Sex, Censorship and the Millennial Teen Film

Through an in-depth analysis of iconic teen movies, this study explores the relationship between sex, censorship, and the shaping of Generation Y''s views on desire. Jade Jontef argues that in light of the recent revival of and nostalgia for popular culture spanning from the late 1990s to the early 2000s, teen films such as Clueless (1995), American Pie (1999), and Cruel Intentions (1999) continue to influence thinking around sex, gender and sexuality. Drawing examples from Western film classification and ratings policies, she argues that these films present a homogenous and exclusionary form of teenhood, providing millennial audiences a limited perspective of youth culture informed by white, middle-class sensibilities and notions of ''proper'' sexual behaviour. Through a comparative analysis of film regulations across the United States, UK and Australia, this book considers the interplay between teen films, classification systems, and societal norms. In doing so, Jontef argues the disproportionate dominance of Anglo-American perspectives and the perpetuation of Western middle-class ideals of adolescent sex, gender, and sexuality.

About the author

Jade Jontef is an Associate Lecturer in the Department of Social Inquiry at La Trobe University, Australia. Her research focuses on the representation and regulation of sex, gender and sexuality, youth sexualities and the classification and censorship of sex in film.

Product details

• Authors: Jade Jontef
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Release: 05.02.2026
• EAN: 9781350442474
• ISBN: 978-1-350-44247-4
• No. of pages: 280
• Dimensions: 140 mm x 218 mm x 18 mm
• Series: Library of Gender and Popular Culture
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Theatre, ballet; Popular Culture, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Popular Culture, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Gender Studies, Films, cinema, PERFORMING ARTS / Film / History & Criticism, Gender studies: women, Gender studies: women and girls, PERFORMING ARTS / Film / General, Film Theory & Criticism, Film history, theory or criticism