THEN AND NOW: A LOOK AT THE MESSAGES YOUNG ADULT FICTION
SENDS TEENAGE GIRLS IN THE 1970s AND THE 2000s
By
Beth Ann Goodenberger
A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate Studies Division
Ohio Dominican University
Columbus, Ohio
MASTERS OF ARTS IN ENGLISH
DECEMBER 2015
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CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………………………...…...…iii
INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………...1
CHAPTER 1: A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE…………………...7
CHAPTER 2: THE 1970s…………………………………………………………………………9
Go Ask Alice………………………………………………………………..…………….10
Forever…………………………………………………………………………………...17
Beauty: A Retelling of the Story Beauty and the Beast…………………………………..27
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….33
CHAPTER 3: THE 2000s………………………………………………………………………..37
Twilight…………………………………………………………………………………..38
City of Bones……………………………………………………………………………..45
The Hunger Games………………………………………………………………………51
Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………….55
CHAPTER 3: CONCLUSION…………………...……………………………………………...58
WORKS CITED…………………………………………………………………………………61
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
First, I thank Dr. Martin Brick and Dr. Kelsey Squire for their advice, guidance, and
support through this process. They volunteered their time and willingly gave their expertise to
help me complete my educational journey.
I also thank my husband, James, for taking on all the parenting duties every Saturday in
order for me to work on my thesis. Your patience and understanding mean so much to me, and I
appreciate all you have personally sacrificed in order for me to achieve this degree. I also thank
my mom for instilling in me a love of reading.
Finally, I thank my students for being so understanding when I did not have essays
graded in a timely manner, or had lesson plans that were haphazardly put together. Thank you for
putting up with my frazzled and disorganized mind for an entire semester.
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INTRODUCTION
Of the three people I talked with on a flight from Columbus, Ohio, to Omaha, Nebraska,
each person commented on the book I was reading: Throne of Glass, by Sarah J. Maas. The first
person I talked with was a woman in her 60s, and as we sat by the gate waiting for the flight, she
stared at the cover of the book, featuring a fierce young woman wielding blades, and asked me
what grade I was in at school. After my reply that I taught high school, and was not a high school
student, she made a face and asked with shock why I was reading a teen book. My second
interaction was with a woman in her 30s with a young child. As she sat down by me, she saw the
cover of my book and exclaimed happily that she had read that book and loved it. We then
proceeded to have a lovely discussion about the main character’s tortured past. My third
interaction was with a fourteen-year old girl flying alone. When her phone died midway through
the flight, leaving her with nothing to do but stare out the window, I leaned across the aisle and
offered her my book to read. She took it hesitatingly, saying she did not really read much, but by
the end of the flight, she excitedly told me that she actually enjoyed reading it, and then gaped
when I told her to keep it. I later saw her reading it at her gate while her phone charged.
My interaction with each woman perfectly captures the attitude many people have toward
young adult literature. Older people tend to not see young adult literature as “real” literature, and
view it as campy books to only be read by teenagers. To them, seeing an adult reading young
adult literature is like seeing an adult reading The Bernstein Bears by themselves. The woman in
her 30s, though, represents the current shift in attitude toward young adult literature as more
people embrace the stories and characters unique to it. In fact, a study conducted in 2012 by
Bowker Market Research found that 55 percent of young adult books were actually purchased by
people who were not teenagers. Most of the buyers of young adult literature were between the
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ages of 30 and 44, with 78 percent of the buyers stating they bought the books to read themselves
(Dempsey). The young mother I met is a member of the growing group of people discovering
young adult literature and reading it not because their teen is reading it, but reading it because
they genuinely enjoy it.
The teenager, then, represents her age group well: fewer and fewer teens are reading. In a
study by Common Sense Media, 33 percent of 13-year olds said they read for fun only one or
two times a year, while 45 percent of 17-year olds said they read for fun one to two times a year
(Common Sense Media). However, the teenager I met also displays an important factor of
teenagers: when given the right book, teenagers will read. The key is to hand them a book that
will engross them, and then enthusiastically talk with them about the book.
Since teenagers read so infrequently, and they are so easily influenced during this
transitionary stage in their life, the female protagonists teenage girls encounter in young adult
novels provide them with examples of what it means to be a young woman. Reading allows
teenage girls to experience that female protagonist’s life. The character’s world, actions,
dialogue, and beliefs, are all experienced by the reader, an ability called experience-taking.
Professors Lisa K. Libby and Geoff F. Kaufman, in their article “Changing Beliefs and Behavior
Through Experience-Taking,” state that:
when experience-taking occurs, readers simulate the events of a narrative as
though they were a particular character in the story world, adopting the
character’s mindset and perspective as the story progresses rather than orienting
themselves as an observer or evaluator of the character…In the process, readers
let go of key components of their own identity—such as their beliefs, memories,
personality traits, and ingroup affiliations—and instead assume the identity of a
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protagonist, accepting the character’s decisions, outcomes, and reactions as their
own. (2)
Though experience-taking does not happen every time a person reads, when experience-taking
does occur, young women can become heavily influenced by the female protagonists in young
adult novels. In their study, Libby and Kaufman found that experience-taking occurs more
frequently with first-person narratives, which is notable since young adult literature is
predominantly first-person (9). They also discovered that with increased experience-taking,
readers were more likely to exhibit the behaviors and beliefs of the characters for a short period
of time (10). Libby and Kaufman state, “These findings strikingly demonstrate that through their
choices in crafting the language and the content of their stories, writers can heighten the
likelihood of readers’ taking the character’s subjective experiences as their own and, thus,
emerging from the story with their identities, mindsets, and actions transformed” (10). Thus,
young adult novels can make a tremendous impact on the reader, influencing and even altering
their behavior and thinking.
Experience-taking is an important concept to remember when analyzing young adult
novels. Teenagers are already at a vulnerable point in their lives as they transition to adulthood,
and they are easily influenced during this period. For teenage girls, the female protagonists they
read about can provide them with a guide to becoming not only an adult, but also a woman.
Experience-taking easily fits in with reader-response literary theory, in which the reader actively
engages with the literature.
With reader-response theory, the reader’s response, or reaction, is taken into
consideration when constructing meaning from the literature. Louise Rosenblatt is a pioneering
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critic of the reader-response theory. In her book The Reader, the Text, the Poem: The
Transactional Theory of the Literary Work, she defines this approach as:
The poem, then, must be thought of as an event in time. It is not an object or an
ideal entity. It happens during a coming-together, a compenetration, of a reader
and a text. The reader brings to the text his past experience and present
personality. Under the magnetism of the ordered symbols of the text, he marshals
his resources and crystallizes out from the stuff of memory, thought, and feeling a
new order, a new experience, which he sees as the poem. This becomes part of the
ongoing stream of his life experience, to be reflected on from any angle important
to him as a human being. (12)
For Rosenblatt, the reader-response approach is similar to the process an actor takes with a
script. She states, “We accept the fact that the actor infuses his own voice, his own body, his own
gestures—in short his own interpretation—into the words of the text. Is he not simply carrying to
its ultimate manifestation what each of us as readers of the text must do…” (13)? Each reader,
then, will derive their own interpretation of a text based on their personal life. She stresses that
elements of the reader’s life factor into their interpretation of a text. She writes, “The reader’s
attention to the text activates certain elements in his past experiences—external reference,
internal response—that have become linked with the verbal symbols. Meaning will emerge from
a network of relationships among the things symbolized as he senses them” (11). When
Rosenblatt’s theory about how the reader responds to a text is combined with Libby and
Kaufman’s experience-taking, it is easy to see how a novel can drastically affect the lives of
vulnerable teenage girls.
