Sexual desynchronization: A research synthesis of the developmental trajectories of early and late transitioners to sexual activity. Symposium. Centre de Recherche sur le Développement Humain (CRDH), Montréal, Canada.
Bramlett-Solomon, S., & Carstarphen, M. (2012). Race, gender, class, & media: Studying mass communication and multiculturalism. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.
Google Scholar
Buss, D. M., Shackelford, T. K., Kirkpatrick, L. A., & Larsen, R. J. (2001). A half century of mate preferences: The cultural evolution of values. Journal of Marriage and Family, 63, 491–503. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2001.00491.x
Article Google Scholar
Carpenter, L. M. (2001). The ambiguity of “having sex”: The subjective experience of virginity loss in the United States. Journal of Sex Research, 38(2), 127–139. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490109552080
Carpenter, L. M. (2002). Gender and the meaning and experience of virginity loss in the contemporary United States. Gender & Society, 16(3), 345–365. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243202016003005
Article Google Scholar
Carpenter, L. M. (2005). Virginity lost: An intimate portrait of first sexual experiences. NYU Press.
Google Scholar
Carpenter, L. M. (2009). Virginity loss in reel/real life: Using popular movies to navigate sexual initiation. Sociological Forum, 24(4), 804–827. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1573-7861.2009.01137.x
Article Google Scholar
Carpenter, L. M. (2010). Toward a social science of sexual satisfaction: Commentary on “Virginity lost, satisfaction gained? Physiological and psychological sexual satisfaction at heterosexual debut.” Journal of Sex Research, 47(4), 395–398. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224491003774875
Article Google Scholar
Carpenter, L. M. (2011). Like a virgin Again…?: Secondary virginity as an ongoing gendered social construction. Sexuality and Culture, 15(2), 115–140. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-010-9085-7
Article Google Scholar
CEFRIO. (2017). Visionnement connecté par les jeunes au Québec. Retrieved from https://cefrio.qc.ca/publications/internet-medias-sociaux-mobilite/visionnement-connecte-par-les-jeunes-au-quebec
Comunello, F., Parisi, L., & Ieracitano, F. (2020). Negotiating gender scripts in mobile dating apps: Between affordances, usage norms and practices. Information, Communication & Society. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2020.1787485
Corsianos, M. (2016). Mainstream pornography and “women”: Questioning sexual agency. Critical Sociology, 33(5–6), 863–885. https://doi.org/10.1163/156916307x230359
Article Google Scholar
Couldry, N., & Hepp, A. (2017). The mediated construction of reality. Polity Press.
Google Scholar
Creeber, G. (2006). Tele-visions: An introduction to studying television. BFI Publishing.
Book Google Scholar
Darbellay, F. (2005). Interdisciplinarité et transdisciplinarité en analyse des discours—Complexité des textes, intertextualité et transtextualité. Slatkine.
Google Scholar
Deleyto, C. (2010). The new road to sexual ecstacy: Virginity and genre. The 40-Year-Old Virgin. In T.J. McDonald. (Ed.), Virgin territory: Representing sexual inexperience in film (pp. 255–268). Detroit: Wayne State University Press.
Dion, L., & Boislard, M. A. (2020). Of course we had sex!: A qualitative exploration of first sex among women who have sex with women.Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality,29(2), 249–261. https://doi.org/10.3138/CJHS.2020-0019
Article Google Scholar
Donnelly, D., Burgess, E., Anderson, S., Davis, R., & Dillard, J. (2001). Involuntary celibacy: A life course analysis. Journal of Sex Research, 38(2), 159–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490109552083
Article Google Scholar
Fuller, M. A., Boislard, M. A., & Fernet, M. (2019). “You’re a virgin? Really !?”: A qualitative study of emerging adult female virgins’ experiences of disclosure. Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, 28(2), 190–202. https://doi.org/10.3138/cjhs.2019-0002
Article Google Scholar
Gagnon, J. H., & Simon, W. (1973). Sexual conduct : The social sources of human sexuality. Aldine Publishing Company.
Google Scholar
Gauntlett, D. (2008). Media, gender and identity: An introduction (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Book Google Scholar
Genz, S. (2009). Postfemininities in popular culture. Palgrave Macmillan.
Book Google Scholar
Gerbner, G. (1998). Cultivation analysis: An overview. Mass Communication & Society, 1(314), 175–194. https://doi.org/10.1080/15205436.1998.9677855
Article Google Scholar
Gesselman, A. N., Webster, G. D., & Garcia, J. R. (2017). Has virginity lost its virtue? Relationship stigma associated with being a sexually inexperienced adult. Journal of Sex Research, 54(2), 202–213. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2016.1144042
Article Google Scholar
Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity. Simon & Schuster.
Google Scholar
Gupta, K. (2015). Compulsory sexuality: Evaluating an emerging concept. Journal of Women in Culture and Society, 41(1), 131–154. https://doi.org/10.1086/681774
Article Google Scholar
Gupta, K. (2017). “And now I’m just different, but there’s nothing actually wrong with me”: Asexual marginalization and resistance. Journal of Homosexuality, 64(8), 991–1013. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2016.1236590
Article Google Scholar
Haase, C. M., Landberg, M., Schmidt, C., Lüdke, K., & Silbereisen, R. K. (2012). The later, the better? Early, average, and late timing of sexual experiences in adolescence and psychosocial adjustment in young adulthood. European Psychologist, 17(3), 199–212. https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040/a000082
Article Google Scholar
Hakim, C. (2011). Erotic capital : The power of attraction in the boardroom and the bedroom. Basic Books.
Google Scholar
Hall, S. (1997). Representation: Cultural representations and signifying practices. Sage Publications, Open University Press.
