Learning Curves: Body Image and Female Sexuality in Young Adult Literature (Scarecrow Studies in Young Adult Literature)

168 Pages·2009·5.55 MB·English

by  Beth Younger

Literary Criticism | Young Adult Literature Scarecrow Studies in Young Adult Literature, No. 35 L
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A A
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dolescence is a time of growth, change, and confusion for young women.
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During this transition from childhood to adulthood, sex and gender roles become more
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important. Meanwhile, depictions of females—from the hypersexualized girls of music N
videos to the chaste repression of purity balls—send mixed messages to young women
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about their bodies and their sexuality. Over the last several decades, authors of young ccuurrvveess
adult novels have been challenged to refl ect this concern in their work and have re-
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sponded with varying degrees of success. LEARNING
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In Learning Curves: Body Image and Female Sexuality in Young Adult Literature, Beth
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Younger examines how cultural assumptions and social constraints are reinforced and Body Image and Female Sexuality in Young Adult Literature
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complicated through common representations of young women. Each chapter analyzes
a recurring theme in the history of young adult literature, including body image, preg- ee
nancy and abortion, lesbianism, and romance. By examining selected novels for their
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sexual content, situating them within their social and historical context, and analyzing
Body Image
their discursive qualities, Younger both reveals the multitude of ways society depicts
and Female
teenagers and their sexualities and offers a critique of patriarchal culture that values the
Sexuality
female experience.
in Young
Adult
Literature
BETH YOUNGER
is assistant professor of English and women’s studies at
Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa.
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Scarecrow Studies in Young Adult Literature
Series Editor: Patty Campbell
Scarecrow Studies in Young Adult Literature is intended to continue the body
of critical writing established in Twayne’s Young Adult Authors Series and to
expand it beyond single-author studies to explorations of genres, multicultural
writing, and controversial issues in young adult (YA) reading. Many of the
contributing authors of the series are among the leading scholars and critics of
adolescent literature, and some are YA novelists themselves.
The series is shaped by its editor, Patty Campbell, who is a renowned au-
thority in the field, with a thirty-year background as critic, lecturer, librarian,
and teacher of YA literature. Patty Campbell was the 2001 winner of the
ALAN Award, given by the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the
National Council of Teachers of English for distinguished contribution to YA
literature. In 1989 she was the winner of the American Library Association’s
Grolier Award for distinguished service to young adults and reading.
1. What’s So Scary about R. L. Stine? by Patrick Jones, 1998.
2. Ann Rinaldi: Historian and Storyteller, by Jeanne M. McGlinn, 2000.
3. Norma Fox Mazer: A Writer’s World, by Arthea J. S. Reed, 2000.
4. Exploding the Myths: The Truth about Teens and Reading, by Marc Aronson,
2001.
5. The Agony and the Eggplant: Daniel Pinkwater’s Heroic Struggles in the Name
of YA Literature, by Walter Hogan, 2001.
6. Caroline Cooney: Faith and Fiction, by Pamela Sissi Carroll, 2001.
7. Declarations of Independence: Empowered Girls in Young Adult Literature,
1990–2001, by Joanne Brown and Nancy St. Clair, 2002.
8. Lost Masterworks of Young Adult Literature, by Connie S. Zitlow, 2002.
9. Beyond the Pale: New Essays for a New Era, by Marc Aronson, 2003.
10. Orson Scott Card: Writer of the Terrible Choice, by Edith S. Tyson, 2003.
11. Jacqueline Woodson: “The Real Thing,” by Lois Thomas Stover, 2003.
12. Virginia Euwer Wolff: Capturing the Music of Young Voices, by Suzanne
Elizabeth Reid, 2003.
13. More Than a Game: Sports Literature for Young Adults, by Chris Crowe,
2004.
14. Humor in Young Adult Literature: A Time to Laugh, by Walter Hogan,
2005.
15. Life Is Tough: Guys, Growing Up, and Young Adult Literature, by Rachelle
Lasky Bilz, 2004.
16. Sarah Dessen: From Burritos to Box Office, by Wendy J. Glenn, 2005.
17. American Indian Themes in Young Adult Literature, by Paulette F. Molin,
2005.
18. The Heart Has Its Reasons: Young Adult Literature with Gay/Lesbian/Queer
Content, 1969–2004, by Michael Cart and Christine A. Jenkins, 2006.
19. Karen Hesse, by Rosemary Oliphant-Ingham, 2005.
20. Graham Salisbury: Island Boy, by David Macinnis Gill, 2005.
21. The Distant Mirror: Reflections on Young Adult Historical Fiction, by Joanne
Brown and Nancy St. Clair, 2006.
22. Sharon Creech: The Words We Choose to Say, by Mary Ann Tighe, 2006.
23. Angela Johnson: Poetic Prose, by KaaVonia Hinton, 2006.
24. David Almond: Memory and Magic, by Don Latham, 2006.
25. Aidan Chambers: Master Literary Choreographer, by Betty Greenway,
2006.
26. Passions and Pleasures: Essays and Speeches about Literature and Libraries, by
Michael Cart, 2007.
27. Names and Naming in Young Adult Literature, by Alleen Pace Nilsen and
Don L. F. Nilsen, 2007.
28. Janet McDonald: The Original Project Girl, by Catherine Ross-Stroud,
2008.
29. Richard Peck: The Past Is Paramount, by Donald R. Gallo and Wendy
Glenn, 2008.
30. Sisters, Schoolgirls, and Sleuths: Girls’ Series Books in America, by Carolyn
Carpan, 2009.
31. Sharon Draper: Embracing Literacy, by KaaVonia Hinton, 2009.
32. Mixed Heritage in Young Adult Literature, by Nancy Thalia Reynolds,
2009.
33. Russell Freedman, by Susan P. Bloom and Cathryn M. Mercier, 2009.
34. Animals in Young Adult Literature, by Walter Hogan, 2009.
35. Learning Curves: Body Image and Female Sexuality in Young Adult Literature,
by Beth Younger, 2009.
Learning Curves
Body Image and Female Sexuality
in Young Adult Literature
Beth Younger
Scarecrow Studies in
Young Adult Literature, No. 35
THE SCARECROW PRESS, INC.
Lanham, Maryland (cid:129) Toronto (cid:129) Plymouth, UK
2009
SCARECROW PRESS, INC.
Published in the United States of America
by Scarecrow Press, Inc.
A wholly owned subsidiary of
The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.scarecrowpress.com
Estover Road
Plymouth PL6 7PY
United Kingdom
Copyright © 2009 by Beth Younger