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For this paper, I use Rosenblatt’s reader-response theory and Libby and Kaufman’s
findings on experience-taking to analyze three popular young adult novels from the two golden
ages of young adult literature, the 1970s and 2000s, to determine the messages they send to
teenage girls. These messages are important to understand because teenage girls are sent
contradictory messages about how women should behave. The young adult books from the 1970s
overwhelmingly reinforce notions about physical beauty and relationships while also
encouraging girls to embrace the new woman created by the feminist movement. The young
adult books from the 2000s also encourage girls to adhere to a thin and beautiful look while also
encouraging girls to take more action, both literally and figuratively. In my concluding chapter, I
examine how these messages have changed from the 1970s to the 2000s. What I have found is
that even though 30 years have passed between the two golden ages of young adult literature,
teenage girls receive the same messages to be pretty and thin. However, the young adult books of
the 2000s have allowed encourage teenage girls to be more complex, take charge of their lives,
and solve their own problems.
The books I examine in this paper are chosen using a combination of different methods. I
chose books that were popular, appeared frequently on various blogs and news articles
chronicling young adult literature, were frequently included on best young adult books lists, and
were suggested by librarians. I wanted to include books that were not only popular during their
time, but are also popular now—I wanted to choose books from both decades that were still
likely to be read by teenagers today.
For this paper, the term young adult will be defined using the definitions provided in
Literature for Today’s Young Adults, a common textbook in education and library science
classes. In Literature for Today’s Young Adults, they define young adult as “students in junior
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high as well as those graduating from high school and still finding their way into adult life”
(Nilsen, Blasingame, Donelson, Nilsen 2-3). The textbook also defines young adult literature as
“anything that readers between the approximate ages of twelve and eighteen choose to read
either for leisure reading or to fill school assignments” (Nilsen, et al. 3). Using these definitions,
the ages for young adult readers can stretch from junior high to collegiate years.
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CHAPTER 1
A BRIEF OVERVIEW OF YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE
The development of books written specifically for young adults coincides with the label
teenager. As child labor decreased, and public school increased, a new age group formed: it used
to be that children grew up and became adults, but now that children were no longer working or
getting married at a young age, the age between roughly 13 and 19 became known as the teen
years. According to Ashley Strickland’s article “A Brief History of Young Adult Literature,”
teenagers were not recognized as a separate social demographic until World War II (Strickland).
As teenagers became a distinct group, literature written specifically for teenagers also began to
appear. While librarians at the New York Public library, notably Anne Carroll Moore and Mabel
Williams, advocated for adolescent literature in the early 1900s, it was not until S.E. Hinton’s
novel The Outsiders, published in 1967, that the need to separate children, teenage, and adult
literature happened (Rouyer).
The Outsiders is distinctly meant for teenagers: it was written when Hinton was a
teenager herself, and its protagonist, Ponyboy, is a teenager. Young adult literature then
flourished in the 1970s with novels that focused on a single issue, such as drugs or sex. The
1980s saw a rise in genre fiction, especially paperback romances (Sweet Valley High series), and
the 1990s brought back more realistic fiction. With the arrival of Harry Potter, a fantasy series,
young adult literature experienced a rapid growth in publishing and popularity that is still being
felt today (Nilsen, et al. 63). Harry Potter also started a new trend in young adult literature that
has seen a surge in science fiction, dystopian, supernatural, and fantasy novels.
Young adult literature is distinguished by several key characteristics. It is typically
written in first person and the teenage protagonists are the main, if not only, characters.
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Literature for Today’s Young Adults states that “one of the first things an author does is to figure
out how to get rid of the parents so that the young person is free to take credit for his or her own
accomplishments” (Nilsen, et al. 30). Certain themes dominate young adult literature such as:
coming-of-age, struggling to identify oneself, and transformation. The fast-paced plot and
emotional turmoil experienced by the characters are also features found predominantly in young
adult literature. Out of all of these young adult traits, identity and emotion reign supreme.
Throughout each young adult novel, characters look for answers to the question “Who am I?”
and seek help in how to navigate the way to their identity.
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CHAPTER 2
THE 1970s
The 1970s was a decade still reeling from the radical societal shifts of the 1960s: the
Civil Rights Movement, the ongoing Vietnam War, counterculture, the drug culture, and the
burgeoning feminist movement all led to a new America. These shifts in society were reflected in
young adult literature, which featured the “problem novel,” or a story involving a single issue or
coming-of-age plotline. Literature for Today’s Young Adults states that “all novels are problem
stories because the problems provide the tension and the interest,” but in the “problem novels” of
the 1970s, “the problems are severe enough to be the main feature of the story” (Nilsen, et. al.
112). These problem novels focus on topics unexplored in children’s literature such as: puberty,
sex, masturbation, drugs, and abortion. While parents might not want to discuss these topics with
their teenagers, they were topics which teenagers were concerned, and these novels led to a rise
in young adult novels published. The increase in young adult novels, and the resulting popularity
of them, has led the 1970s to be deemed the golden age of young adult literature.
Of the three novels I examine for this decade, two of them (Go Ask Alice and Forever…)
fall into the “problem novel” category. The third novel (Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of
Beauty and the Beast) belongs to the fairytale and fantasy categories. With all three novels, I will
focus on the following topics: drugs, sex, physical beauty, relationships, and identity.
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Go Ask Alice
Go Ask Alice, by Anonymous1, and published in 1971, is one of the first novels to address
teenage drug use. The drug use associated with counterculture and hippies in the 1960s was still
prevalent during the 1970s, and the novel, in the form of a diary written by an unnamed teenage
girl, shows how easy it was to not only get drugs, but also to use them without getting noticed by
an authority figure, whether it be the police or the girl’s parents. The novel tracks the diarist’s
descent into drug use, her struggle to remain sober and recover mentally, and eventually, her
mysterious and abrupt death. When reader-response theory is applied, teenage girls receive a
strong warning against drugs, one that is made all the stronger because of the remnants of the
1960’s drug culture. Teenage girls reading Go Ask Alice bring their shared struggle to look right
and fit in, which is one of the diarist’s problems that leads to her drug use.
The diarist’s drug use begins unintentionally when, unbeknownst to her, she drinks soda
laced with LSD. The LSD laced sodas were part of a party game, and once she realizes what has
happened to her, she exclaims, “It was fun! It was ecstatic! It was glorious! But I don’t think I’ll
ever try it again. I’ve heard too many frightening stories about drugs” (Anonymous 34). The
diarist’s conflicted attitude about drugs, and taking drugs, shifts to curiosity three days later
when she writes, “…I’m so, so, so, so, so curious, I simply can’t wait to try pot, only once, I
promise! I simply have to see if it’s everything that it’s cracked up not to be! All the things I’ve
heard about LSD were obviously written by uninformed, ignorant people like my parents who
obviously don’t know what they’re talking about…” (Anonymous 35). The disturbing message
sent here to young girls derives from the diarist’s lack of concern that she was drugged without
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The novel originally purported to be the diary of an anonymous teenager, but was actually revealed to be the work
of writer Beatrice Sparks. It is thought that the novel was published under the Anonymous title to make it more
alluring and believable to readers.
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her consent. Instead of outrage, the diarist is ecstatic, and while the ultimate lesson is that drugs
are bad, how the diarist handles this situation teaches girls to not speak up if they are drugged at
a party.
