Sex Sells Some but Abstinence Advertises More Attractively: Spring Awakening, Sex Education, and the Persistence of Hypocrisy
Loren Hiser
Abstract
Spring Awakening (either as Steven Sater’s musical hit, or as Frank Wedekind’s 1906 diatribe against society) portrays teenagers who come of age questioning propriety, and what they deem to be socially and sexually acceptable. Both Frank Wedekind and Steven Sater’s Spring Awakenings discuss the trials and tribulations of puberty, and portray the detrimental effects of not being properly educated when it comes to sex and sexuality. The cultural, educational, and familial censorship that breeds sexual repression and ignorance is the ultimate demise of the characters within Spring Awakening; but the true tragedy lies in how relevant this subject matter is in contemporary society.
Spring Awakening (either as Steven Sater’s musical hit, or as Frank Wedekind’s 1906 diatribe against society) portrays teenagers who come of age questioning propriety, and what they deem to be socially and sexually acceptable. Both Frank Wedekind and Steven Sater’s Spring Awakenings discuss the trials and tribulations of puberty, and portray the detrimental effects of not being properly educated when it comes to sex and sexuality. The cultural, educational, and familial censorship that breeds sexual repression and ignorance is the ultimate demise of the characters within Spring Awakening; but the true tragedy lies in how relevant this subject matter is in contemporary society.
| etudessept2015hiser.pdf |
