Topic Discussion: How Much is TOO MUCH (or too little) SeX in YA?

[seaheidi]

I'm sure we all remember those certain "scenes" in novels we read (or sneaked) as teens. The dog-eared corners of certain pages in controversial books like Forever and Flowers in the Attic, but now we're writing for that same audience and it's a new kind of era. It's a time in literary history that, on one hand, promotes and encourages "edgy" YA

Comments

[rj_anderson]

I think we need to keep in mind that what is positively tame or even off-putting for an adult reader may be incredibly titillating and shocking for a younger one, depending on age and how sheltered that teen's upbringing has been. I have no doubt that John Green's scene is every bit as non-sexy in essence as he and others say it is (I haven't read the book yet), but the mere concept that I am reading about oral sex OMG can be enough to make a younger reader giggle and blush.

The other point is that a book can be incredibly, even agonizingly romantic, full of potent sexual tension, without the protagonists falling into bed or even kissing before the end of the book. There's relatively little of this in YA (which may be one reason that TWILIGHT took off like a rocket -- that rare combination of sensuality and sexual restraint), but it's definitely something that teens do feel. Sometimes less is not just more, but a lot more, and leaving a scene open to interpretation can be more effective than making it explicit, not less. (While, paradoxically, making it a lot less likely that your book will get complained about, because Nothing Actually Happens.)

[anywherebeyond]

I think we need to keep in mind that what is positively tame or even off-putting for an adult reader may be incredibly titillating and shocking for a younger one, depending on age and how sheltered that teen's upbringing has been.

This is true. I do think, though, that we have an obligation to remember that not all teens are sheltered (and not usually by their own doing,) and that those broken teens also have a right to recognize themselves and their experiences in literature.

It all boils down to honesty, for me. What really should happen, not what we really would like to happen. Meyer did a great job of setting up her universe to force the courtship issue (if his teeth are razors, her tongue cannot be in his mouth, period.)

But Green also did a great job writing a scene where intimacy was wasted and abused, and not even as meaningful as the next scene where they merely hold hands.

I'm 36 years old, and I still get giggly and stupid and blushful when a pairing I like finally kisses on my favorite tv show. I don't think that reaction ever goes away, if you're genuinely invested in the story.

That's why strokes shouldn't matter. If they're in love and they close the door, that's enough. Happy sex is happy sex, and we can all dig that without details. But if the sex means something, communicates something besides that, I really think we have an obligation to include it.

Stroke free.

Because really, people. That's what fanfic is for. :D