The 1990s saw a surge in academic interest regarding the socialization of middle school students. Research exploring cliques, friendships, romantic relationships, and class relations has all been conducted within the last 30 years. However, fewer studies have addressed media’s role in the sexualization of middle schoolers within the context of a school dance. Sociological research on middle schoolers and school dances by Adler, P. A., & Adler, P. (2003), Kinney, D. A. (1993), and Pellegrini, A. D., & Long, J. D. (2007) highlights the gap in knowledge surrounding shifts in self-presentation and sexuality at middle school dances from the 2000s to present day. For example, Pellegrini & Long’s (2007) research takes place in the setting of school dances but focuses specifically on boy-girl interaction at these events. While the authors produced meaningful insights about male-female interaction at dances over time, they neglect elements of sexuality outside of gender integration. Kinney applies Goffman’s work on stigma management to “nerdy” middle and high school students, but only acknowledges the “nerdy” population and their transition to high school (1993). The Adlers researched sociological structures in American middle schools but never investigated these structures in school dance settings (2007). Finally, none of these studies took place past 2007. Similarly, research on hypersexualization of young girls is quite common, but the school dance setting is never explored. The lack of research on the Lolita Effect in dances leads to a space for research on self-presentation at middle school dances with an emphasis on how the American media presents and critiques the sexualization of young girls.

In line with many other cultures, American morals and media encourage young girls to self-present as sexual beings. In The Lolita effect, Gigi Durham Meenakshi (2009) characterizes America as “an increasingly sex saturated society” that lacks the ability to have significant conversations with children about sex. In a country where most students receive abstinence-only sex education, kids turn to the media for clues about topics that adults may deem inappropriate (Clark & Stitzlein, 2018). In fact, a study on sex and sexuality in teen and young adult TV went so far as to say that television is one of the main sources for sex education (Kinsler et al., 2019). The media’s role in sex education is problematic when coupled with its portrayal of an ideal woman and its lack of conversation surrounding safe sex and the consequences of unsafe sex. Popular culture from Halloween costumes (Sherman et al., 2020) to video game characters (Hollett et al., 2020) place an overemphasis on “girls’ sexuality.” (Durham, 2009) Women are portrayed as sexy or promiscuous. On the other hand, glorification of virginity and virginal traits create the other end of the spectrum. Hymen ceremonies or a fondness for clean-shaven women are two real-life examples of glorifying pure, virginal women. The Lolita effect is, at its core, the expectation for young girls to walk the line between promiscuous and virginal (Durham, 2009). While the Lolita effect impacts children worldwide, its evolution in American entertainment is measurable as is its impact on young girls.

Understanding expression of the self and how shortcomings in self-presentation effect humans is crucial to understanding middle schooler’s sexual expectations of dances. Impression management is the regulation of one’s “expression” of self to impact others “impression” of that self (Goffman, 1959). In his seminal work on self-presentation, Erving Goffman coined the theory of “dramaturgy” which compares the ways that humans present themselves to actors on a stage. He defines the “front region” as places where humans are performing for an “audience.” In these front regions, people utilize clothing, locations, and other “sign vehicles” to present their identity of choice. According to Shlenker and Weigold (1992), the three different types of identity people may strive to put forth are “authentic,” “ideal,” and “tactical.” DeLameter and Collett (2018) define these three respectively as an image that is consistent with one’s view of themselves, an image of what one wishes they were, and an image of what one thinks that others expect of them. Building off the three domains of self is Higgin’s (1987) theory of self-discrepancy. In his work, Higgins identifies the specific negative emotions associated with inconsistencies in different domains of the self. By observing the sign vehicles children use to present, analyzing their audience’s reaction, and identifying emotions associated with self-discrepancy theory, one can determine the expectations for dances held by students, as well as their ability or lack thereof to fulfill them.

Middle schoolers replicate social structures presented to them in prom movies and television. In his seminal work, The Sociology of Childhood, William Corsaro (2011) asserts that children “appropriate, use, and transform symbolic culture.” Simply put: kids take in meaningful media, interpret the social structures presented, and imitate these patterns and behaviors in their own lives. Similar logic is found in work on Health narratives where Chen et al. (2016) found that when people identify with the main character of a piece of literature or a film, they are more likely to replicate their behavior. So, an understanding of the existing symbolic culture on school dances leads to an understanding of the social structures and sign vehicles that middle schoolers attempt to recreate at their dances. The current library of symbolic culture regarding consists primarily of media about American high school proms. Slightly more limited are representations of middle school dances. However, in middle school dance media, repetition of prom tropes is a common thread. For example, movies like Mean Girls (Waters, 2004) or Ten Things I Hate About You (Junger, 1999) present dances as opportunities for reinvention. Then, in middle school media like Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel (Kinney, 2012) characters recreate these tropes.

