Wednesday 15 July 2009

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Discussion: Ideology in YA novels

Another excerpt from Disturbing the Universe by Trites. This excerpt discusses Trites' views on YA ideology.



"...I can imagine many people -- especially parents -- asking me if I am actually proposing either divorcing sex from ideology or even worse, advocating that teenagers engage in promiscuous sex. I cannot say that I am, although I would prefer to live in a culture with entirely different values regarding sexuality. What I am proposing for the here and now, however, is that parents and teachers and librarians and literary critics take serious looks at the ideological intent behind most of the YA novels published with the seeming intent of validating teenagers' self-assurance about human sexuality. Most YA novels about teenage sexuality have at best conflicting ideology and at worse repressive ideology that both reflects and perpetuates Western culture's confused sexual mores. But the very existence of these repressive ideologies demonstrates that sexuality is a locus of power for adolescents. If it were not, adults would feel no need to regulate teenagers' sexuality."
(P 95-96, Trites, 2000)


Do you agree or disagree? What do you think?

Citation: Trites, R. S. 2000. Chapter 4 - "All of a sudden I came": Sex and Power in Adolescent Novels in Disturbing the Universe: Power and Repression in Adolescent Literature. University of Iowa Press, Iowa City.

6 comments:

  1. I agree with you. I'm a teenager, and I know sex is a powerful topic, not just with teens, but with adults as well. It is interesting not only because it is subconscious, but also because it is taboo. I think most things we see around us in Western Culture have contradictory views. We are told sex is only for marriage or love while every other second of media broadcasting has some sort of sexual innuendo. And I find that in most teen novels, sex either leads to terrible consequences and emotional scars or it is excused because of some everlasting, supernatural love.
    --Tashi
    tastelifetwice@hotmail.com

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  2. Thanks for commenting! Very interesting. Just to clarify, they're not my views, it's an excerpt from the book mentioned above.

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  3. I tend to disagree... if the author's definition of locus of power and mine are the same.

    "But the very existence of these repressive ideologies demonstrates that sexuality is a locus of power for adolescents. If it were not, adults would feel no need to regulate teenagers' sexuality"

    I don't think that repressive ideologies exist because adults feel that there is a locus of power for adolescents. I feel that adults are mostly trying to protect the children from emotional confusion and unnecessary scarring. I think that sexual relations involve new and different emotions, ones that teens - already going through hormonal and social changes - may not be best equipped to deal with. It's not about repressing or opressing, rather protecting from my point of view. It's not about taking away a source of empowerment, but allowing a psyche to fully develop and cope with existing changes before introducing powerful new changes and complications, especially ones that can have such life altering consequences if not approached responsibly.

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  4. Very good point, Shesten, makes a lot of sense.

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  5. I disagree with the same part that Shesten picked out:

    "But the very existence of these repressive ideologies demonstrates that sexuality is a locus of power for adolescents. If it were not, adults would feel no need to regulate teenagers' sexuality."

    I don't think that it is about parents wanting to take control and wielding power. It's more to do with protecting their child. It's not necessarily about the act itself, but the consequences it brings about. Sexual intercourse may not be a large chunk of your life, but the results can last a lifetime. I can only speak for myself but I believe that parents want to educate and protect their child. They might not necessarily object to them having sex, they just want them to be safe about it. At school, we have sex education lessons. They're not lectures about how we shouldn't have sex, they're lessons on what can happen and how to avoid getting in to situations we really don't want to. I feel that to describe sexuality as a "locus of power" to adults is wrong.

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  6. Thanks for your views! It's all very interesting!

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