Google Scholar
Halpern, C. T., Waller, M. W., Spriggs, A., & Hallfors, D. D. (2006). Adolescent predictors of emerging adult sexual patterns. Journal of Adolescent Health, 39(6), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.08.005
Article Google Scholar
Harden, K. P. (2014). A sex-positive framework for research on adolescent sexuality. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 9(5), 455–469. https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691614535934
Article Google Scholar
Harris, S. G. (1994). Organizational culture and individual sense-making: A schema-based perspective. Organization Science, 5, 309–321. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.5.3.309
Article Google Scholar
Heckhausen, J. (2006). Developmental regulation in adulthood: Age-normative and sociostructural constraints as adaptive challenges. Cambridge University Press.
Google Scholar
Herek, G. M. (2007). Confronting sexual stigma and prejudice: Theory and practice. Journal of Social Issues, 63(4), 905–925. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.2007.00544.x
Article Google Scholar
Huang, H. (2018). Cherry Picking : Virginity Loss Definitions Among Gay and Straight Cisgender Men Cherry Picking : Virginity Loss Definitions Among Gay and. Journal of Homosexuality,65(6), 727–740. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2017.1364110
Article Google Scholar
Humphreys, T. P. (2013). Cognitive frameworks of virginity and first intercourse. Journal of Sex Research, 50(7), 664–675. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2012.677868
Article Google Scholar
Joireman, J., & Van Lange, P. A. M. (2015). How to Publish High-Quality Research. American Psychological Association.
Book Google Scholar
Jost, F. (2009). Comprendre la télévision et ses programmes. Armand Colin.
Google Scholar
Kelly, M. (2010). Virginity loss narratives in “teen drama” television programs. Journal of Sex Research, 47(5), 479–489. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490903132044
Article Google Scholar
Kelly, C. R. (2016). Abstinence cinema: Virginity and the rhetoric of sexual purity in contemporary film. Rutgers University Press.
Book Google Scholar
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. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224490701263660
Article Google Scholar
Kirsch, A. C., & Murnen, S. K. (2015). “Hot” girls and “cool dudes”: Examining the prevalence of the heterosexual script in American children’s television media. Psychology of Popular Media Culture, 4(1), 18–30. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000017
Article Google Scholar
Kollath-Cattano, C. L., Mann, E. S., Moreno Zegbe, E., & Thrasher, J. F. (2018). Sexual scripts in contemporary Mexican cinema: A quantitative content analysis. Sexuality & Culture, 22, 90–105. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-017-9454-6
Article Google Scholar
Lavigne, J., Auger, A.-M., Lévy, J. J., Engler, K., & Fernet, M. (2013). Les scripts sexuels des femmes de carrière célibataires dans les téléséries québécoises. Études de cas : Tout sur moi, Les hauts et les bas de Sophie Paquin et C.A. Recherches féministes, 26(1), 185–202. Doi : https://doi.org/10.7202/1016903ar
Lambert, G., Mathieu-C., S., Goggin, P., & Maurais, E. (2017). Étude PIXEL : Portrait de la santé sexuelle des jeunes adultes au Québec. Retrieved from https://www.inspq.qc.ca/sites/default/files/publications/2307_pixel_portrait_sante_sexuel_le_jeunes_adultes_quebec.pdf
Lehnart, J., Neyer, F. J., & Eccles, J. (2010). Long-term effects of social investment: The case of partnering in young adulthood. Journal of Personality, 78(2), 639–670. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2010.00629.x
Article Google Scholar
Loevinger, J. (1976). Ego development: Conceptions and theories. Jossey-Bass.
Google Scholar
Lucas, A., Boislard, M., & Poulin, F. (2020). Why do socially withdrawn children tend to become heterosexually active later than their peers? A mediation model. Journal of Sex Research, 57(9), 1146–1155.
Article Google Scholar
Machin, D., & Mayr, A. (2012). How to do critical discourse analysis. Sage.
Google Scholar
Macmillan, R. (2005). The structure of the life course: Classic issues and current controversies. Advances in Life Course Research, 9, 3–24. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-2608(04)09001-X
Article Google Scholar
Maigret, É. (2013). Ce que les cultural studies font aux savoirs disciplinaires. Questions De Communication, 24, 145–168.
Article Google Scholar
Markle, G. (2008). “Can women have sex like a man?”: Sexual scripts in Sex and the City. Sexuality & Culture, 12, 45–57. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-007-9019-1
Article Google Scholar
Masten, A. S., & Cicchetti, D. (2010). Developmental cascades. Developmental Psychology, 22(3), 491–495. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0954579410000222
Article Google Scholar
McCormick, C. M., Kuo, S.I.-C., & Masten, A. S. (2011). Developmental tasks across the life span. In K. L. Fingerman, C. A. Berg, J. Smith, & T. C. Antonucci (Eds.), Handbook of life-span development (pp. 117–139). Springer Publishing Company.
Google Scholar
McDonald, T. J. (2010). Virgin territory: Representing sexual inexperience in film. Wayne State University Press.
Google Scholar
Meyer, M. D. E. (2015). The “other” woman in contemporary television drama: Analyzing intersectional representation on bones. Sexuality & Culture, 19, 900–915. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-015-9296-z
Article Google Scholar
Meyer, M. D. E., & Wood, M. M. (2013). Sexuality and teen television: Emerging adults respond to representations of queer identity on Glee. Sexuality & Culture, 17(3), 434–448. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-013-9185-2
Article Google Scholar
Miller, T. (Ed.). (2006). A Companion to Cultural Studies. Blackwell Publishing.
Google Scholar
