Tag: young adult

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.

Awful Teen Romance: How to they Maintain Popularity?

We’ve all at least heard of the genre, whether through the Twilight Saga or some other poorly written teen romance novel/movie. It is the soft-core version of the adult romance novels, whose only big difference is the loads of descriptive sex scenes. The genre is generally known as being poorly written and grossly centered around a most certainly unhealthy romance, and yet it still maintains a decent-sized reader base. How does this happen? Most importantly, who is still reading it, and why? Well, There’s a few different answers to that question.

While the popularity of the teen romance genre has certainly dropped sharply from it’s heyday in the late 2000’s, it still persists in young adult literature. In fact, it not only exists as it’s own genre, it also exists as a sub-genre, and makes an appearance in just about every piece of young adult literature.

You see, while there are the obvious books where the main plot is very much about romance (like the Iron Fae, Fallen, and Eleanor and Park), I’d have to say around 97-99% of all young adult literature has romance as a major story line, even if it isn’t the main one. Which, isn’t too unusual: plenty of adult books have some form of romance in them. The only issue here is that it’s always the same romance, and it is just like the ones found in purely romance novels. I’ve mentioned in a post before talking about the typical “unusual” female protagonist and her male counterpart. That’s basically the story here. It’s always a modest but stubborn, brash, inexperienced (romantically, sexually) girl that is supposed to be a “feminist symbol”, paired with the sarcastic, arrogant, and experienced guy who represents all the dangers of an abuser. But it’s okay, because the guy is secretly a sweetheart who hides behind a shell because of his “broken” past. Literally, this is almost always how it is. When it’s not, it’s shockingly refreshing.

The only issue is, young girls fall for it every time. I fell for it when I was a young teen, also. Why? Well, everyone wants that romance that’s destined to be. At least, when you’re young. As you get older relationship goals get much more realistic (sometimes). But as a young teen with no experience in dating, I didn’t really know what I wanted. I wanted to be that protagonist who kicked butt and got the guy of her dreams. Which, makes sense. When a romance that would in real life be abusive gets romanticized in the novels, everything about the guy seems angelic. It seems attractive, and it’s fictional, so you can get insanely invested without being classified as a stalker. That’s how they get you.

It’s not just young girls, either. I have an aunt that is way too invested in trashy teen romance novels, and she’s certainly not alone. There are plenty of middle-aged mothers who read these kinds of books. Why? Everyone needs an outlet. Whether it’s watching TV, running, drawing, or reading, everyone has to find something. But what about teen romance novels attracts so many middle-aged mothers? Well, I can’t say for sure. Mostly because there’s several theories, that can’t truly be proven by asking them. One is dissatisfaction in marriage.

Dissatisfaction is probably the biggest theory, because usually it’s the most accurate. Women who find themselves in positions where they’re not happy in their relationship, but not too unhappy where they’ll get a divorce, will turn instead to the cheesy teen romance, wanting to imagine themselves young again, being swept off their feet by a dreamy young man. It seems the most reasonable, and least far-fetched, especially when paired with the fact that in the US, there is a 40-50% divorce rate among first-time marriages.

Another theory is they use it as a form of escape. Not just from an unhappy marriage, but from being a middle-aged adult all together. Why not? Use the main protagonist to see yourself as a teen girl in her action-fighting prime, no kids, no job, no taxes to worry about. You want to escape to a fantasy world, especially one where the guy promises to do all the “hard work” for you. What a bargain, right?

Either way, the trashy teen romance genre maintains a solid base from both middle-aged mothers and young girls, and will continue to, as long as it pervades the young adult genre. Which, doesn’t have to be a bad thing, so long as the toxic depictions of the main protagonists gets wiped out. I’m tired of seeing the same male and female protagonist again and again.

The “Pure Virgin” Trope

For a time not so long ago, there was the common but somehow romantic concept of the “pure” girl who’s never had sex falls in love with the very experienced “bad” boy. Especially in the Young Adult urban fantasy (fantasy meshing with the real world), there was the common trope of the main female protagonist being a tiny but stubborn teenager who butts head with the tall and handsome new kid, eventually falling madly and viciously in love with him (her first love, by the way). Often times as well, girls the same age who have had sex are often placed in the light as pure sluts, with their character being left very one-dimensional. At the same time, the books are promoted as “empowering” to young girls, girls who can be as young as 10 and very impressionable.

Why does this matter? Well, trying to promote this idea (plus promoting romance with male protagonists of questionable choice), this can lead many to be unaware of the toxicity of relationships like that. Let’s break it down a little bit, shall we?

Well first, the fact that the main girl is practically the only one around that is a virgin promotes the idea that she is on a level above every one else, or “pure”. Now this isn’t to say that being a virgin at 16 or 17 is a bad thing- the average age that people lose their virginity at is 17- but having her be the only one that is a virgin is saying something. Plus, these girls usually haven’t even had their first kiss yet, like how much more obvious can you get?

The girl also usually doesn’t have very many friends, being the sort of “loser” in school. She usually has around one or two friends (maybe 3), and there is always a guy that she is closest with, mostly to play the love triangle game. Unless, there is the rare chance that he is gay (True Blood), and then he is just the sassy friend trying to encourage her to get laid. This reinforces another idea-it’s not cool to be “popular”. If you’re “popular”, then you’re just like all the other girls who sleep around and party. You’re not “pure”.

The “pure” aspect contrasts greatly from the main male protagonist, the new bad boy who is always insanely attractive. He usually sleeps around, is sarcastic as all hell, and doesn’t like to follow the rules. He is the kind of guy that’s supposed to be unachievable, but always turns his attention to the nerdy not conventionally pretty female protagonist. He sweeps her off her feet, and rescues her because he knows so much more about the magical world than she does. He becomes the useful one, while she sheepishly has to follow him around for protection, and eventual romance. He takes an interest in her mostly because of her purity (a concept that appears in many different books, TV, and movies), making her all the more desirable. She is the target of his romantic advances because she is “not like other girls”.

Plus, he’s always got a broken, tortured soul for the female protagonist to save. He can have all the problems he desires, but she can’t. She’s supposed to listen to all his problems, without having any actual problems of her own to share. This can be very dangerous for an actual relationship. A girl is not supposed to only be someone’s “savior”, but should also be able to reach out to her partner. If she feels like she can’t, then that’s not a very good relationship.

To make matters worse, the idea of the man acting aggressively protective, and sometimes even controlling, gets romanticized. Any man she hangs out with is a threat (and it’s usually portrayed that way), and she must be “protected” from them. She can’t be friends with male friends either, because it turns out they just want to get in her pants, even though bad boy is the only one for her. And bad boy gets really upset when she talks to other men. Controlling behavior is made to seem romantic here, when it’s really not, which could influence young girls into believing that it is. Her heart and body should only be meant for him, and never any one else ever again, which is also not a healthy thing to romanticize. It’s dangerous and can lead to girls getting trapped in toxic relationships.

How 13 Reasons Why and Twilight Aren’t so Different

The last thing I wanted to see when I went on Netflix a week ago was a trailer for 13 Reasons Why Season Two. Just by watching the first five seconds of the trailer, I already knew the new season was probably worse than the first one, if that was even possible. But I wasn’t about to waste my time by watching it to find out.

Continue reading “How 13 Reasons Why and Twilight Aren’t so Different”