While high schoolers in the media successfully rebrand themselves at dances, middle school reinvention in Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel fails due to student’s lack of control over their circumstances. In Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel, the seventh book in Jeff Kinney’s bestselling childrens series, Greg views himself as a ladies' man and plans to utilize the school dance to show his “true self” to the rest of his school (Kinney, 2012). He intends to impress a girl, Abigail, by charming her at the Valentine’s Day dance. However, his lack of control foils his plans to take her out to a steak dinner in a limousine and woo her at the dance. Greg ends up taking Abigail in a chaperone’s minivan and to dinner at a children’s restaurant. Despite his best efforts to cope with the circumstances, Greg ends up losing Abigail to his best friend. Characters like Greg see a difference between the “actual self” seen by classmates and their “ideal self”, and they attempt to fill that gap by mirroring behavior present in prom movies. The reason these characters are not successful but high school characters are can be narrowed down to an inability to make long term change and a lack of control. Children’s lack of control is important to understand when analyzing dances for sexual pressure. Children are grasping for maturity and freedom, but a lack of control often prevents that. Similarly, the ways in which they fight for freedom is not original but a recreation of symbolic culture.

Middle school reinvention in Pen15 also subverts the rebranding trope by framing reinvention as short term and superficial. In the “Dance” episode of Pen15, a typical “band geek,” Brendan, shows up to the dance in a goth look. He is wearing a spiky choker and a bit of eyeliner- a sharp contrast to his typical t-shirt and cargo pants (Erskine et al., 2019). Throughout the night he acts “cool” around his ex and makes several attempts to win her back. He fails in his seduction, and the next time he appears in the show his wardrobe is back to normal. Brendan’s night represents an unsuccessful attempt to show classmates an ideal self. Brendan utilizes the sign vehicles of clothing and makeup to present his ideal self for the night. But, when both he and his classmates recognize the distance between his authentic self and his ideal self, he quickly moves back to his conservative wardrobe and attitude.

Analysis of the prom genre reveals that American entertainment teaches middle schoolers that dances are a night for romance, maturity, and firsts. Whether a negative or positive experience, these scenes have a strong impact. Whether a first dance, a first-time trying alcohol, or a first kiss, many prom movies and shows such as American Pie (Herz, 1999), Blockers (Cannon et al, 2018), Back to the Future (Zemeckis, 1985), and the “Prom” episode of That 70s Show (Stark, 1999) contain plot points revolving around characters losing their virginities or making other significant strides towards adulthood. Also, many of the most popular school dance scenes or tropes represent a turning point or a resolution in the movie. Giving dances the power to change a characters’ entire storyline intensifies the pressure surrounding the events. Consequences of school dances in the media have included actions as small as reconciliation or formation of relationships in movies like Mean Girls (Waters, 2004) or Back to the Future (Zemeckis, 1985) and as large as death in stories like Carrie (King, 1999) or Prom Night (Embassy Pictures, 2008). The scope of these consequences intensifies stress to have a positive experience at a dance. While students do not expect a serial killer to show up at their events, these portrayals still send meaningful messages about the high stakes of a dance. Media sites like Pinterest also feed adolescent’s desire to form romantic relationships and experience firsts at dances. A quick search of “prom pictures” brings up thousands of pictures of girls dressed like princesses spinning around their boyfriends. Similarly, searching for “promposal” leads to pages upon pages of couples utilizing clever wordplay, gifts, and romantic settings to ask each other to prom. So, the pressure to be in a romantic relationship and to take that relationship to new heights comes, not only from prom movies, but also from social media.

However, creative teams in Pen15 and Big Mouth reject the power of dances by putting characters in situations where attempting to take on a new sense of maturity does not lead to the “magic” associated with prom. A prime example of a failed step into adulthood comes in Pen15 (Erskine et al., 2019) when Anna decides to pursue a relationship with her long-term love interest, Alex. She lovingly floats over to him, makes eye contact, and asks him to dance with her. He gives her a nasty look and bluntly tells her “no.” Anna has learned from prom stereotypes that a dance is the moment where one takes new steps in their relationship. Her ideal view of herself mixed with the confidence that comes from prom movies pushes Anna to step out of her comfort zone. Then, the reality of her situation hits. Rejection throws her out of face and Anna scrambles to recover. In cringe comedies like Pen15 that attempt to represent preadolescents in a more realistic light, middle schoolers are presented with an urge to feel free and grown up at dances, but often cannot match their self-presentation to these desires. Contradictory messages regarding self-presentation are prevalent in Pen15 and Big Mouth. While shows like Freaks and Geeks, (Apatow et al., 1999) Full House (American Broadcasting Company, 1987), and Square Pegs (CBS, 1982) acknowledged pressure and contradictory messages from peers and media, the “cringe comedy” nature of Pen15 and Big Mouth allows for more graphic language and imagery, making writer’s critiques of dances, media, and child sexualization explicitly clear. These cringe comedies present dances as a jumble of mixed signals that confuse kids on topics like relationships, sex, and clothing.