Abstract

MASANET, Maria-Jose  and  FEDELE, Maddalena. The “Bad Boy” and the “Good Girl”: Role Models and Youth Representations in Spanish Teen Series. Palabra Clave [online]. 2019, vol.22, n.2, e2225. ISSN 0122-8285.  https://doi.org/10.5294/pacla.2019.22.2.5.

The purpose of this article is to identify and analyze the role models of teenagers featured in Spanish teen series and regarded as favorites by this target. For this, two studies are combined: One of audiences conducted with 787 students from Barcelona, and focused on the analysis of gender differences when choosing and appreciating teen characters, and one of qualitative content, centered on the examination of the characters selected as preferred by the teenagers surveyed on the first stage. Results show that the teenagers interviewed tended to choose and appreciate male and female characters of teen series based on gender: firstly, both boys and girls mostly chose male characters as their favorites; secondly, male characters were mainly chosen because they are “rebellious”, “fun” and “bad boys with good background,” while female characters were mainly chosen for being “good” and “brave and determined.” The qualitative analysis confirms that male characters are rebellious, bad boys with good background, whereas female characters are responsible, attractive girls. Thus, Spanish teen series build a female sphere, associated with responsibility and sensitivity, and a male one, rebellious and virile. While there are also exceptions -more complex, nuance-rich characters-, they are a minority. These results warn us about the need to represent more plural and complex characters that move away from classic stereotypes that end up perpetuating gender differences.

Keywords : Television; television production; television programmes; adolescence; youth; teen series; gender; stereotypes.

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