Reign, the new CW period drama, is focused around a young hot Mary Queen of Scotts. In the pilot episode, a female masturbation scene was trimmed down for ambigious reasons that may or may not have been linked to decency. The hilarity of this action was that the masturbation scene took place moments after a sex scene and moments before another. Begging the question, WTF CW?
There is an interesting line drawn when it comes to television and sex. Female masturbation I guess hangs out beyond this line. Even though every television show short of cartoons, features some sort of steamy hookup. The CW has aired Gossip Girl, Vampire Diaries, and 90210. All of which are basically sex on sex on sex.
In this time magazine article, the author James Poniewozik has some thoughtful critique for this weird phenomenon:
“So… all better? Sure, the original scene was steamy and risqué. But keep in mind, we’re talking about a incident that was, and still is, preceded by one sex scene and followed by another. (And it was no more graphic or explicit than many). For some reason, however, the notion of a solitary teen masturbating is more outré than teens–or adults, or teens and adults–having sex: in Reign, on many other CW shows, all around network and cable TV.”
This is something I have noticed too. There are sex scenes in practically every show on television, but masturbation – especially female masturbation – is left out of the formula. In truth, the networks’ edit of the masturbation scene is just staying true to TV’s formula.
I am not that interested in the premise of the show to begin with, but I wish they had let that character pleasure herself. If they are worried about the effect a visual like this would have on teenagers, let me point out a few things. Can you get pregnant from pleasuring yourself? Unlikely. How about STI’s? Still unlikely. Masturbation is just as much a part of the human experience as partner sex, so why does no one want to put it onscreen??
What do you think? Sound off below!
Thanks to TIME Entertainment
Image via The Huffington Post
