'Dear Hélène'. Social use of college series

<jats:p>Summary: The television sitcom 'Hélène et les garçons' engendered a social phenomenon in France in the early nineties. Drawing on a questionnaire, interviews, observations and an analysis of fan mail, the author shows how the programme (a soap opera about college life) served as a medium for the definition of gender identity among pre-adolescents and adolescents. Reception of the series is characterized by a dual logic of intimate appropriation - based on emotional links with the characters - and collective negotiation of identities - based on interaction within peer groups and the family. </jats:p>