Tag: character analysis

Should Underage Sex Scenes be Descriptive?

This is an issue that only arises as one transitions from being a teenager to being an adult. It happens mostly as a result of shift in perceptions, where rereading the same section that you had no problem with when you were younger suddenly feels kind of weird.

But, I’m getting ahead of myself. Why am I even talking about this?

Well, it all started when I decided to go over a certain section in Cassandra Clare’s Lady Midnight. I don’t really know why I was; the book was a little too predictable for my tastes. But that’s besides the point.

Anyhow, in Lady Midnight, there is a sex scene between two of the main characters, both of who are seventeen when the events take place. When I had first read it, I thought there was nothing wrong (I had just turned eighteen). However, rereading it now, I felt that it got a little too descriptive, the number “seventeen” ringing in the back of my head. In Lord of Shadows, it gets even more descriptive.

The odd feeling got me thinking about other YA books with underage sex scenes written into them. More often than not, the sex scenes I’ve read usually involve the characters being eighteen or nineteen. But sometimes, they are younger. Which, there would be nothing wrong with that, had they not gotten so descriptive.

What do I mean by descriptive? I don’t mean when the narrator describes feelings and emotional roller coasters. Rather, I mean explicit mentions of penetrations and other physicality. When I was a teenager myself, I had no problem with this. In fact, I got excited by how daring the author would be. But now it feels kind of strange to read it being so descriptive, especially when the female character is specifically described as looking like a child. What makes it worse is when the author points out those childlike features during a scene, and then I want to skip the entire scene.

But, is the descriptiveness really so bad? Usually when the underage scene is written, the characters are seventeen or almost seventeen. Paired with the fact that the average age in the US for having sex for the first time is seventeen, then there really shouldn’t be an issue. These books are for kids from thirteen to around eighteen, and the scenes are catering towards that audience. So there really should be no issue, right?

Well personally, I would prefer them not to mention any penetration. But, if I was my younger self, I may not have an issue with that description.

The Ironic Existence of Lolis and Shotas

There is a subcategory within anime and manga culture that has an interesting, and even controversial, existence: lolis and shotas. It is a category that pertains to both males and females, portraying either gender as little children, despite them being full-blown adults. Lolis, or girls that have the appearance of being cutesy and prepubescent, are much more common than shotas, which are the male equivalent. They have two aspects of them, one that makes an appearance in normal anime and manga, and the other, which makes an appearance in the genre known as “Not Safe for Work”, or NSFW.

The former aspect, one in which lolis and shotas make appearances in normal anime and manga, are much tamer, but still controversial. They are usually immortal beings, although they can also be eighteen+ year olds, mostly to add comedic humor. Although, it doesn’t help that usually lolis are sexualized, being child-like or innocent in appearance, but scantily clad in small armor. But say they’re a child and they’ll insist that their actually 1000 years old. The biggest example I can think of is the Fire Emblem character Nowi. Nowi is a 1000 year old dragon in scant armor (literal bikini armor with boots and a cape), that looks like she’s 12 years old. It makes romancing her with anyone rather bizarre and kind of uncomfortable, just as it is strange to romance any of the shotas in her game (Ricken and Donnel).

However, this isn’t to say it’s always the case. There are a few lolis that are normally dressed, or dressed in oversized clothes to emphasize their cuteness (the scantily clad nature doesn’t apply to shotas: they are normally dressed from all the cases I’ve seen). Sometimes, the lolis are fully-dressed, making them seem more normal and not sexualized. Usually, though, the loli is dressed in a way that is clearly catering to male fans, and is very much sexualized.

This sexualization plays heavily into the second aspect that lolis and shotas play in: Hentai. Hentai is the anime equivalent of porn, which I mentioned is the NSFW aspect. In this case, lolis and shotas are sexualized alike (of course with the lolis being more common), sometimes being left alone, and sometimes being altered to be more sexual. The lolis especially, will sometimes be given insanely large breasts (we’re talking the length of their body), in order to add some sexuality, while the rest of the appearance stays the same. Shotas are often feminized, too, making them appear as submissive, while the other partner is much more adult-looking and dominant. In either case, both lolis and shotas are most often set as adults. Not all the time, however.

So, how are lolis and shotas ironic? Well, they’re usually adults, with child-like appearances. They insist that they are older, but promote an almost pedophilic image, without explicitly being pedophilic. They encourage a dangerous sexualization of young, prepubescent children, especially young girls, encouraging creepy men (and some women) to check out and even follow young girls. The sexualization pervades in the anime and manga community, tainting its media.