While the diarist’s drug use may have begun without her knowledge and consent, it
continues of her own free will because it provides an escape from her life, which frustrates her
because she feels she cannot be the thin, pretty, dateable girl she wishes she could be. More
importantly, taking drugs allows her to be someone different. Spurred by her intense curiosity,
the diarist tries torpedos and Speed on her date with Bill, a boy from the party where she
originally had LSD. The diarist is especially excited about taking Speed, saying:
…I positively can’t wait to try it again. No wonder it’s called Speed! I could
hardly control myself, in fact I couldn’t have if I had wanted to, and I didn’t want
to. I danced like I had never dreamed possible for introverted, mousy little me. I
felt great, free, abandoned, a different, improved, perfected specimen of a
different, improved, perfected species. It was wild! It was beautiful! It really was.
(Anonymous 37)
Her rapid descent into drug use stems from her negative view of herself, both in physical looks
and personality. The diarist refers to herself as “introverted” and “mousy,” but she can abandon
those negative qualities when she is on drugs, thus leading her to ferociously seek them out so
that she can become dateable. Her willingness to do whatever it takes, including drugs, to secure
a relationship, is a disturbing message for young girls who will soon see the consequences of that
ambitious streak.
In the first diary entries, the diarist is primarily concerned with a boy, Roger, and her
physical appearance. Roger stood her up on their first date, and her diary entries show that her
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sadness over Roger seeps into other areas of her life, so much so that she states, “I seem to be
kind of losing interest in everything” (Anonymous 3). The diarist, though she does not say it
outright, believes her physical appearance is the cause of Roger’s dismissal of her. She becomes
increasingly concerned about her weight, writing, “I’ve put on seven ugly, fat, sloppy, slobby
pounds…I’m beginning to look as slobby as I feel” (Anonymous 3).
The diarist’s outlook changes, though, when she is told her family is moving. She is
excited by the move because it will allow her to be a new person, specifically one who is skinny.
She writes, “I’m going to start on a diet this very day. I will be a positively different person by
the time we got to our new home. Not one more bite of chocolate or nary a french fried potato
will pass my lips till I’ve lost ten globby pounds of lumpy lard” (Anonymous 4). She even
speculates that her new skinny and beautiful appearance will make Roger want her back:
“…maybe just before we leave and I’m thin and my skin is absolutely flawless and petal smooth
and clear, and I have clothes like a fashion model he’ll ask me for another date” (Anonymous 4).
The diarist connects her physical appearance with her ability to get a date, which is her main
concern in the beginning of the novel.
The pressure to become beautiful, and therefore dateable, consumes the diarist, and her
connections between thinness, beauty, and dating are affirmed when she goes on a date after
losing ten pounds (Anonymous 7). Her dieting becomes so extreme that her mother finally
intervenes. The diarist writes:
This morning I was having my usual half grapefruit for breakfast and she made
me eat a slice of whole wheat bread and a scrambled egg and a piece of bacon.
That’s probably at least 400 calories, maybe even five or six or seven hundred…I
wonder if I could go stick my finger down my throat and throw up after every
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meal? She says I’m going to have to start eating dinner again too, and just when
I’m getting down where I want to be and I’ve quit fighting the hunger pangs.
(Anonymous 10-11)
Despite the diarist’s extreme and unhealthy weight loss methods, she believes they are
connected with beauty and getting dates, and for her, that is all she wants. It is no wonder, then,
that the diarist’s obsession with her looks affects her view of herself. Her negative view of
herself leads to her drug use because the drugs allow her to be a different, and in her mind, better
person, even if that requires sacrificing her beliefs.
The diarist’s obsession with weight and physical appearance reinforces the notion for
young girls that they must be thin and beautiful or else they will not be loved. The diarist could
not handle the level of perfection she, and society, set for herself. It becomes too much, and she
uses drugs to try to fix her problems. While the novel sends the message that drugs are not the
answer, it also does not provide girls with an alternative solution.
The novel also teaches girls to fear sex. The diarist has several sexual experiences, but
none of them ever mean anything to her, and none of them are when she is in love. All of her
sexual experiences occur while she is on drugs. The diarist has her first sexual experience while
high on acid, and while she is not upset about losing her virginity, she is initially dismayed that it
happened with a person she did not love. She writes, “All my life I’ve thought that the first time I
had sex with someone it would be something special, and maybe even painful, but it turned out
to be just part of the brilliant, freaky, way-out, forever pattern. I still can’t quite separate one
thing from another” (Anonymous 41). While she is upset her first time did not happen with
Roger, whom she loves, she quickly accepts how it happened, and even revels in it because while
she is on acid, she “didn’t have any inhibitions about trying to seduce him…” (Anonymous 41).
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This experience with acid confirms for the diarist that while on drugs, she is different—she is
more confident, and she likes this new personality trait.
Her happiness, though, quickly gives way to paranoia, fear, and depression, for she
worries that she is now pregnant. She says, “I’m living with doubts and apprehensions and fears
that I never dreamed possible” (Anonymous 43). Her constant worry grows over the next weeks,
and she ends up having to take sleeping pills to help her sleep. She becomes so anxious that she
considers suicide, writing, “Anyway I don’t know how much longer I can last; if something
doesn’t happen soon I think I’m going to blow my brains out” (Anonymous 48). The extreme
depression the diarist conveys suddenly evaporates when she gets her period, and it only takes a
few weeks until she is back on drugs. Her careless attitude sends a warning message to readers
about the dangers of sex, for she begins her spiral downward into heavier drug use.
The diarist quickly forgets the depression and anxiety caused by drugs and she goes back
to taking them in order to maintain the new, confident self she craves. She then starts dating
Richie and becomes consumed with their relationship. She even considers dropping out of school
because “it’s more important for me to work and help Rich. As soon as I’m out of high school
I’ll get a full time job and we’ll settle down” (Anonymous 61). Once again, her entire focus
shifts toward a boy, and her drug use and her relationships become connected.
The diarist’s drug use only increases during her relationship with Ritchie. She tries pot
for the first time with him, and even starts selling drugs to elementary students to help support
him. When the relationship ends, she and a friend decide to stop using drugs, but the only way
they can change is to leave and start a new life in San Francisco. Thus begins the diarist’s
repetitive pattern of trying to get off drugs and be clean, falling back into drugs, and then trying
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to get clean again. The diarist’s drug use gets so bad she experiences homelessness, malnutrition,
rape, and more unprotected sex.
Throughout the entire diary, but especially during her heavy drug use periods, the diarist
wishes she had someone to talk to: someone who understands what she is going through and can
answer her questions about drugs and sex, especially when she first starts experimenting with
both. She writes, “I’m really confused! I wish I had someone to talk to!” (Anonymous 49). Even
when the diarist moves back home and tries to be clean, she still feels as if she cannot talk to her
parents, or to anyone, when she feels tempted to take drugs again or when she is bullied by her
peers at school. Throughout the novel, the diarist’s increasing need to talk to someone escalates,
and the solution does not arrive until she is in an insane asylum where they provide group
therapy. She writes, “I am so grateful for group therapy. Maybe now I’ll get something out of
this place instead of being broken by it” (Anonymous 187). Here, teenagers are supposed to learn
from the diarist’s mistake: the lesson is to open up and talk about problems with parents, as
lesson the diarist learns too late, and despite her new upbeat outlook on her future, the diarist
dies three weeks later, giving readers the ultimate lesson: drugs are bad, and no matter what, they
only bring about negative consequences.
