Virginity & Representation in "Jane the Virgin"

I recently watched the pilot episode of Jane the Virgin at a friend’s recommendation. Its seamless interaction of American and Latino culture, and positive representation  (the reason I watched it in the first place) definitely delivered. However, it also deals with virginity in some really interesting ways. The trailer is below, which gives a picture of the approach to virginity loss that Jane, the show’s protagonist, was raised with, and a brief overview of the initial plot.

Kelly (2009) breaks down the major narratives of virginity, as represented in the media, with the following thematic categories: the abstinence script, the management script, and the urgency script. She describes the abstinence script, which I think is quite obviously represented in Jane the Virgin, with the following components:  “virginity as a gift; the pleasures of virginity and the positive consequences for maintaining virginity (often, but not always, until marriage); and the physical, mental, and social dangers of sex and the negative consequences of premarital sex” (482).

Jane’s idea of virginity, given from her grandmother, is represented as a beautiful white rose – the picture of purity. The rose represents the “gift” and the “pleasures of virginity” in one picture: it’s a pleasant, beautiful object that becomes ruined once it’s given away (Kelly, 2009, p. 482). The pure flower is obviously a desirable picture of virginity. The negative consequences of premarital sex are obviously shown in the image of the crumpled flower and Jane’s grandmother’s warning that once you lose your virginity, you can’t get back to the pure, beautiful state of the original rose.

Jane embraces the abstinence from the time she’s 10 and hears this message until she’s 23, when the show’s plot begins. However, even though it’s prevalent in the protagonist’s life, the “virginity as a gift” mindset doesn’t seem to be the show’s angle on virginity. Jane herself takes this stance, at least at the beginning of the series, but other characters also weigh in with opposing views and experiences. Jane’s grandmother, as you can see in the trailer, is highly religious and firmly believes in the abstinence script. Jane’s mother became pregnant at 16 years old, and clearly didn’t follow the abstinence script. She’s a bit more cynical about the “virginity is a gift” metaphor, and having active opposition to the abstinence script sort of gives it a balance and lets the viewer decide the message.

The show portrays the abstinence script itself in such a way that emphasizes Jane’s strength and agency. She doesn’t seem to see herself as an object or a victim. Jane is very clearly the protagonist of the story, and she doesn’t seem to play by anyone’s rules other than her own. Even though she does have a long-term boyfriend in the pilot episode, she doesn’t see herself as a prize or an object of someone else’s desire – a portrayal that presents a counterexample to the norm Kelly describes, in which “female sexuality is disempowered and disembodied” in most media representations (Kelly 480). One could argue that going along with the abstinence script is ultimately disempowering Jane’s sexuality, but it doesn’t seem that way to me. She seems to have a lot of agency, and virginity is her own choice.

Furthermore, no one in the show is shamed for being sexually active. Jane’s fiancé, Michael, isn’t a virgin, and he’s not treated any differently by any of the characters for it. However, although his character provides a different point of view about virginity, it does still play into stereotypical gender roles with the man being more “experienced” and the woman setting sexual boundaries. Jane’s mother offers a different picture of past sexual experience, having been a “teen mom,” and she’s not treated poorly either, even by her ultra-religious mother.

The obvious ironic twist in the show is that even though Jane hasn’t had sex, she still ends up with the (potentially) most feared consequence: unintended pregnancy. This throws another complication into the mix, and it actually sort of lessens the importance of virginity and sexual activity in its characters’ lives. This turn of events shows that bad things can happen no matter how careful you are, and that if you do face consequences, well, life goes on.

Kelly (2009) discusses the common tropes of teen dramas and female objectification – that female characters “seek to be sexy for males … but are not sexual themselves” and that this representation has “produced little discussion of women’s desire within the narratives about virginity loss” (487). She also states that as a whole, “racial, ethnic and sexual minority characters” are absent in these dramas, which “limits the range of sexual expression and images of normal and appropriate sexuality” (Kelly, 2009, p. 487). Jane the Virgin flips these scripts by focusing on a strong female lead with agency, featuring women of color at the forefront of the show, and even representing a variety of sexual orientation and activity – a lesbian character plays a big role in the initial plot line, and her actions have nothing to do with her sexual orientation at all. The show offers an array of characters who contrast with, and therefore add some much-needed difference to, the “distinctly middle-class, European American, heterosexual sexuality” that’s so often seen in the world of teen dramas (Kelly, 2009, p. 487).

Even though it’s unexpected from a teen drama with the word virgin in the title, Jane the Virgin doesn’t treat virginity and sexual activity with the utmost importance that’s common in other shows like it. With a variety of representation, Jane the Virigin actually limits the importance of virginity, virginity loss, and minority representation by portraying all of it as simply a part of life. Sexual orientation, virginity, or sexual activity is only one part of any given character’s story. The show’s wide array of characters offers many different representations of sexual desire and health, and the women at the forefront of the show are well-rounded and display agency in their decisions. Though it clearly shows the abstinence script being taught, the show itself represents the topic much more liberally.

References

Kelly, M. (2010). Virginity loss narratives in “teen drama” television programs. Journal of Sex Research, 47(5), 479-489. doi: 10.1080/00224490903132044