Hannah Chambers' Cosmopolitan piece "‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’ Is the Most Realistic College TV Show…Maybe Ever" described the show well:
The Mindy Kaling–produced HBO Max series follows [the sex lives of] four roommates at Essex College, a prestigious New England school:
Whitney, a soccer star whose mother is a powerful U.S. senator;
Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet) [...], a naive high school valedictorian with a work-study scholarship;
Bela (Amrit Kaur), a self-proclaimed “sex-positive” aspiring comic with conservative Indian parents; and
Leighton (ReneĆ© Rapp), an entitled Essex College legacy from New York City who’s hiding her queerness.
In addition, Chambers wrote: "For once, it’d be nice to hear stories about what really goes down at college…and that’s exactly what The Sex Lives of College Girls has accomplished." Thus, let's take a look at what, per Chambers, really does down at college.
Let us begin with 18-year-old Bela whom professed in the premiere that she desired to have sex with (48-year-old) television host Seth Meyers.
After Bela’s parents dropped her off at Essex, she informed them, “I’m 18-years-old. I’m in the middle of my re-invention.” Subsequently, to seduce the male staff of Catullan, the prestigious Essex College publication, into letting her be a freshman writer, Bela gave six of the Catullan college boys handjobs. Later, she boasted to her roommates, "I gave six handjobs!" And in episode 3, Bela shared, "[...] I masturbate to [SNL's 37-year-old] Kyle Mooney."
Whitney professed to a roommate, "I like men - not boys." Consequently, in addition to being an Essex soccer star, Whitney had an affair with Coach Dalton - her married assistant soccer coach. Whitney informed Coach Dalton, "I'm finding it really difficult to concentrate during practice, because I want to fuck you so bad." Ergo, Whitney and her coach had sex in her coach's office and in his car.
Unsurprisingly, Whitney wasn't the only Essex coed attracted to Coach Dalton. Here are some quotes from her teammates directed at Coach Dalton:
"Way ahead of you handsome."
"I have a question [...] How'd you get so fine?"
"Okay, daddy."
"Put me to bed, daddy!"
Interestingly, after the age-gap affair was leaked and Coach Dalton was fired, Whitney was consoled, shielded, and victimized.
Head Soccer Coach, "You're 18. You don't need this following you around [for] the rest of your life." Whitney, "Thank you."
However, Whitney denied that she was a victim. For example, after she was told, "It's not your fault." Whitney replied, "No, it really is, unless someone else was sleeping with him, which I guess is possible." And Whitney confessed to her mother that she was not molested by Coach Dalton and that she was an [18-year-old] adult.
In the New York Times piece, “‘The Sex Lives of College Girls’ Pursues an Awkward Education" (Nov. 15, 2021), Alexis Soloski asked: "Why is our culture so obsessed with the sex lives of young women?" Pauline Chalamet responded: "There’s a fetishization — a Lolita fetish [...]"