The diarist’s struggle to be thin, to look the right way, and to gain a boyfriend, are the
root of her problems that lead to her drug use. She is desperate to fit in, and her attempts to be
the ideal woman fails, sparking her descent into drug use to escape her failure and find an outlet
for her frustration. The message Go Ask Alice gives girls is that drugs cannot provide a solution,
or an escape, to the pressures a teen girl faces. Most teenage girls have experienced some sort of
pressure to fit in, and as a former teenage girl myself, I can personally attest to the overwhelming
stress faced in high school to dress, look, and act a certain way. Rosenblatt’s reader-response
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theory states, “The finding of meanings involves both the author’s text and what the reader
brings to it” (14). As teenage girls read Go Ask Alice, they bring these personal experiences to
their reading of the novel, and they can sympathize with the diarist. When teenage girls read Go
Ask Alice, they bring to the reading their own high school experience, which may include the
struggle to fit in, to be thin, and to get a boyfriend. They may see themselves in the diarist when
she and her parents constantly struggle to understand one another, or even when she becomes
tempted by drug use. When the reader brings these personal experiences to their reading of the
novel, Go Ask Alice’s main warning becomes stronger.
If readers engage in experience-taking, they can learn a powerful lesson about the
dangers of drugs. For instance, in one scene, the diarist’s drug hallucinations have caused her to
rip out her own nails: “The whole ends of my fingers have been torn off and two nails have been
pulled out completely and the others are torn down almost in half” (Anonymous 164). The
harrowing scene, with its vivid description, leaves an impression upon the reader. For Hamida
Bosmajian, “To not admit that a text can have a profound effect on the reader is to deny the
emotional, preconscious, and subconscious work of the reader during the act of reading” (91).
She furthers this notion by stating a book can achieve several goals when the text influences the
reader. She writes, “The reading may haunt the reader, shaping her daydreams and nightmares,
even though she chooses to engage in the reading,” and “The text can dominate the reader to
such an extent that it shapes desirable or undesirable behavior patterns. A book can ‘scare
straight’ and a book can, if conditions are right, reinforce negative and destructive inclinations”
(91-92). Bosmajian uses a scene that depicts the diarist’s drug hallucinations to back up her
stance that a book can scare, or haunt, a reader, and if the reader has engaged in experiencetaking, the message that drugs are bad comes across loud and clear.
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In addition, the Go Ask Alice reveals the consequences of being naive: the diarist
frequently is uneducated about drugs and sex, which leads to multiple issues throughout the
novel. Her lack of understanding these two topics is shown when she is drugged and raped, yet
only responds with mild anger and annoyance. She writes, “the dirty sonofabitches had taken
turns raping us and treating us sadistically and brutally. That had been their planned strategy all
along, the low-class shit-eaters” (Anonymous 78). She resolves to stay away from drugs, but
never once does she mention pressing charges, or acknowledges the psychological detriment
rape can have. For girls who may have had similar experiences, the diarist’s reaction encourages
their silence.
The novel primarily serves as a cautionary tale for young girls. The diarist is a teenager
who wants to be fit, popular, and treated as an adult. Her inability to navigate the pathways to
adulthood lead to her downfall, and her inability to seek for proper help keeps her from climbing
back up and fully healing. Overwhelmingly, teenage girls reading the novel can experience the
chaotic emotions of the diarist and therefore learn that drugs are bad, but they also do not learn a
healthy way to deal with these issues. The novel leaves girls conflicted: drugs are bad, but there
is no alternative solution to dealing with teenage pressures. The novel reveals the negative
consequences of trying to achieve society’s standards for the ideal woman while Judy Blume’s
novel Forever shows the positive outcomes that occur when a girl takes charge of her sexual life.
Forever
Judy Blume excels at the “problem novel,” which often deals with puberty, menstruation,
and sex. One of her most famous novels is Forever, published in 1975. It is the story of first
love: both romantically and physically. Blume’s novel is controversial not only because her main
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character has sex, but also because that sexual encounter is described in such detail. Despite the
frequent challenges to the book by libraries and schools, Blume remains firm that her novel’s
approach to sex is important. The main character, Katherine, or Kath, takes critical steps to
ensure her sexual experience is safe. Before the novel begins, Blume includes a note to the reader
that states, “If you’re going to become sexually active, then you have to take responsibility for
your own actions and your own life.” She then instructs readers how to contact Planned
Parenthood for more information. Blume’s novel overwhelming addresses the sexual concerns
and relationship concerns of the 1970s. At times, the message of safe sex and honest
relationships are so strong that it overshadows the plot. Caroline E. Jones, in her dissertation,
“Female Sexuality in Young Adult Literature,” writes that Forever “can read like a treatise on
sexual liberation, very much a product of its time” (27). Blume’s novel is not just a story: it is a
message to teenage girls directly from Blume.
Blume’s book can seem so factual and so educational at times that it seems like a sexual
education pamphlet masquerading as a novel. Blume assumes that teenage girls have questions
about sex, and, as a high school teacher, I can confirm that assumption. When teenage girls read
Forever, they bring their curiosity and their questions into their interpretation of the novel, and
of the main character’s actions. Blume assumes these girls have questions, and she is more than
happy to provide them with answers. Through a reading of Forever, girls receive an
overwhelming message that sex, when done for the right reasons, does not have a negative
connotation attached to it.
Forever begins by addressing one of the reasons young girls have sex. The reader is
informed that even though the character Sybil Davison has a genius I.Q., since she is fat, she
needs sex in order to feel good about herself. Kath, the narrator, says that Sybil has had sex with
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six different guys because of “her need to feel loved” (Blume 1). Blume insinuates that needing
to feel loved is not a good reason to have sex because Sybil ends up getting pregnant. Kath, on
the other hand, has a much more positive experience since she has sex because she is in love. For
her, sex becomes the next logical step in her romantic relationship.
From the start, Kath does not take sex lightly and asserts her control over her sexual life.
Kath and her previous boyfriend broke up because she remained firm in her refusal to have sex.
She recalls her previous boyfriend saying, “Sex was all he was ever interested in, which is why
we broke up—because he threatened that if I wouldn’t sleep with him he’d find somebody who
would. I told him if that was all he cared about he should go right ahead. So he did” (Blume 1415). Blume addresses a component of sexual life often ignored—the right to say no. When
pressured for sex, Kath stands her ground and gives up her relationship because she is unwilling
to have sex. This is a positive message for girls, one that is desperately needed: girls have the
ability, and the right, to stick up for their beliefs and say “no” to a guy.
When compared to her last relationship, Kath’s new relationship with Michael is different
from the start. With Michael, the physical aspect of the relationship escalates quickly, and Kath
is okay with it this time, partly because Michael respects her boundaries when it comes to sex.
When he starts to put his hands under her sweater, she stops him, and he does not pressure her to
continue. Later, when she stops him from unbuttoning her pants, he continues to respect her
wishes and stops, but Kath admits “It wasn’t easy to stop” (Blume 27). Kath begins to think
about having sex in earnest, and in a conversation between Kath and her friend Erica, Blume
stresses the need for love to be present when embarking upon a sexual relationship. Erica
believes that “You don’t need love to have sex,” to which Kath responds, “But it means more
that way” (Blume 30). As Kath falls more in love with Michael, her desire for their relationship
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to become sexual becomes stronger. The link between sex and love is a strong message
broadcasted throughout the novel.
