Sex +, or Why You Should Read Kody Keplinger

When you write for young adults, I would argue that as an author you open yourself to an intensified public judgment and criticism. Some well-intentioned, others purely mean spirited, the blow back YA authors receive derives largely from conflicting opinions about what teens can and can't handle in literature and/or what they should or should not be exposed to.

Whether it be religion, drugs, or violence every reader and writer has an opinion about if a line for content in YA novels exists and where it should be drawn. And no subject garners more debate than S-E-X.

I haven't been shy about expressing my opinion on censorship, book challenges, and book banning. There's no room in my heart or mind for any of the above. I'm also proud to call myself a feminist and, for me, part of being a feminist is decrying double standards in sex and gender as well as the propagation of sex ignorance among young people, especially young women.

Working against double standards and ignorance is what I think of as sex positive education. Today, YA Author Kody Keplinger, offered up an important and fantastic blog post about what sex positive means (to her) and I couldn't agree more. Kody is the author of The Duff and the upcoming Shut Out (her take on Aristophanes' Lysistrata - one of my all-time favorite plays!) Kody is a brave and talented writer. And she's in college - I wish I would have been the force of amazing that she is when I was that young!!!

So I was more than humbled and honored that Kody mentioned Nightshade as a sex positive book. For me there is no higher compliment. And it's particularly meaningful given that some criticism I've seen of Nightshade is that it's too much "lust" and not enough "love." While the few comments along those lines I've seen don't surprise me, they do frustrate me. Here's why:

Sex and romance aren't the same thing, but in books they are very often equated or conflated. In Nightshade, Calla lives in a world of gendered hierarchies and sexual double standards. When she comes face to face with her own awakening sexuality, she's totally unprepared for it because she's been taught to deny that part of herself. Yes - she's experiencing lust. Of course she is! Sexual feelings and impulses are part of life, particularly in the hormone bonanza that is adolescence, learning how to understand and process all those lusty moments and how to separate lust from real love is a key part of growing up. Growing up and finding herself are what Calla is doing. It's what all young people are doing and I believe they need all the maps and guidebooks we can offer to help them on that journey.

Too often our culture still expects young women to ignore or repress the fact that we, as humans, are sexual beings while the opposite expectation dictates the ideologies around young men's sexualities. (FYI: I'm talking in heteronormative terms here - there's a whole world of additional silencing and repression when it comes to LGBT sexualities. Catherine Ryan Hyde had an amazing post on this topic recently). These double standards lead to confusion, frustration, fears and even dangerous consequences in the lives of young adults.

There will always be voices shouting down a sex positive take on young adults and sex education. There are those who believe young people should be sheltered from tough topics and they will continue to try to censor books that teens need to read: books on domestic abuse, drugs and alcohol, depression and cutting, and yes - sex. Teens need these books because they aren't sheltered. They are alive and life is hard.

Sex positive = whole lives, healthy lives.

Thank you, Kody.

That Other Thing I Do

I always laugh when I'm asked "what did you do before you were a writer?" because I'm still doing it and have no intention of giving it up. I jokingly call my life as a history professor my 'day job' but it's a full-time endeavor and I love it.

When I've written about traveling of late it's usually been related to Nightshade, but I'm lucky that my history work takes me on the road too. This week I'm delighted to be at Saint Mary's College of Maryland for the Twelfth Annual Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Colloquium. The theme of this year's colloquium is Women in War: Object/Subject and feature historical, political, activist, and artistic interpretations of the topic.

Meeting the other visiting scholars and the faculty, students, and staff of the college has been wonderful, reminding me that gathering a group of engaged, caring people together and sharing ideas is the way the world can become a better place.

As a colonial historian I'm also enjoying the location. The college is located on the site of the first Maryland colony and has a public history exhibit that I visited.This building, the first state house, stands from 1676. It was amazing to be in a building that existed at the same moment Bacon's Rebellion and Metacom's War were underway.

And you can't have a colony without stocks. Let's all take a moment and be thankful that ear cropping and tongue dowels are no longer viewed as reasonable forms of punishment.

Maryland's colonial history has strong maritime connections and those connections continue today. The students of SMCM can take a course on colonial maritime history in which they learn how to sail The Dove - a replica of one of the colonial ships. I now really want to teach a course with a 'learn a colonial skill' component. Though I'm currently only qualified to teach students how they can identify a witch and I don't think that would be a great idea.
The campus of SMCM is lovely as well. And spring is already appearing here.

The nice barn-shaped brick building in the background is where I'm staying.

I'll return home tomorrow after a wonderful week of conversation, learning, and new friends. Thanks, Saint Mary's!

19

90 years ago on this day women finally gained full political access as United States citizens. That's right - today is the anniversary of the 19th amendment, which granted women the right to vote.There are two things I'd like to leave you think about on this important day:

1) It should be mind boggling that it's still less than one hundred years since women have been granted equal political rights in this country. And that's just voting. Control over their own bodies, financial independence, equal rights in the workplace - those were all still well down the road when the 19th amendment was ratified. This is a landmark occasion, but it was only a milestone on a long road that we're still walking

2) With the politics of sexual equality and civil rights for LGBT Americans at the forefront of current political debates, the 19th amendment offers a spotlight on how deeply ingrained bias against change can run. When Abigail Adams pleaded with her husband to 'remember the ladies' in the construction of the U.S. constitution, John Adams responded that to do so would be to place men under a "tyranny of petticoats." If one of the "good guys" of American history had that attitude, it doesn't take much to realize what an uphill battle the struggle for equal rights was and still is.
Thanks, ladies. And let's all keep fighting the good fight.

Part III

Of Shaun Hutchinson's post on YA and sexuality is up! Go check it out and see the inspiring, talented authors he's discussing.

As for me, I'm helping* Penguin finish up the Nightshade trailer and web site.

*By helping I mean I look at the nice pages they send me and say 'ooh' and 'ahh' and sometimes I contribute ideas, but they are doing just fine without me. Amazing work Team Penguin!!!

Time for music:

Awesome Authors

Entering the writing world introduced me to a set of brilliant authors who have enriched my life considerably. The Tenners are a particularly fantastic set - offering support, advice, and cheer through the debut publishing process.

I'd like to direct your attention to the blog posts of one Tenner: Shaun Hutchinson, whose Deathday Letter (Simon Pulse) will be on shelves June 15. Shaun's offered up an amazing set of posts on YA and sexuality. I can't emphasize enough how important I believe this line of discussion is and Shaun's posts are insightful and compelling.

Read Part I: Here

And Part II: Here

Part III coming soon!

Thanks, Shaun!