Pretty Little Liars

 The one constant throughout Pretty Little Liars is the girls friendships throughout all of the series. The girls talk of less trivial matters than in usual teenage girl programmes, with the focus less on their love lives but more on their best friend Alison who was murdered and who did it. There are occasional mentions of fashion just to incorporate issues that the girls are having in their current lives. Such as Hanna's shoplifting which started after her mother told her of their money struggles, however Hanna resolves herself  selling her designer items online to support her and her mother.


Hanna- Used to be overweight and was bullied for it by everyone including her friends. Due to her weight the boy that she fancied refused to look at her- however when she lost the weight they started a relationship- showing us that in order to be attractive to men you have to live with ideal beauty standards and change yourselves to fit into society, after losing the weight she also becomes the queen bee. Hanna does not fit in with the usual stereotype of the queen bee as she is friendly to everyone and stands up to her friend when she bullies someone.


Emily- Emily is the typical American high school girl who plays sports and likes swimming. She is seen as the boring one of the group due to her friendly nature and the ability to be compassionate with those who are different to her. Emily is from a strict Asian family, with her dad in the military and holding a lot of power in the town. When Emily comes out as a lesbian her father goes against the stereotype and supports his daughter and her partner rather than forbidding the relationship and disowning Emily. Her mother on the other hand tries to like her daughters partner to keep up her friendly image and reputation, however she does not agree with her daughters choices and struggles to accept them. There is no mention of Emily's grade which does not conform to the stereotype of Asian people being really smart and studying all of the time. Unlike other TV programmes Emily's relationships are focused on the same amount as the other straight characters, this shows a lack of bias towards straight people and gives the show a fairly equal portrayal of the sexual orientations.