“The Secret Life of the American Teenager” equates sex with tragedy

While sitting in the theater waiting for a movie to start, a clip of Condensed Soup with Joel McHale (from the E! network) played. The clip was so ridiculous that I thought it was a joke, and I didn’t think much about it. But last night, my friend mentioned the same clip and said it is indeed real.
The clip is from the ABC Family show “The Secret Life of the American Teenager.” I don’t watch the show because from what I know of it, it’s nothing I want to support. But in this clip, one of the teenage girls is talking with her mother about her dad’s recent death. Here is a link to the clip.
In case you can’t watch the video, the following is what the teenage girl says. I really wish I were making this up, but unfortunately, it is verbatim:

There’s a reason it didn’t just happen. It’s not a mystery. I had sex and now Dad is dead. He had a horrible death because I had incredible sex. It’s just the way life works. And death. I did this. I did it. And if I hadn’t done it; if I hadn’t had sex, and if I hadn’t enjoyed having sex so much, then Dad would still be alive and you know it mom.

This is just so ridiculous that at first I couldn’t decide if I should laugh or be angry. But the more I think about it, the more upset I become. The fact that such an absurd line of reasoning even made it onto a television show is beyond me. It seems as if ABC Family is suggesting that if you have sex as a teenager, you are risking your father’s life. Not your life, because we all know that people risk their own lives all the time. But people are less likely to engage in behavior that risks the life of a loved one. It also seems as if they are portraying God as the harbinger of doom who is just waiting on you to have sex so he can smite your family members as a form of punishment.
The last thing this world needs is another form of media telling young girls that sex is evil and can only be associated with very bad things. What are you thoughts? Does anybody actually watch the show?

Disclaimer: This post was written by a Feministing Community user and does not necessarily reflect the views of any Feministing columnist, editor, or executive director.

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