While her desire for sex becomes stronger, she is still not ready for it, even though
Michael becomes more demanding. Kath finds herself in the position of saying “not yet” more
and more to Michael as he tries to take their relationship a step farther. When Kath tells Michael
“but I can’t…I’m not ready, Michael,” he ignores her and says, “Yes, you are…you are…I can
feel how ready you are” (Blume 50). What Michael does not understand is that being physically
ready is not the same as being mentally ready, and even when Kath explains this to him, he
replies, “If I didn’t know better I’d think you were a tease” (Blume 51). Kath assures him she is
not—she is just scared about being able to please him—he tries again, and she has to stop him
yet again. The entire scene plays out casually, and Blume does not address the fact that Michael
has to be continually told to stop, and Kath even has to physically push him away in order for
him to truly get the message. Blume’s silence on this issue sends a message to girls that while
they need to say “no,” they have to do it in a way that still pleases the boy. Kath’s “no” does not
mean she will never have sex, but rather “not yet.” Girls, then, understand that boys expect sex at
some point in the relationship.
It is not until after Kath and Michael have both said “I love you” to each other that they
finally have sex. When they do, Kath is disappointed because she did not experience any
pleasure. Even though she assures Michael she is not disappointed, she thinks to herself, “But I
was. I’d wanted it be perfect” (Blume 106). This scene is crucial not because they have sex, but
because its portrayal of the first sexual experience is very honest and true. By making Kath’s
first experience disappointing, Blume creates an honest rendition of sex—it is not exciting or
pleasurable. Kath admits, “…Michael is probably right—this takes practice. I can’t imagine what
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the first time would be like with someone you didn’t love” (Blume 107). This scene sends an
important message to girls about the realities of sex, one that is different from movies or even
stories told by other teenagers. It takes several times for Kath to enjoy sex and achieve orgasm,
and that is the point—it takes time. Girls are given an honest and accurate portrayal of sex with
Kath’s negative, or underwhelming, experience.
After Kath loses her virignity, their relationship increasingly becomes about sex. Steve
Roxborough, in his 1978 article “The Novel of Crisis: Contemporary Adolescent Fiction,” writes
that “The plot climaxes (literally and figuratively) at the consummation of the sexual
relationship, after which the relationship and the plot dissolve. Incident serves either to facilitate
or interfere with their consummation” (250). Most of the plot becomes about finding a place
where parents are absent so they can have sex. For girls reading this novel, the message here is
that once sex is introduced to the relationship, it will dominant the relationship and become the
only aspect holding two people together. However, a relationship cannot be based on sex alone,
and when Kath and Michael spend the summer months apart from each other, the relationship
ends.
The sexual nature of Kath’s relationship does dominate, but Blume makes sure that
Kath’s sexual education takes precedence as well. Kath’s grandma is the first adult who
approaches Kath about sex, and she does it in a very nonjudgmental way. Her grandma does not
warn her to not have sex; instead, she warns her about the danger of getting pregnant. Her
grandma bluntly asks Kath, “Does it embarrass you to talk about [sex]?... It shouldn’t” (Blume
37). Sexual education is perhaps one of the biggest and most important messages Blume sends to
her readers. Since Kath takes the time to learn about safe sex, she experiences positive outcomes:
she gets to enjoy the pleasures of sex without the consequences of an STD or a pregnancy.
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Her grandma’s frank and open discussion with Kath sets the precedence that sex should
be a topic teenagers can bring up with adults, and Kath learns that lesson from this encounter.
Later, she asks her mom if she was a virgin when she married. Her mom does not tell Kath what
to do about sex. She tells her, “It’s up to you to decide what’s right and what’s wrong…I’m not
going to tell you to go ahead but I’m not going to forbid it either. It’s too late for any of that. I
expect you to handle it with a sense of responsibility though…either way” (Blume 84). Kath’s
mom communicates with her as an equal. She does not talk down to Kath, nor does she shut
down the conversation. She is nervous about having the conversation, but she knows it is
important to be open with her daughter. She tells Kath, “…you have to be sure you can handle
the situation before you jump into it…sex is a commitment…once you’re there you can’t go
back to holding hands” (Blume 84).
After Kath’s question to her mom about virginity, their communication about sex remains
intact, and Kath’s mom hands her an article from the New York Times about sex and teens. Then,
her grandma sends her pamphlets from Planned Parenthood. Once again, Blume’s novel makes it
clear that sex is a topic that should be discussed with teens, and teens need to be educated about
safe sex practices. Kath takes charge of her sexual health and schedules an appointment at
Planned Parenthood because “I think it’s my responsibility to make sure I don’t get pregnant”
(Blume 125). Kath embodies the sexually liberated 1970s woman: she makes her own decisions
about sex and takes charge of her sexual health through education. She in control of her sexual
life and makes decisions responsibly. Kath sets an example for teenage girls on how to maturely
approach sex.
Another important message found within Forever is body image. Besides her dimples,
one of the first physical traits we know about Kath is her tiny frame. Kath informs us that she is
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“five-feet-six and 109 pounds” (Blume 13). When her body mass index is calculated, this puts
her in the underweight category (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute). While her physical
image is not a prominent issue in the book, there are several scenes that display its importance
for relationships. For instance, Kath learns from her parents that being thin is crucial to a good
marriage. Kath hears her father “warning my mother that if she doesn’t start to work out at the
gym soon, she’ll wind up with flabby thighs” (Blume 23). Kath’s mother, however, is the exact
same size and weight as Kath, but being thin is now no longer good enough.
This scene teaches Kath, and the girls reading the novel, that as she ages, she is expected
by her husband to maintain a youthful toned body. Kath says, “I overheard her divorced friend
tell her, ‘You really should take better care of yourself, Diana. Roger is so attractive and he’s at
that dangerous age’” (Blume 24). It is important to note that Kath’s mother is warned that she
must have a toned and thin body or else her husband will stray. Girls learn that the key to a
lasting marriage is for the woman to hang on to her youth and beauty.
In her article “Pleasure, Pain, and the Power of Being Thin,” Beth Younger notes that
young adult fiction rewards thin character and punishes fat characters. She writes that teenage
girls can “see that sexual activity can be fulfilling, pleasurable, and safe. But they are also shown
that in order to experience positive sexual activity, they must conform to an impossible standard
of beauty or they will end up like Sybil: lonely, promiscuous, desperate, and pregnant” (50).
Even though physical looks are not the dominant message in Forever, the few scenes it does
appear in reinforces society’s high expectations for female appearance.
Another element of adolescence Blume covers in Forever is how seriously Michael and
Kath view their relationship. At the beginning of their relationship, Kath is clear that she does
not love Michael—she only likes him. She shows a maturity beyond her teenage years when she
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tries to parse the differences between like and love. She tells her friend Erica, “I like him a
lot…that’s all I know right now” (Blume 29). She compares her feelings for Michael to her
feelings for her last boyfriend, Tommy, saying, “I wasn’t going to say I loved Michael yet. I was
too quick to think I’d loved Tommy Aronson and he and I never even got to be friends. I already
knew Michael better than I’d ever known Tommy. And the way I’d felt about Tommy last year
was nothing compared to what I felt for Michael” (Blume 29). At this point, Kath is cautious in
her feelings for Michael because she does not want to repeat mistakes she made in the past.
Kath’s caution is a positive message Blume sends to young girls: though many teenagers feel the
desire to be in a relationship, and may even think it a necessity, it is important to slowly develop
the relationship and not escalate it too quickly.
