Explicit scenes in YA

[Nara]

Basically what are your thoughts on sex scenes etc... in YA novels? Are they necessary? Or should books containing smut be moved into the New Adult category? (i.e. Sarah J Maas)

 

[HareBrain]

New Adult doesn't really seem to have taken off as a category. Last time I looked in my local bookshop, Maas was in YA. Some people think she should be in adult, and is only in YA because she's female. From what I've seen of her stuff, it sounds like YA but with added sex.

I've had some correspondence with a specialist YA editor about this. 12-18 is a huge age range, developmentally, and opinions of what is acceptable vary a lot. I think anything there for titillation is definitely out (the same should be true in non-erotica adult fiction IMO, for artistic rather than ethical reasons). Also, in general, I'd say the more healthily sex is portrayed, the easier it sits in older YA. Otherwise, sexual references and relationships, especially towards the top end of the age range, are probably fine (though some parents/librarians/agents will differ), but explicit and descriptive sexual scenes probably not. But then again, there are some YA books which explore sexuality as an explicit theme, and they get more leeway.

 

[tobl]

yeah, i have an issue with that but not in the way that you think. i mean, you actually have a problem with sex in YA? reallly?
Look you're entitled yto your opinion of course. Personally i'm more of the opinion that people should be more more concerned with the violence in the storys for all ages. ESPECIALLY CHILDREN.
So, it's fine for snow white step mother try to kill her ( the original story it was the mother) but good lord lets not talk about a kiss?
it's okay to kill a wolf and open him up to retrive the grandmother but let's NOT hurt the mind of our children with consensual relationships between people?

 

[Boneman]

Having just written a sex scene in a YA novel, I will admit to fading to black, after her skirt fell to the ground (deliberately...).

It's all in the way it's handled, I agree with HB. Hopefully beta readers will tell you...

 

[Nara]

yeah, i have an issue with that but not in the way that you think. i mean, you actually have a problem with sex in YA? reallly?
Look you're entitled yto your opinion of course. Personally i'm more of the opinion that people should be more more concerned with the violence in the storys for all ages. ESPECIALLY CHILDREN.
So, it's fine for snow white step mother try to kill her ( the original story it was the mother) but good lord lets not talk about a kiss?
it's okay to kill a wolf and open him up to retrive the grandmother but let's NOT hurt the mind of our children with consensual relationships between people?

Yeah true of course you have a point. As long as its a healthy and consensual relationship being potrayed then it's fine. However in the case of most most YA novels ( SJM, Twilight for example ) the relationships can be super toxic.

Also I think the problem with writing intimacy in books, is that it can actually influence real life behavior. I mean if you think about it not every step mother is going to try to kill you nor are you going to hunt down wolves on a regular basis. However most (not all) people are going to be in an intimate relationship maybe even once in their lives.

 

[AnyaKimlin]

Forever by Judy Blume is forty six years old this year. It seems strange to still be having the same conversations. I must have been about ten when I read it. It wasn't long after I read Are You There God, It's Me Margaret.

Healthy sex between teens of the same age is a good subject to explore.

Something like Lolita or Clarissa in a modern setting I would be uncomfortable with but then many teens experience abuse.

 

[tobl]

Yeah true of course you have a point. As long as its a healthy and consensual relationship being potrayed then it's fine. However in the case of most most YA novels ( SJM, Twilight for example ) the relationships can be super toxic.

Also I think the problem with writing intimacy in books, is that it can actually influence real life behavior. I mean if you think about it not every step mother is going to try to kill you nor are you going to hunt down wolves on a regular basis. However most (not all) people are going to be in an intimate relationship maybe even once in their lives.

mate, anything and everything can and does influence real life. i mean,should we stop children from watching the news because they can be influenced? isn't your problem of sex in ya another aspect of the problemof violence in videogames?
Look, it's like those people that defend someone because he didn't had opportunitys and turned to crime. yet in the same neiboroughood, even in the same family, someone becames a doctor, or a teacher or god forbir a policeman. Just because he turned to crime is not just because of his environment. Sure, it plays a role, no doubt about it. But, do i really need a law to tell me i shouldn't kill people? Or hurt people?
Here's the thing: schools, society in general are not be blamed for everithing. Schools give knowledge, education cames from the family.
And i, for me, would be more stressed if any son of mine started reading about how to kill than how to kiss.

 

[tobl]

I mean if you think about it not every step mother is going to try to kill you

about that... might i direct you to the newspapers and courtrooms? ok so you have a point that NOT every step-mother wants to kill you but... you do know that most of these type of crimes are made by people you know right?

 

[Nara]

about that... might i direct you to the newspapers and courtrooms? ok so you have a point that NOT every step-mother wants to kill you but... you do know that most of these type of crimes are made by people you know right?

Ahaha yeah true, I digress. I come from a family of criminal and civil lawyers so I've heard a fair share of pretty horrifying stuff. And I do agree with you on the sex scene topic, it all depends on how it's written and portrayed I suppose.

 

[luriantimetraveler]

I'm a Teen Librarian who used to teach consent-based sex ed, so this is actually a question I've thought about a lot!

I think a lot of our (adult) response comes from a (healthy) discomfort with teen sexuality — by which I mean, it's NORMAL for adults to feel uncomfortable thinking about teen sexuality (because boundaries, etc), but that shouldn't translate into controlling or denying that teens are sexual beings. And they're particularly impressionable sexual beings. So.

Smutty YA that shows HEALTHY relationships (informed consent, clear communication, emphasizing pleasure over pleasing others, equal power balances) is a GREAT thing — it helps teens model how they want to make decisions about their sexuality.

An added angle is that many teens have been/are victims of abuse. And reading about abusive relationships (with resolutions that honor the victim, shows paths to survival, etc) can be therapeutic for them.

All of which to say — having (emotionally and physically) healthy sex is developmentally normal, and we should be doing everything in our power to give teens the tools they need to engage with their sexuality in ways that feel good to them.

 

[Astro Pen]

I reckon modern teens could teach us more about contemporary sexuality than we think we are protecting them from.
When I was a teen I was reading John Updike and Henry Miller, even Pauline Réage. After that lot the 'broom handle and dougnut' sex education dished out by by the school was rather sad and over patronising. Some teachers were better than that. I suspect that some of them were once teenagers themselves, - though it strained the imagination.
There are some things that will embarrass the heck out of kids. Parents having sex for instance oh yuck! And grandparents? Well they just don't do they? At least that was what I used to think, LoL. So leave any of that out.
Incidentally if there were complaints I would be interested to know who they were from. Teenagers, parents or the publishers legal department?
How long before Romeo and Juliet is 'revisioned' for YA. I don't know. Not long I suspect.