teensploitation

noun

teens·​ploi·​ta·​tion ˌtēn-(ˌ)splȯi-ˈtā-shən How to pronounce teensploitation (audio)
: the exploitation of teenagers by producers of teen-oriented films

Examples of teensploitation in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Rocketing from obscurity at age 12 as the object of fetishization in director Louis Malle’s Pretty Baby, Brooke Shields became the early ’80s face of teensploitation, starring in Endless Love and Blue Lagoon. Rachel Handler, Vulture, 17 Jan. 2023 In the disreputable pantheon of Netflix teensploitation, this one’s close to the bottom. Charles Bramesco, Vulture, 18 Feb. 2022 Not Another Teen Movie sent up teensploitation flicks from both the '80s and '90s, and its faux-romantic finale features Ringwald herself, referencing Pretty in Pink directly and trying to talk some sense into lovesick teens. Drew MacKie, Peoplemag, 29 Aug. 2022 Johnston asked his bandmates, and indeed the HBO teensploitation drama licensed the song for a scene in an episode from Season 2. Los Angeles Times, 11 May 2022 This is a pulpy B movie that is dying to be a prestige project, and there’s a big part of you that wishes everyone had just leaned into the teensploitation aspects more. David Fear, Rolling Stone, 8 Apr. 2021 Visually, the band was often photographed in vintage fashions, the aesthetic bleeding into music videos that evoked the days of high school teensploitation films and sleazy, street-level Hollywood glam. Jessi Roti, chicagotribune.com, 4 Oct. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'teensploitation.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

teen entry 1 + -sploitation (from blaxploitation)

First Known Use

1982, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of teensploitation was in 1982

Dictionary Entries Near teensploitation

Cite this Entry

“Teensploitation.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/teensploitation. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

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