Morin, C. (2014). Sexualité et redistribution des pouvoirs dans les séries américaines. Hermès, La Revue, 2(69), 97–101. https://www.cairn.info/revue-hermes-la-revue-2014-2-page-97.htm.
Mortimer, J. T., Oesterle, S., & Krüger, H. (2005). Age norms, institutional structures, and the timing of markers of transition to adulthood. Advances in Life Course Research, 9, 175–203. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1040-2608(04)09007-0
Article Google Scholar
Mosher, W. D., Chandra, A., & Jones, J. (2005). Sexual behavior and selected health measures: Men and Women 15– 44 years of age, United States, 2002. Advance Data (CDC), 362. Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad362.pdf
Mullaney, J. L. (2005). Everyone is not doing it: Abstinence and personal identity. University of Chicago Press.
Google Scholar
Mynarska, M. (2010). Deadline for parenthood: Fertility postponement and age norms in Poland. European Journal of Population/revue Européenne De Démographie, 26(3), 351–373. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10680-009-9194-x
Article Google Scholar
Netzley, S. B. (2010). Visibility that demystifies: Gays, gender, and sex on television. Journal of Homosexuality, 57(8), 968–986. https://doi.org/10.1080/00918369.2010.503505
Article Google Scholar
Panda, S., & Pandey, S. C. (2017). Binge watching and college students: Motivations and outcomes. Young Consumers, 18(4), 425–438. https://doi.org/10.1108/YC-07-2017-00707
Article Google Scholar
Parent, A. M. (2019). “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure”: Remise en question du capital érotique féminin dans la série Girls. Recherches Féministes, 32(1), 111–126. https://doi.org/10.7202/1062227ar
Article Google Scholar
Pescosolido, B. A., Martin, J. K., Lang, A., & Olafsdottir, S. (2008). Rethinking theoretical approaches to stigma: A framework integrating normative influences on stigma (FINIS). Social Science & Medicine, 67(3), 431–440. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2008.03.018
Article Google Scholar
Przybylo, E. (2011). Crisis and safety: The asexual in sexusociety. Sexualities, 14(4), 444–461. https://doi.org/10.1177/1363460711406461
Article Google Scholar
Ringrose, J. (2011). Are you sexy, flirty, or a slut? Exploring ‘sexualization’ and how teen girls perform/negotiate digital sexual identity on social networking sites. In R. Gill & C. Scharff (Eds.), New Femininities (pp. 99–116). London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230294523_7
Rossi, E., Poulin, F., & Boislard, M. A. (2017). Trajectories of annual number of sexual partners from adolescence to emerging adulthood: Individual and family predictors. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 46(5), 995–1008. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0571-6
Article Google Scholar
Sakaluk JK, Todd LM, Milhausen R, Lachowsky NJ, Undergraduate Research Group in Sexuality (URGiS). (2014). Dominant heterosexual sexual scripts in emerging adulthood: Conceptualization and measurement. Journal of Sex Research, 51(5), 516–531. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2012.745473.
Samaniego, C. M., Barandiaran, A. A., & Navarro, S. P. (2010). Television viewing habits in teenagers, young people and adults: Educational implications. Revista de Educación, 15(1), 57–76. http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=17512968004
Schweinitz, J. (2011). Film and stereotype: A challenge for cinema and theory. Colombia University Press.
Google Scholar
Seabrook, R. C., Ward, L. M., Cortina, L. M., Giaccardi, S., & Lippman, J. R. (2017). Girl power or powerless girl? Television, sexual scripts, and sexual agency in sexually active young women. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 41(2), 240–253. https://doi.org/10.1177/0361684316677028
Article Google Scholar
Simon, W., & Gagnon, J. H. (1986). Sexual scripts: Permanence and change. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 15(2), 97–120. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01542219
Article Google Scholar
Simon, W., & Gagnon, J. H. (2003). Sexual scripts: Origins, influences and changes. Qualitative Sociology, 26(4), 491–497. https://doi.org/10.1023/B:QUAS.0000005053.99846.e5
Article Google Scholar
Smith, S. H. (2012). Scripting sexual desire: Cultural scenarios of teen girls’ sexual desire in popular films, 2000–2009. Sexuality & Culture, 16(3), 321–341. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-012-9126-5
Article Google Scholar
Smith, S. L., & Cook, C. A. (2008). Gender stereotypes: An analysis of popular films and TV. Retrieved from https://seejane.org/wp-content/uploads/GDIGM_Gender_Stereotypes.pdf
Tosi, M. (2017). Age norms, family relationships, and home-leaving in Italy. Demographic Research, 36(9), 281–306. https://doi.org/10.4054/DemRes.2017.36.9
Article Google Scholar
Twenge, J. M., & Park, H. (2019). The decline in adult activities among US adolescents, 1976–2016. Child Development, 90(2), 638–654. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdev.12930
Article Google Scholar
Van Damme, E. (2010). Gender and sexual scripts in popular US teen series: A study on the gendered discourses in One Tree Hill and Gossip Girl. Catalan Journal of Communication & Cultural Studies, 2(1), 77–92. https://doi.org/10.1386/cjcs.2.1.77_1
Article Google Scholar
Ward, L. M. (2003). Understanding the role of entertainment media in the sexual socialization of American youth: A review of empirical research. Developmental Review, 23(3), 347–388. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0273-2297(03)00013-3
Article Google Scholar
Weston, C., Gandell, T., Beauchamp, J., McAlpine, L., Wiseman, C., & Beauchamp, C. (2001). Analyzing interview data: The development and evolution of a coding system. Qualitative Sociology, 24(3), 381–400. https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010690908200
Article Google Scholar
Wiederman, M. W. (2005). The gendered nature of sexual scripts. The Family Journal, 13(4), 496–502. https://doi.org/10.1177/1066480705278729
Article Google Scholar

