‘Sex and the City’ Will Get You Pregnant!

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That’s right, ladies, if you are addicts of shows like Sex and the City and Gossip Girl, you are going to get pregnant.

Kind of.

A study published in November’s issue of Pediatrics showed that teens who watch shows that portray only the good, fun side of sex, and not the risks and responsibilities that come with it, are twice as likely to get knocked up as teens who watch less sexually driven T.V. (Um, is there any?)

As a dedicated fan of both SATC and GG, after reading this article I started to wonder if my sex-drive was not self-induced, but really the doing of Blair Waldorf and Chuck Bass’s steamy encounters.

Answer: um, no?

Granted, I’m not a teen, but when I was, I don’t think the hornballs on Dawson’s Creek aided my decision to become sexually active. Sure, they may have got me a little turned on curious, but I never called up a dude to come do the dirty with me after watching Dawson and Joey get it on.

Media shapes a lot of what society thinks about any given topic, and it definitely plays a role in romanticizing sex, but there are many different factors when it comes to teen pregnancy that it seems almost ridiculous to place the blame on TV shows that are made solely for entertainment purposes. (Editor’s Note: Don’t take away my Gossip Girl, PEOPLE!) Even if kids were mimicing what they saw on TV, it is the lack of sexual education in many schools and at home that could be the real issue here.

Yes, TV has gotten a bit sexier than it was back in the day, but is that reason enough to place blame on TV and TV alone? Should the media be blamed and held responsible for adolescent pregnancies, or is that just totally wiggity whack?

8 Comments on "‘Sex and the City’ Will Get You Pregnant!"

  1. illusory correlation says:
    Mon, 3rd Nov 20086:23 pm 

    you cant just say that watching a tv show will make you have unprotected sex. its just as likely that someone will be drawn to and watch that show because they already share those kinds of views about sex. duh?

  2. M says:
    Mon, 3rd Nov 20087:45 pm 

    im not going to lie after seeing sex and the city i wanted to go have sex so bad…but at this time i was already sexaully active so it wasnt like the movie made me go and lose my virginity it was just steamy at points which was a turn on haha but if your not sexally active i dont think after seeing these things will make you go out and do it

  3. Robin says:
    Mon, 3rd Nov 20088:12 pm 

    Well… it’s neither. Of course we can’t hold the media totally responsible for teen pregnancies! That’s totally whack. But the study results didn’t suggest that. The study showed a correlation between sexy tv and teen pregnancy. Also included? Having a 2-parent household was a neg. correlation, having behavior problems was a positive correlation.

    There are so many pieces in this puzzle. Obviously lots of kids watch gossip girl and satc and dont get pregnant, so the question is what additional factors leave some kids more vulnerable to getting pregnant?

    http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/11/081103084042.htm

  4. Rebecca says:
    Tue, 4th Nov 20082:14 am 

    I think we all know it’s not exactly wise to give up your virginity in the back of a limo with your evil-doing best friend. Yes, sometimes the shows can turn up the hormones. However, this study seems to think that we’re all lacking in common sense.

  5. Tyler says:
    Tue, 4th Nov 20081:59 pm 

    There’s a lot more to getting pregnant than just watching ’sexy tv’. From what I’ve heard, some schools in the States actually forbid educating kids on condoms. Now, seems to me that should be the first thing attacked. If you don’t teach kids, they won’t know about safe sex options.

    What’s next, kids who watch Pokemon or Heroes are more likely to shoot lightning bolts out of their ass?

  6. Ashley says:
    Wed, 5th Nov 20088:21 pm 

    These shows aren’t making teens have sex because they’re turned on, it’s because they neglect to portray the risks of sex. Teaching kids about the negative aspects of sex should counteract this effect.

    This is the same sort of correlation seen in previous decades with smoking in the media. Which is why some studios and networks have limited cigarettes in their productions.

    The media is extremely influential in young peoples’ lives. Even if they’re smart, if their favorite, smart, popular tv characters are doing something… they might be more likely consider it for themselves.

  7. Steve says:
    Tue, 25th Nov 20082:21 am 

    indeed totally wiggity whizack. anyone with a online psychology degree today wants to eff with the already screwy moral/religious/political natures of society. look back 2000, 5000, 10,000+ years in history, it is seen over and over… we are humans, we are sexual beings, it’s inevitable, we make more people. 1000’s of years of all this negativity toward sex, people need to deal and impact in a positive way.

  8. navedz says:
    Tue, 26th May 20093:41 am 

    That is why sex should be practiced only under marriage. It is very important people hold and not fall for sex outside marriage. I wish people took chastity more as honour and self respect. I wish they spent as much time planning when to get pregnant, with whom, under what circumstances as they do planning their next vacation.

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