Kath’s dad also warns her against becoming too serious at such a young age. He tells her,
“You have a lot of common sense, Kath. You’ve always made intelligent decisions…still, you
and Michael are very young” (Blume 59). Even though Kath knows they are young, when she
finally says “I love you” to Michael, they agree that their love is forever. Kath says, “That with
[Michael] it is love—real, true honest-to-god love” (Blume 91). Suddenly, Kath’s future plans
revolve around Michael. She tries to apply to the same colleges as Michael, and never once does
it occur to her that he could apply to her colleges. At 18-years old, she decides that she will be
forever with Michael, and their love will last forever. She does not even read the section of the
New York Times article her mom gave her that asks “Have you thought about how this
relationship will end?” (Blume 111). Kath’s belief that she will be in love with Michael forever
is immediate and steadfast—she is unwilling to consider the possibility that it might not be, and
her attitude reflects that of many teenage girls.
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Kath’s concept of forever, though, is immature. When her parents make her take a job as
a tennis instructor at a summer camp, she realizes she will be apart from Michael for seven
weeks. Kath yells at her father, “Seven weeks may not be a lot to you but to me it’s forever!”
(Blume 152). Kath’s definition of forever extends to the length of the summer, thus showing that
she is not ready to make the long-term commitment that forever truly means. Like other girls her
age, she may think she is ready for a final commitment, and then marriage, but Kath is not, as
evidenced by her feelings for Theo, another tennis instructor at the camp. Kath is confused by
her feelings for Theo because her love for Michael is supposed to be forever. She wonders,
“How can you love one person and still be attracted to another?” (Blume 190).
When she breaks it off with Michael, it shows that she has a lot of growing up to do
before she is ready for forever. In her dissertation, Jones states, “…Blume’s ultimate reminder to
her readers is that they do not know about forever—yet. Sex can bring you closer, but closer
does not mean forever” (32). Blume sends a message to teenage girls that high school
relationships can be just that—relationships that are only for high school. Also, just because a
relationship involves sex does not mean it is the last relationship a girl will have. When the novel
ends with Theo calling Kath, it implies that a girl can have multiple sexual partners.
Kath’s experience reflects the message of the sexually liberated woman of the 1970s: sex
can be pleasurable, and with the new methods of birth control available, sex does not
automatically lead to negative consequences. Kath concludes, “I’ll never regret one single thing
we did together because what we had was very special. Maybe if we were ten years older it
would have worked out differently. Maybe. I think it’s just that I’m not ready for forever”
(Blume 208).
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The message Forever gives girls is that sex does not always have negative consequences.
Forever is a novel with a strong meaning, one that Roxborough believes overshadows the rest of
the novel. He says that readers see the characters as “insignificant and that the message, the
information conveyed, is all important” (251). With education, proper protection, and
communication, sex does not have to end in pregnancy, abortion, or marriage; instead, sex can
have positive outcomes, and can even be pleasurable. Forever also teaches girls that teenage
relationships do not always turn into marriage, and that is okay, but it is a struggle for Kath to
understand that. Her belief in “forever” is so strong that she is willing to alter her future plans for
college to accommodate Michael, but by the end of the novel, she learns that “forever” for a
teenager truly does not mean forever. The message about “forever” can be difficult for teenage
girls in high school, since in their experience, having a boyfriend is a priority because it elevates
them above the rest of their peers. Since girls view relationships as vital to their status in high
school, they tend to take these relationships seriously. As a high school teacher, I have heard
girls call their boyfriends “the love of their life” and even their “soul mate,” and then when they
break up, they are devastated. When girls read Forever with this mindset, they are exposed to a
different approach to a relationship, and they learn that relationships can end, and when they do,
it is okay.
For teenage girls, Kath’s explicit sexual experiences can lead to a very emotional
experience-taking. For girls who are white and middle-class, like Kath, experience-taking is
more likely to occur. According to Libby and Kaufman, “the combination of first-person
narration and the use of a character who shared a relevant group membership with readers
greatly facilitated the process of simulating the character’s subjective experience” (9). When
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teenage girls identify with Kath’s character, and see similarities between them and Kath, they
can learn that sexual experiences, if done correctly, can be pleasurable.
The novel’s attitude toward sex sends a positive message to girls, but it also reinforces
the negative messages about appearance and relationships. While the novel primarily focuses on
sexual independence, it also subtly reinforces notions about weight and appearance, which has a
larger focus in the next novel, Beauty.
Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast
Beauty: A Retelling of the Story of Beauty and the Beast, by Robin McKinley, challenges
the notion that a character named Beauty must be beautiful. Instead of being intensely beautiful
like her sisters, Beauty is just average-looking, and the novel revolves around how her view of
herself directs the course of her life. Being beautiful and pretty is a main concern of teenage
girls. It affects their self-esteem, can determine their friends, and can determine their social status
at high school. The insecurities teenage girls may have about their physical features affect their
interpretation of the novel, and ultimately, when they bring these insecurities their reading of
Beauty, they find a conflicted message: they learn to accept who they are, but they also learn that
in the end, beauty matter.
Though Beauty is average-looking, her two sisters grew to be beautiful, tall, and thin with
pale skin, blushing cheeks, and straight noses; in essence, they possess the traits needed to be the
ideal beautiful woman in the Western world. Beauty says she used to be a cute, little girl, but as
she grew older, her features changed. She describes herself, saying she has “mousy” hair,
“muddy hazel” eyes, and while she is thin, she is a gangly thin with “big long-fingered hands and
huge feet” (McKinely 4). Instead of the flawless pale skin of her sisters, Beauty has acne. What
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Beauty sees as negative aspects of her physical looks actually makes her quite normal. She is
thirteen when the story begins, and her physical looks reflect her age as a teen going through
puberty.
Beauty, though, sees her looks as something that sets her apart from her family, as well as
a source of shame: she cannot live up to the examples set by her older sisters, and she cannot live
up to her nickname (her real name is Honour). Beauty says, “By the time it was evident that I
was going to let the family down by being plain, I’d been called beauty for over six years; and
while I came to hate the name, I was too proud to ask that it be discarded…My sisters were too
kind to refer to the increasing inappropriateness of my nickname” (McKinely 5). Beauty feels
that her normal appearance has let down the family, and since she cannot match their perfect
standard of beauty, she feels she must branch out into other areas to make a name for herself.
Joanne Brown and Nancy St. Clair, in their book Declarations of Independence, write that
Beauty “mourns her loss of beauty because she recognizes that its loss is, in fact, the loss of
cultural capital that determines female value” (Brown and St. Clair 131). Beauty’s desire for this
feminine identity reflects the desire of teenage girls who are taught through books, magazines,
movies, and television that being beautiful is the most important trait a woman should have.
Needing to form an identity for herself, Beauty says, “The only comfort I had in being
my sisters’ sister was that I was the ‘clever one’” (McKinley 6). Since she cannot live up to
“Beauty,” (and she does not even consider trying to live up to her given name, Honour) she
decides she will be known for her intelligence. As “the clever one,” Beauty has an identity for
herself and a reason to branch out beyond the roles appropriate for a woman. She says, “My
intellectual abilities gave me a release, and an excuse. I shunned company because I preferred
books; and the dreams I confided to my father were of becoming a scholar in good earnest, and
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going to University” (McKinley 6). Even though a woman in her world has never attended
university, she believes that with hard work and her father’s encouragement, she can make her
dreams happen.
While Beauty may be ashamed that she is not physically beautiful, her average looks
allow her to pursue other paths in life. Her sisters focus on society—parties and finding a
potential husband—but Beauty focuses on her education. The message here, then, is that if girls
are not beautiful, life will be difficult for them because they will be shut out of the traditional
options for a girl. In addition, Beauty’s lack of physical beauty allows her to pursue higher
education with the support of her family, which informs girls that college is what plain girls do,
while dating and marriage is what beautiful girls do.