Download references

Acknowledgements

A special thanks to our research assistants, Nicholas Boucher-Bégin, B.A., Melissa Anne Fuller, M.A., and Chloé Rivard, B.A., for their precious help with data collection, character grids completion and preliminary analyses.

Funding

Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), 430–2018-00668, Insight Development Grant, Marie-Aude Boislard.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Department of Sexology, Université du Québec À Montréal, 455 René-Lévesque Est, Montréal, Québec, H2L 4Y2, Canada
Marie-Aude Boislard, Laurence Dion & Julie Lavigne
School of Media, Université du Québec À Montréal, Montréal, Canada
Stéfany Boisvert
Social and Public Communication Department, Université du Québec À Montréal, Montréal, Canada
Mélanie Millette

Authors

Marie-Aude Boislard
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Stéfany Boisvert
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Mélanie Millette
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Laurence Dion
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar
Julie Lavigne
View author publications
You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Marie-Aude Boislard.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Supplementary Information

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Supplementary file1 (DOCX 30 KB)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Boislard, MA., Boisvert, S., Millette, M. et al. Representations of Sexually Inexperienced Emerging Adults in Fictional Television Series and Movies. Sexuality & Culture 26, 1031–1059 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-021-09930-w

Download citation

Accepted: 13 November 2021
Published: 13 January 2022
Issue Date: June 2022
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-021-09930-w