History YMMV / TheFosters

* DoubleStandardRapeFemaleOnMale: In quite possibly the weirdest zig-zag on the show. A major part of season 1 is Callie coming to terms to her sexual assault by an adult foster brother in a previous home. This is explicitly addressed as not only illegal, but morally wrong, particularly since Callie was 14 when it started. The following season, Brandon is assaulted by his father's girlfriend while he's drunk. When his parents find out, the show rightly addresses the criminality of the action (the girlfriend is arrested), but the morality is treated differently. The overall vibe is that Brandon is somehow more responsible for his assault, and he carries a lot of guilt about it for years after. He feels that he should have somehow prevented it and that it was a betrayal of his father, a feeling his dad doesn't really deny. His guilt about it comes up in a significant way in a later season, and it's ''Callie'' that has to tell him that it was ''wrong,'' in addition to being illegal, and that it wasn't sex, he was raped--because despite being the child of two police officers and one school principal, none of them ever mentioned it.

* InformedWrongness: Marianna considers being baptized in order to become Isabella's godmother. When a priest casually assures her that her family situation won't be an issue, adding that God accepts all sinners, Marianna is livid, decides against the baptism. She issues a sermonizing speech on the evils of religion at the end of the episode. As Catholic viewers are quick to point out, the priest was simply stating that, from a Catholic perspective, all people are sinners, on top of the priest being very inclusive and welcoming.

* JerkAssWoobie:

** Gabby, another of the Girls United girls, is also abrasive and liable to make cruel remarks (although she's less transphobic than Becka). She also has an abusive father, a bad past involving being in a gang, and as the webisodes reveal [[spoiler: she's HIV positive.]]

* InformedWrongness: Marianna considers being baptized in order to become Isabella's godmother. When a priest casually assures her that her family situation won't be an issue, adding that God accepts all sinners, Marianna is livid, decides against the baptism, and issues a sermonizing speech on the evils of religion at the end of the episode. As Catholic viewers are quick to point out, the priest was simply stating that, from a Catholic perspective, all people are sinners, on top of the priest being very inclusive and welcoming.

* HoYay: At certain times, you have to wonder whether or not Stef and Lena's appreciation for the ladies have rubbed off on their daughters.
** At the prom, Marianna is trying to think of ways to [[OperationJealousy get back at her ex]]...and [[HeterosexualLifePartners Emma]] suggests that she pretend to be Marianna's ex-girlfriend. To which Mariana agrees with no hesitation, followed shortly thereafter by the two of them enthusiastically making out, also with no hesitation. [[FunnyBackgroundEvent Stef's face says it all.]]
** When Ximena's art project eventually gets her an article on Huffington Post, she thanks Callie for the help by...kissing her on the lips. [[AmbiguouslyBi Callie doesn't object, pull away, or even comment on it at all.]]

* StrawmanHasAPoint: Although it's natural for the viewer to root for Callie's adoption in Season Three, it would be hard to argue that the obstructing social worker's concerns are entirely without merit. Callie and Brandon have had a very unhealthy sibling/romantic dynamic for most of the show, which has negatively affected both of them and the entire family, and they (especially Callie) seem to have almost a compulsion to periodically pursue it even when it is completely against their own best interests. The fact that success relied on multiple people having to lie for them should probably have been a clue to them that all wasn't well, even though the protagonists never seem to consider that the problems pointed out by the social worker might be at all legitimate.

** Brandon, who almost always manages to find ways to cause trouble for himself and those around him, but while his siblings always get into legal trouble/get grounded he [[KarmaHoudini always just ends up getting yelled at, and then apologized to.]]
** Callie can get into this, because she always ends up causing all of her own problems. But this is because of her [[FreudianExcuse sad upbringing and she feels her life will end up destroyed anyway]].

* WhatAnIdiot: Pretty much everyone in the third episode of the second season, Brandon decides to invite a few people over to hear their band. Mariana decides to invite her dance friends, who she knows will invite other people, but that's [[NeverMyFault not her fault]]. Brandon instead of realizing this could get out of hand, decides "Sure, why not". Even after all the disastrous parties from the last season, nobody sees a problem with this party except Callie. Predictably, things go bad, people are trashing the house and they break the big living room window. Brilliant.

* LesYay: At certain times, you have to wonder whether or not Stef and Lena's appreciation for the ladies have rubbed off on their daughters.

** Stef and Lena's treatment of Jesus, between unfairly punishing him while Brandon and Callie never face consequences for far worse things, treating him like a burden when he had a head injury, this put a lot of viewers off.