Too Hot To Handle... Somehow There's Purity Culture?

 I recently began to watch the new season of Too Hot to Handle, a disastrously wonderful show that I recommend to all who enjoy trashy TV, and was able to connect some of the scenarios presented in certain episodes to purity culture and its depiction in the most recent film we saw. I know it’s odd to relate Too Hot to Handle, a show where everyone is a sexual deviant to purity culture, but I promise it’s still there. Just so that those who havent heard of the show have a little bit of context, Too Hot to Handle follows a group of young singles who are not allowed to kiss or do any sexual acts while living together. Think: Love Island but everyone has to wear a chastity belt. While the purity culture that the people on the show exhibit is not overt it is still clearly present and having an impact on how contestants of the show are perceived by their housemates. Sure, no one on the show is saying things like “sex is bad and gross, dont have it” or “if you have sex you are tainted” or anything extreme like that, but it is still more common to see the women on the show bare harsh criticism from everyone that their male partners do not experience as severely. Whenever it is revealed that a couple has broken the rules, people are always so quick to forgive the man, to justify his actions and absolve him of all responsibility, all while placing complete blame on the woman. The notion that women are to blame for the desires and actions of men is something deeply embedded within purity culture. So, despite having a ton of sex-positive people on Too Hot to Handle, purity culture still finds a way to influence the dynamics of the show by placing the blame on women rather than both members of the couple when a rule is broken. We saw the strong effects of purity culture in Mustang, where women where shamed for having any relation with members of the opposite sex and were blamed for the actions of the men around them. And while Too Hot to Handle doesn't have blatant examples of purity culture, we can see that it is still a relevant issue that can be found in even the most sex-positive shows and scenarios.

Comments

  1. Kate ADecember 15, 2022 at 1:42 PM

    This is an interesting observation. I haven't watched Too Hot to Handle, but I've seen similar things happen on other dating reality shows, in particular Love Island. There was one season of Love Island UK where the men and women were separated and new people came in, and both people in one couple decided to match up with new people instead of staying in their original couple. The woman was shamed by the men on the show for meeting someone new and fooling around with him, while the man acted like he had been betrayed as if he hadn't done the same thing.

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  2. Ivy P. H.December 15, 2022 at 4:01 PM

    I agree with everything you discuss, and the shaming of women when it comes to “cheating” on these shows more than men. I’d also add that Too Hot to Handle itself seems to be trying to shame people for having sex. Like, that’s literally the premise of the show––a little robot spies on you and if you have sex, you get shamed? I imagine that framing of sex could have some real-world affects on viewers of the show.

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