Up Front: Somebody Think of the Young Adults!
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Teenagers have access to a lot of shitty depictions of sex.
A fair number of which appear under the masthead of the New Zealand Herald. (Was that a cheap shot. Fuck yes, but also a totally justified one.)
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Good to see that we haven't moved on from Paula Boock's problems of over a decade ago, when she dared to depict teenagers exploring same sex sexuality for teenage readers.
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I nearly didn’t write a column. I was just going to upload a clip of me reading it aloud in my Outraged of 1870 voice. Imagine Stephen Fry wearing pearls and a twin-set.
So, this?
(Sorry.)
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Emma Hart, in reply to
So, this?
(Sorry.)
Pretty much. (I have such a clear picture in my head. He's wearing pink, and saying, "Dirty," in the most magnificent tone. I spent an hour looking for it this morning.)
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This is the cliche to end all cliches, but only one thing came to mind reading that editorial - "The Victorians called. They want their editorial back".
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
This is the cliche to end all cliches, but only one thing came to mind reading that editorial – “The Victorians called. They want their editorial back”.
Which could only be said by anyone who hasn't read much in the way of Victorian fiction -- even if you subtract Dickens from the equation, just because it wasn't explicit it doesn't mean it wasn't there.
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I just wish there were William Taylor books for people older than teenagers too...
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Thank you, Emma, for this.
Given that we have a sizeable population of parents who are extremely uncomfortable talking to their childeren about sexual matters, I feel it is important that they get a realistic depiction of sex rather than relying on the plasticised 'internet porn version'.Your point about the internal narrative and the doubts and fears that abound is well made. It's a shame all parents aren't as sensible about these topics.
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Hey guess what? It’s my turn to write the “This Herald Editorial is Batshit” column.
Welcome! But to be fair, that's The Herald on Sunday, which has its own editors.
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Rob Hosking, in reply to
The Victorians are much maligned, I feel. They were more colourful and varied than their reputation.
And they did elect a pot smoking, camp and probably bisexual novelist as prime minister several times - leading a Conservative administration, too.
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Emma Hart, in reply to
that’s The Herald on Sunday, which has its own editors.
Fair point, I shall amend the post to make that clear. The Herald-Herald offered up this, for which they found it necessary to get a quote from sex-Voldemort.
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linger, in reply to
the “This Herald Editorial is Batshit” column
– should be a more regular feature; at least weekly.
Their editorials, on the other hand, probably need to be a less regular feature. -
Bevan Shortridge, in reply to
They were giving the Herald on Sunday away at the Warriors game. Didn't actually read it. I suppose it's just as well the Warriors aren't being sponsored by the Sunday Star Times as that could have been just a tad awkward yesterday.
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Well said.
The editorial packs so much stupid in so few words, you do have to laugh. I love "It contains obscenities and shock references that worthwhile literature does not need. "
"Worthwhile literature" - just want to roll that around on the tongue for a while, it's so gigglesome :) -
Oh, wow. This editorial. You know "Don't read the comments"?
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Robyn Gallagher, in reply to
Oh, wow. This editorial. You know "Don't read the comments"?
Read the comments.
I'm particularly impressed with the comment from the awesome Time Out bookstore of Mt Eden. It starts with, "We've been selling Into the River steadily since September 2012 and have not had one complaint about it's content. It's a book written for young adults that don't read - why is this being discouraged?"
Also, I wonder how many adults will buy this book and be disappointed that it's not a genital pop-up book?
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But Emma, would you approve of your young sons (or your young daughters - because girls can read as well as boys) reading this book? Is it a book that you would have lying around in your own house?
Is it a book that you would even wish your husband, or, even, your servants to read?
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Biobbs, in reply to
They were giving the Herald on Sunday away at the Warriors game. Didn't actually read it.
"Ah, yes, without question my favourite magazine; soft, strong and thoroughly absorbent". Since we're doing Stephen Fry.
Ted Dawe was my 4th Form Social Studies teacher in 1976. He was a *seriously* good teacher. He used to do things like taking us to the art gallery or for a tour round the Shortland St studios instead of class on some days. I imagine most people couldn't think of a bigger nightmare than dragging 38 14-year-old boys round an art gallery, but he seemed to enjoy it.
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I want my kids thinking about sex years before they actually have any. I want them to go into their sexual and/or romantic relationships having considered what they and their potential partners might want, what the consequences of various choices might be, how they might deal with things going wrong.
Literature, which allows them to try out different possibilities and get into the heads of different people, is going to be a big part of this process.
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Christchurch Libraries have posted this:
To uphold the principle of intellectual freedom, the Library attempts to supply a balanced collection containing varying viewpoints on controversial issues. Material will not be suppressed or removed simply because it gives offence. While recognising the right of the individual to reject material, this should not diminish the overall breadth of the collection for other customers.
To which I can only say, Fucking Oath.
Is it a book that you would even wish your husband, or, even, your servants to read?
My Help has time to read? Obviously I am doing something wrong.
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I think the Herald really needs Cameron Slater to come in and help lift their game.
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'Brave New World' was a set text for the years 14-16 at my in-very-many-ways-not-at-all-progressive all-boys school. A book that contains, among very many other sexy sextime sexysex scenes, some fairly graphic descriptions of drug-fuelled orgies.
'1984' was also a set text. The Herald may need reminding that major portions of the plot revolve around the active enjoyment of sex and state suppression thereof.
I have a teacher friend who teaches at a fairly deprived school in Scotland. When you have a bunch of 14-15 year old boys in your class refusing to read the set text because one of the main characters is 'a fucking paedo', then you don't really have a choice except to open the discussion.
Where did your copy fall open?
Well, the copy of the novelisation of 'The Terminator' in the school bookshop would fall open at pg 63, a graphic description of Sarah Connor's roommate enthusiastically receiving and greatly enjoying cunnilingus from her boyfriend. The fact that both were shot to death shortly afterwards by a killer robot from the future is neither here nor there, I think.
Anyway, tone lowered, mission accomplished.
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Rob Hosking, in reply to
Is it a book that you would even wish your husband, or, even, your servants to read?
Nice Chatterley trial reference there.
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Rich Lock, in reply to
Oh, wow. This editorial. You know "Don't read the comments"?
Caitlin Moran has a new book out. I know this because there's an online ad rammed right into the middle of one of the most frothy and hysterical comments in that thread.
'Rammed', as in, right through the middle, completely taking over and disrupting the formatting, making the comment nearly impossible to read.
It would have been better if it were 'how to be a woman', but it still made me chuckle.
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Craig Ranapia, in reply to
Is it a book that you would even wish your husband, or, even, your servants to read?
If my servants have the time to read anything more involved that the wrapper on a bar of carbolic soap, they will be killed and fed to the dogs. Plenty more pre-literate waifs down the workhouse they came from.
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