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,
without the prior permission of the publisher.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Younger, Beth, 1961–
Learning curves : body image and female sexuality in young adult literature /
Beth Younger.
p. cm. — (Scarecrow studies in young adult literature ; no. 35)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8108-5986-9 (cloth : alk. paper)—ISBN 978-0-8108-6950-9
(ebook)
1. Young adult fiction, American—History and criticism. 2. Teenage girls
in literature. 3. Body image in literature. 4. Sex (Psychology) in literature. 5.
Femininity in literature. 6. Adolescence in literature. 7. Teenage girls—Sexual
behavior. I. Title.
PS374.G55Y68 2009
810.9’352352—dc22 009009141
(cid:2) ™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
For my mother, Ann Carol Younger

(cid:2)
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction xi
Chapter 1 Do I Look Fat? Body Image in YA Literature 1
Chapter 2 Do the Right Thing: Pregnancy and
Female Sexuality 23
Chapter 3 Better Than Ice Cream: Lesbian YA Literature 49
Chapter 4 Girl Meets Boy: Romance, Repression, and
the Male Predator 73
Chapter 5 Series Fiction and Chick Lit: From Nancy Drew
to Gossip Girl 105
Conclusion 131
Bibliography 135
Index 143
About the Author 147
vii

(cid:2)
Acknowledgments
I am very grateful to the Drake University Center for the Humani-
ties for providing needed time for research, writing, and revision. The
American Association of University Women supported my scholarship
with a summer writing grant, for which I will be eternally thankful. I
also give tremendous thanks to my students at Drake University, who
remind me again and again why I do what I do. I owe special thanks
to the many students who have taken my course on adolescent litera-
ture; you in particular have never let me forget what it feels like to be
a teenager, and your interest in YA and in my work have contributed
greatly to this book.
I certainly owe an incredible debt to my editor, Patty Campbell,
whose expertise, patience, encyclopedic knowledge, and extensive
wisdom shepherded this book from start to finish. I truly appreciate her
kind, thoughtful, and persistent attention to my work.
I am also indebted to my many friends and colleagues at Drake Uni-
versity. You have mentored, encouraged, prodded, and supported me
through the stressful pre-tenure years, and I am very grateful to have
such caring friends and such a wonderful department. I appreciate every
one of you, and in particular I owe thanks to Megan Brown, Jennifer
Harvey, Joe Lenz, Vibs Petersen, Jody Swilky, Darcie Vandegrift, and
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