Summary

• Hanna and Caleb's first time on Pretty Little Liars was a positive and natural step in their relationship.
• Toby and Spencer's first intimate moment was sweet and free of drama in the middle of the series.
• Unfortunately, some storylines in Pretty Little Liars were not sex positive, including older guys dating underage girls.

Like other teen dramas, Pretty Little Liars features many couples who sleep together at various points in the series, but not all of those storylines are sex positive. Pretty Little Liars followed a group of four teenage girls who are haunted by the disappearance of one of their friends, and then blackmailed about the secrets they keep by a mysterious figure. The show is as much about the friendships between young women as it is about the mystery that unraveled throughout the seasons.

Sometimes, teen dramas feel the need to include a lesson when a relationship finally becomes physically intimate, like on Dawson's Creek when Joey and Pacey had sex, and then she immediately had a pregnancy scare. Other times, everything goes much more smoothly for the characters on television. Rosewood might have been a strange, scary place to live, but the main characters on Pretty Little Liars met their soulmates there and had some romantic moments. Other times, the teen drama was very negative about sex.

When Pretty Little Liars Was Sex Positive

Hanna And Caleb Had A Strong Connection And Had Sex

...it felt like the next natural step in their relationship.

Hanna was known for a few things on Pretty Little Liars, from her cute outfits to Hanna's relatable quotes to her long-term romance with Caleb. Pretty Little Liars was sex-positive when this couple slept with each other in the first season. They went camping and while they were in their tent, they had sex for the first time, and Hanna lost her virginity. The characters had a strong connection, and it felt like the next natural step in their relationship.

They hadn't been dating very long at that point, but they were comfortable with each other and it made sense. There was no inherent judgment in the storyline surrounding them sleeping together, unlike some of the other couples in the series. While there are problematic elements in all of the relationships in the series for the sake of drama, Hanna and Caleb actually have the healthiest of the bunch.

Caleb And Spencer Had A Great Relationship

Viewers never would have predicted the Caleb and Spencer relationship, but it was a happy surprise. The characters got to know each other better when they were in D.C. and it was nice to see them outside of Rosewood. It seemed only natural that they would bond since they were far from home and didn't know many other people in the capitol. Caleb and Spencer were surprisingly very good together.

Caleb and Spencer had sex a few times, and it was a positive situation, as they had a great relationship and were both mature enough to make lasting decisions. It was a bit tense since they worried about what Hanna would think, but even that conversation went better than they anticipated, as Hanna was okay with the two of them becoming closer at that point in the show.

Toby And Spencer's First Time Was Free Of Drama

From Toby's introduction, Spencer was the one character among the liars who seemed to be able to connect with him. It's only natural that as the two developed a friendship, they also developed a romantic relationship. While things might have been tense between Toby and the group later in the show, in the middle of the series, Toby and Spencer were in a good place in their relationship.

In the third season episode "The Lady Killer," Toby and Spencer had sex for the first time, and it was what many people hoped this experience would be like for them. It was a sweet moment and, since they knew each other so well by then, they were totally comfortable and there wasn't any awkwardness. While some teen shows approach sex with a lot of drama, Pretty Little Liars did let their major couples enjoy intimate scenes without too much fanfare.

Hanna And Jordan Had A Healthy Sex Life

Jordan was introduced following the time jump in Pretty Little Liars as Hannah's new love interest. Fans of the show might still have loved Caleb, but the series allowed Hanna and Jordan to have fun together. In the season 6 episode "Where Somebody Waits For Me," Hanna and Jordan had sex while staying in a very red motel room that had Cupids everywhere. He said he was looking for a romantic place where they could be together and joked that he also looked up "tacky."

Hanna and Jordan seemed to have a healthy sex life while they were engaged, as there was never any drama around that particular part of their relationship. Of course, things got tense outside of the bedroom because Hanna was very obviously still in love with Caleb despite dating someone else.

Emily And Ali Had A Super Romantic Sex Scene

Emily and Ali's relationship is one that's beloved by fans, but it did have a lot of problematic elements. Chief among them was Ali's manipulation of everyone around her, including Emily, since she knew Emily had feelings for her even when Emily hadn't come out yet. Over time, however, Ali matured, became less manipulative, and was willing to explore her own feelings for Emily. In the seventh season, Ali and Emily had a picnic and then they slept together. It was super romantic and also sweet to see them finally together after knowing each other for so many years.

