The Liberatory Potential of Dawson’s Creek: Panicked Reactions to Teen Sex and Television in 1990s US Culture

Even before the teen-oriented serial Dawson’s Creek (The WB, 1997–2003) premiered, it drew widespread criticism for its mediation of teen sex. As the New York Post put it, the show was “an immoral exploitation of youthful curiosity about sex.” While Dawson’s Creek embraced a relatively permissive discourse on teen sexuality beyond what was sanctioned by the conservative politics of its time, the series’ depiction of sex actually adhered closely to hegemonic norms. Reading Dawson’s Creek in its circuit of culture—including TV Parental Guidelines, abstinence-only sex education, and the Kaiser Foundation’s 1996 Sex on TV study—this article argues that panicked reactions to the series resulted from a widespread belief in media effects and the series’ mere potential ability to offer young adults access to sexual knowledge.