Trigger Warning: mentions of rape and child sexual abuse
I, like many others, have become glued to my TV screen during lockdown. I dabbled in old comforts as well as contemporary pieces and found an uncomfortable theme: romanticising the predatory relationship of student and teacher – a glorified tale of child sexual abuse.
This trope grew in popularity with the conventional male authority figure taking advantage of a vulnerable girl. Pretty Little Liars and One Tree Hill are just a few who fed into this misogynistic and arguably violent ideal. Pretty Little Liars actively ‘shipped’ an abusive relationship and should be scrutinized further for their romanticisation. The sexual harassment by a male showrunner influenced the hyper-sexualisation of the female characters in One Tree Hill, conveying how these abusive tropes come from a place of malice.
However, romanticising this female abuse storyline on TV is happening less in our contemporary society. With the rise of the Me Too movement came a fight for changing how women are presented in film; commonly fulfilling the patriarchal fantasy of the ‘damsel in distress’. With insight from feminist perspectives, the majority of society would now view this male teacher/female student trope as disturbing. Yet the reverse of a female teacher and a male student has fallen through the cracks.
Men and Boys Excluded from Sexual Victimhood
“sexual abuse of boys is now, more than ever, glamorised”
The ignorance towards male sexual abuse is upholding a harmful narrative that excludes boys from obtaining victim status. There exists a male template that perpetuates the rape myth that men are always ‘in the mood’. It also dismisses older female rapists abusing young boys as indulging in the male “fantasy…[who] wanted the assault”. The media has a huge role in fuelling these rape myths and disregarding male victims of rape.
Sexually abusing girls is now shown on TV for the shock and horror effect (also wrong), yet the sexual abuse of boys is now, more than ever, glamorised. Enter my many 2020 television binges. Tiny Pretty Things and The Mess You Leave Behind are both modern pieces which depict the new ‘sexy trend’ of male child sexual abuse.
Not So Tiny Pretty Things
Tiny Pretty Things deals with female sexual assault and sexual relationships between a male teacher and female students, but is not intersectional. The sexual relationship between the female headteacher and two students is not perceived through the same feminist lens. One of the male students is warned he is being taken advantage of but he insists their relationship is of a romantic nature (it’s not). There is no acknowledgement that this would still be sexual abuse of a minor.
She also abused a past student which makes watching their graphic sex scene incredibly uncomfortable. No one wants to see a ‘steamy’ sex scene with someone’s abuser. What is most disturbing is his continuous abuse at her hands leading him to become a predator himself; which is sadly a common occurrence. Whilst Tiny Pretty Things has many flaws, its complete exclusion and rather glorification of male child sexual abuse is the worst one.
The Literal Mess You Left Behind
“feeding into the dark fantasy of romanticising violence in relationships”
The Mess You Leave Behind is a nitty-gritty thriller with a murder mystery at its centre, incorporating the fad of a teacher/student relationship. A troubled female teacher starts sleeping with her even more troubled student which the show depicts as simply a “sexual taboo”. Once again, this authoritative woman takes advantage of her student which results in him falling in love with her. It also leads to the collapse of his mental health and glorifies her as the ‘dark female fantasy’ which is worrying in itself. Not only is she sexually abusing him but there are countless scenes of physical and emotional abuse between the two romanticising violence in relationships.
The harrowing finale exposes that the student has actually been the subject of child sexual abuse for years yet the teacher’s abuse is not discussed in relation to this. Victims of sexual violence – especially if they were abused as children – are commonly victimised repeatedly. This cycle is not explored and the teacher is not seen as having a part to play in it nor is she ever demonised as being a rapist.
Concluding Remarks
The social construction of male victimhood commonly excludes victims of sexual violence. This is why TV continues to delve into this trope and romanticise it as society not actively arguing against it. These are not the only shows who have adopted this toxic trope. For example, A Teacher was solely based on a female teacher and a male student having a sexual relationship. I tried to watch this show but seeing the teacher masturbate to her student was too uncomfortable for me to carry on. Perhaps we can collectively fight against future releases of shows that romanticise a female authority figure abusing boys. Together, we can halt this destructive path of supply and demand.
If you or anyone you know has been affected by child sexual abuse please find helpful resources here.
Harriet Clark
Image courtesy of Thor_Deichmann on PixaBay. Image license found here. No changes were made to the image.