Beauty continues to carve a new path for herself when the family fortune is lost and they
move to a country cottage. Here, Beauty challenges traditional gender roles by taking on work
typically deemed for a man. In their new life, Beauty has to take on physically demanding labor.
She finds that she suits it far better than her sisters. She says, “I, who was a rougher article to
begin with, developed calluses almost at once; my sisters; tender skin developed blisters...”
(McKinlely 35). Beauty also begins working with her brother-in-law to chop wood, pull fallen
trees, and even help shoeing horses. She takes to the work immediately, and even enjoys it. Her
sister’s learn to do housework, but Beauty learns to complete chores suited for a boy. She says
she “often thought that it would have been much more convenient if I had been a boy—not least
because I already looked like one” (McKinley 39).
Since she is not beautiful, it is natural for her to take on roles for a boy; after all, she is
not really a woman if she is not beautiful. Beauty accepts her new role saying, “I never really had
time to think about the suitability of my new role, or of how it had come about. I was becoming
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more boy than girl, it seemed; and perhaps since I was short and plain and had no figure to speak
of the townspeople found my ambiguous position easy enough to accept” (McKinley 39).
Without the looks expected for a women, Beauty is then free to challenge traditional gender
roles, but the problem is if she is truly not a woman, the physical labor she then does makes her
truly not a man, and she is stuck between the genders, belonging to none. The message these
scenes send to girls is that if they want to pursue a career typically deemed for men, they must be
plain. Beautiful girls are only allowed to pursue the traditional roles of wife and mother.
Beauty’s attitude about her life, though, shows girls that positive results can come from
challenging gender roles. Beauty is content, even happy, in the new role she has.
Besides taking on different chores, Beauty’s physical looks continue to determine the
course of her life when her father runs afoul of the mysterious Beast. On her father’ journey
home, he stops at a castle and takes a rose from the rose garden. The Beast appears, angry, and
demands that a daughter be sent to live with him in his castle. Beauty decides that she will go to
the Beast saying, “…I’m the youngest—and the ugliest. The world isn’t losing much in me”
(McKinley 78). Even though Beauty appears to be very accepting of her role in the family, her
previous comment shows how her self-worth is still tied in with her appearance. She is very
nonchalant about it, though, and determines that since she is now eighteen, she is “ready for an
adventure” (McKinley 78). While Beauty’s independence and determination to strike out on her
own are positive qualities, the message here is that Beauty is only able to have those qualities
because she is not beautiful. Her plain looks allow her to take on these traits.
When Beauty arrives at the castle, where there is nobody else save for the Beast, Beauty
still allows society’s notions about physical appearance to affect her. She tells the Beast, “I—
er—I hope you weren’t misled by my foolish nickname,” to which the Beast replies,
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“Misled?...No. I think your name suits you very well” (McKinley 117). The Beast sees her inner
beauty, but Beauty has only been taught by her society that outward appearance matters, and she
informs him, “I assure you I am very plain” (McKinley 117). Despite the Beast’s claims that she
is beautiful to her, she tells him “Any number of mirrors have told me otherwise” (McKinley
130). The Beast logically explains to her that “since I am the only one who sees you, why are
you not then beautiful?” (McKinley 130). The cultural expectations for her gender are so strong
that she cannot see past them even when she is separated from that culture.
These expectations are so engrained in her that despite the Beast’s comments, she bursts
into tears when the invisible servants try to put her in a fancy, elegant dress. She cries and
explains to the Beast, “if you put a peacock’s tail on a sparrow, he’s still a brown little, wretched
little, drab little sparrow” (McKinley 183). According to Brown and St. Clair, Beauty’s inability
to see past her culture’s limited definition of beauty is the primary conflict in the novel. They
state that the main conflict of the book is “internal, stemming from the dissonance between what
the title character wishes to be and what she is” (130). Beauty’s struggle to forgo her society’s
standards of beauty is a difficult lesson for her, and the girls reading the story, to learn.
The stipulation that to be a woman is to be beautiful pervades Beauty’s entire view of
herself. It is so strong that she does not even allow herself to accept the love the Beast has for
her. It is not until she realizes that the Beast will die without her that she admits her love for him,
thus accepting his love for her. When she allows herself to love and be loved in return, the curse
on the Beast is broken and he turns back into a man. Beauty’s newfound acceptance of herself,
though, shatters when she sees that her Beast is now a handsome man. She accepted being loved
by the Beast when his appearance was ugly and animal because she believed it matched hers.
When the Beast is handsome, her insecurities return and she says, “I can’t marry you…Look at
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you. You should marry a queen or something, a duchess at least, not a dull drab little nothing like
myself. I haven’t anything-no dowry, not even a title to hide behind” (McKinley 241). The Beast
then takes her to a mirror where she discovers that she has become beautiful according to the
standards of Western beauty. She is tall with “pale coppery red” hair and eyes that are “clear and
amber, with flecks of green” (McKinley 242). She had learned to love the Beast for his inner
beauty, but she cannot extend that lesson to herself. For girls reading this novel, the message is
clear: beautiful people end up with beautiful people. Partners must have equal physical looks in
order for the relationship to work.
The story concludes neatly with Beauty gaining the ideal physical appearance and
marrying a handsome man. Brown and St. Clair have issues with this perfect ending. They ask:
If an integral component of Beauty’s journey to selfhood is learning to look
beyond surfaces, why is it necessary for her to regain her beauty? If she can love
all aspects of his Beastliness, appearance included, why cannot he love her as she
is? And why can she not love herself? What kind of message does this send to
adolescent girls immersed in a culture that privileges appearance over character?
(131)
The only conclusion girls can come to, then, is they should embrace their unique personality, but
their appearance must follow certain guidelines, and if their appearance does not follow those
guidelines, only then can they challenge traditional roles for women.
While Go Ask Alice and Forever have clear messages sent to teenage girls, Beauty has a
complicated and conflicting message. On the one hand, it encourages girls to pursue education,
challenge gender roles, and establish a unique identity; on the other hand, it reinforces society’s
notions about physical appearance and relationships. Girls may be left with more questions than
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answers upon finishing the novel, which can be problematic during this vulnerable point in their
lives. Rosenblatt believes that an interpretation of a text is dependent on at what point in their life
they read it. Since our experiences and perspectives change throughout our life, our
interpretation of a text also changes. Rosenblatt writes, “The relation between reader and text is
not linear. It is a situation, an event at a particular time and place in which each element
conditions the other” (16). When girls read Beauty, they can become confused by the
contradictory messages it sends: are they supposed to strive to be independent and challenge
notions of what it means to be a woman, or are they supposed to follow the traditional paths for a
woman? It does not help that teenage girls are probably insecure about their physical features to
begin with, and so when they read Beauty, they are not provided with a clear answer on how to
accept who they are.
Conclusion
While the three young adult novels for the 1970s feature vastly different plot lines, they
all have certain elements in common. For all three novels, relationships play a major role,
including relationships with parents and family, and relationships with the opposite sex. In all
three, the characters’ relationship with their parents and family determines the course of the
novel. It is telling that in the novels in which the characters have positive family relationships,
the characters also experience happy endings. In the novels where the characters have positive
physical relationships, they also experience happy, or at least hopeful, endings.