Pretty Little Liars always focused on Emily's love life as she was in serious relationships with Paige and then Ali, and it was nice to see these two characters connecting once again. While this might have been a scene that is more romantic on TV than in reality, since it involved being out in the woods, it was still a great moment.

Times Pretty Little Liars Was Not Sex Positive

Ezra And Aria Slept Together While She Was Still In High School

It's pretty clear that when Aria and Ezra met at a bar in the first episode, they hooked up, and then they slept together in the second season episode "If These Dolls Could Talk." They continued to have an intimate relationship for a long time. In the first instance, the audience might have believed that Ezra didn't know Aria's age, but the truth was that he knew about the Liars long before he met Aria because he was interested in writing a book about Ali and her disappearance.

Aria always loved Ezra despite their age difference, but it was definitely creepy to see them have sex when she was still a high school student, especially when taking into Ezra's history with her friends. This is a part of the show that is hard to ignore, since they're one of the most talked-about couples, and they're together for a long time. If the show was more sex-positive, then perhaps the characters would have waited a bit until Aria was older.

Ashley Had Sex With Wilden To Help Hanna

Ashley Marin's decision made sex a bargaining chip instead of a healthy experience between consenting adults.

Early in the series, Hanna did have a penchant for shoplifting, even though she knew she shouldn't do it. After she was caught shoplifting in one instance, her mom tried to help her get out of trouble by sleeping with Detective Wilden. Ashley Marin's decision made sex a bargaining chip instead of a healthy experience between consenting adults.

This was a time when Pretty Little Liars was negative about sex, as Ashley was seducing someone in order to manipulate them. This wasn't a bright spot in the mother and daughter's life, that's for sure, and Hanna found the whole situation to be creepy and awkward. She didn't exactly love coming down into her kitchen in the morning and finding Wilden there checking out the contents of the fridge in nothing but a towel. There was probably another way that Ashley could have gotten her daughter out of this bind.

Byron Cheated On Ella

Instead of showing Aria's parents in a loving, long-term relationship, or even in one in which they understood they were growing apart, Pretty Little Liars had Byron cheat on Ella with the much younger Meredith, one of his college students. In a flashback, Aria and Ali were walking around, minding their own business, when they saw them kissing in a car, and it was definitely shocking.

This was a major storyline in the first season, and it gave "A" something to torment Aria with since it was a huge secret. She, after all, had kept her father's secret ever since it happened. It was something that Byron was ashamed of, and it tore apart the whole family, so it wasn't exactly painting sex in a positive light. If Byron had been honest with Ella about feeling like they were drifting apart, the couple could have made a decision on their relationship without him cheating.

Jenna Forced Toby To Sleep With Her

While Jenna was certainly a victim of Ali's machinations, she was also a manipulator and abusive in her own right.

When the Liars were getting to know Toby, they learned that his stepsister, Jenna, forced him to have sex with her. They already felt bad about "The Jenna Thing" when Ali played a prank that resulted in Jenna losing her sight, and this added another layer to the strange dynamic. While Jenna was certainly a victim of Ali's machinations, she was also a manipulator and abusive in her own right.

This was definitely dark and disturbing, and the girls realized that Toby had a difficult time growing up. This wasn't a time when the show was sex positive since this was sexual abuse, and it's not something that anyone should have to deal with. Jenna didn't specifically face consequences for forcing a relationship on Toby, and it affected how Toby interacted with people during his early time on the show.

Older Guys Dated The Liars When They Were Underage

Pretty Little Liars certainly liked to pair up teenage girls with much older men. In some cases, the difference was only a few years, but when the teenage girl is only 15 or 16 and the man is in his twenties, that makes those differences especially stark. Such is the case with characters like Ian and Ezra.

Ian ended up married to Spencer's older sister Melissa.

Ian was a creepy character on Pretty Little Liars as he dated Ali when she was really young and kissed Spencer when she was several years younger than him. Ian ended up married to Spencer's older sister Melissa, but flashbacks made it clear that he was more interested in young girls than he was women his own age. He and his friends would spy on teenage girls, and he maintained a secret relationship with Ali before she disappeared. It's not made clear if Ali and Ian had sex, but the relationship is still disturbing.

Ali also had a fling with Ezra before Aria even met him. That reveal made Ezra look more like a predator than someone who just met the right person at the wrong time. To repeatedly have physical relationships with underage girls when he is old enough to be their teacher is something hard for the audience to get past. There's nothing wrong with age differences when all parties are adults, but for a lot of the series, the Liars were underage. This is the least sex positive element for Pretty Little Liars.