In Go Ask Alice, the diarist has a negative relationship with her family. She frequently
writes about their negative interactions with each other. For instance, she writes, “Dad is never
home and Mom is on my back all the time, ‘Be happy, put up your hair, be positive, smile, show
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some spirit, be friendly,’ and if they tell me I’m acting negatively and immaturely one more time
I’m going to gag” (Anonymous 19). Her poor relationship with her parents means that she does
not go to them for help or advice, which leads to her drug use, her continued use of drugs, and
her negative sexual experiences. The diarist’s sexual experiences are always under the influence
of drugs, and she even experiences rape. The diarist is uneducated and unknowledgeable about
the emotional and physical aspects of sex, nor does she have the maturity to process what sex
means to her or what she should do once she is raped. It is not until the end of the novel that she
matures and vows, “There will absolutely be no more sex in my life until after I have taken a
man for better or for worse until death do us part…I think it would be much easier to be a virgin,
marry someone, and then find out what life is all about” (Anonymous 196-197). The diarist’s
physical relationships have all been poor: she craves a boyfriend, but since that is the only goal
for her, she never experiences love. Her revelation, though, about sex and men is too late, and
she dies before she can enact her new plan.
In Forever, Kath has a positive relationship with her parents. She knows that she can go
to them with questions and concerns, and her parents are open and honest with her. While the
diarist seems woefully naïve about sex and relationships, Kath’s parents have discussed it with
her. She says, “My mother and father talked to me about parking when I first started going with
guys who drove. They explained how it isn’t safe, not because of anything we might do, but
because there are a lot of crazies in this world and they have been known to prey on couples who
are out parking. So I’ve always invited my boyfriends home” (Blume 19-20). Her positive
relationship with her parents leads to a safe and (literally) healthy relationship with her
boyfriend. Kath’s sexual experience only occurs once she and Michael have said they loved each
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other, and she knows to use protection. She becomes further educated about sex, and she
ultimately has a positive experience with sex and her first serious boyfriend.
Beauty’s relationship with her father and sisters is also positive. She and her sisters look
out for one another, and Beauty is able to tell her father her plans for herself. She says, “I could
talk to him openly, about my dreams for the future, without fear of his pitying me or doubting
my motives” (McKinley 5). The love she has for her father is what causes her to willingly go live
with the Beast, which ends up being to her advantage: she gets a marriage and good looks out of
her choice. Unlike the other two novels, though, Beauty never mentions sex, and it only features
positive physical relationships. Her sister Hope marries for love, and her husband is supportive
and kind. The Beast and Beauty’s relationships morphs from friendly companions to outright
friendship, and finally, to love. The Beast is always kind, and he never pressures her, though he
asks nightly for Beauty to marry him. He also always tries to please Beauty, even if it means he
must let her go back to her family. Marriage logically follows their declarations of love, and any
desire Beauty once had to pursue college is never mentioned.
Ultimately, these three young adult novels are undecided when it comes to sex, but they
do all support the need for teenage girls to be in a relationship. Having a significant other
features prominently in all three novels, which only encourages girls to seek out a boyfriend of
their own. All three novels also reinforce the role of the dutiful daughter who gets along with her
family, and suggests that when they do not, they will only experience a bad ending. The novels
also reinforce the ideal appearance for a woman—thin and beautiful—with Go Ask Alice sending
the harshest message of all, saying that trying to obtain these looks can lead to drug use and then
death. Finally, the novels all send a message that when girls take charge of their own life, they
experience positive results. Kath takes charge of her sex life, and Beauty takes charge of forming
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her own identity, which results in positive experiences for both. The diarist, though, does not
take charge of her own life, and she experiences a horrible descent into drug use and
homelessness. While there are positive messages to girls in all three novels, the young adult
literature of the 1970s supports the view that a girl should be physically attractive, a good
daughter, in a relationship, and assertive; in other words, these novels all reinforce society’s
standards for a girl.
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CHAPTER 3:
THE 2000s
The new millennium saw more than just a transition in time: it also saw a transition from
the moderate Bill Clinton to the conservative George W. Bush; a shift in technology with the
advent of the internet and cell phones, and a transition to war in the Middle East after the 9/11
terrorist attacks. Moreover, the 2000s saw the second golden age of young adult literature. With
the advent of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, young adult literature grew in popularity,
expanded to different genres, and flourished. After Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, the fantasy and
supernatural genres of young adult literature exploded in popularity, which then expanded to the
dystopian and science fiction genres as well. All three novels examined for this decade fall into
the fantasy, supernatural, or dystopian genres.
Another trend, though, in young adult literature of the new millennium is the focus on
female protagonists. Best Books for Young Adults notes:
There is a significant trend in recent years toward books written for girls and
young women in all stages of their teenage years and even beyond, featuring
female characters both teenaged and adult with whom, despite subject or genre,
they can identify. Books featuring strong, intelligent, courageous, quirky, artistic,
determined, scrappy, wily, independent, resilient, witty females dominate not only
fiction but nonfiction on recent BBYA lists. (Koelling 33)
The independent, determined, and feisty girl is especially featured in fantasy and supernatural
books. Best Books for Young Adults states that on their BBYA fantasy list, 60 percent have
female protagonists, and “the young women who populate fantasy works are equally strong,
intelligent, courageous, quirky, artistic, determined, scrappy, wily, independent, resilient, and
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witty—just in uniquely imaginative surroundings and with fantastical challenges” (Koelling 38).
Two of the three young adult novels examined for this decade include this type of female
character.
For this decade, I examine two supernatural novels (Twilight and City of Bones) and one
dystopian novel (The Hunger Games). This decade presents a challenge for me because I was a
teenager during the early 2000s, and I read all three of these novels while in high school or early
college. I have a much different attitude about these novels as I examine them as an adult, but I
distinctly remember my reactions when I originally read them. Throughout this chapter, I will
focus on the following topics: physical relationships, friendship, gender roles, physical
appearance, and active versus passive responses.
Twilight (Twilight series)
In 2005, Stephenie Meyer published Twilight and kicked off a young adult phenomenon
to rival the advent of Harry Potter. The novel quickly became a bestseller, and teen girls
everywhere fell in love with Edward or Jacob, the two love interests of Bella, the main character.
Despite its popularity, scholars, librarians, adults, and even other teen girls have wondered how it
became so popular. The consensus amongst older readers is that Bella’s character sets a poor
example for girls and her relationship with her boyfriend Edward is abusive and unhealthy. Anna
Silver’s article “Twilight is not Good for Maidens: Gender, Sexuality, and the Family in
Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Series,” notes that “The tremendous success of the novels has
surprised some critics, especially those feminist media and literary critics who argue that the
series perpetuates outdated and troubling gender norms” (122). From Bella’s appearance, to her
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behavior, to her relationship with Edward, she overwhelmingly sends a different message to girls
in an age focused on gender equality and empowering women.
Twilight, then, can be confusing to teenage girls who live in a world where gender
equality is expected, a female is running for president, and the U.S. Army Rangers graduated two
women for the first time in history. However, one of the reasons Twilight is so popular is that
girls still feel insecure and they are still taught that relationships are key to being a girl. Girls
continue to feel this way despite living in a society with powerful female role-models. Teenage
girls bring these insecurities to their reading of Twilight, and when they do, the relationship
between the two main characters, Bella and Edward, fulfills their desires.
To begin, the novel sends girls a message that they should be thin and delicate. Meyer
does not go into great detail when describing Bella’s looks, but she does make it clear that Bella
is thin and has beautiful skin. Bella admits that she is “ivory-skinned” and describes herself
saying “I had always been slender, but soft somehow, obviously not an athlete” (Meyer 10).
Despite these qualities, Bella is unhappy with her looks. Bella’s clothing is also simple and
plain—what little is actually described by Meyer. It is difficult to picture Bella as a character,
and she almost does not seem like the main character due to her flimsy description. What the
reader does know, though, is that Bella embodies a delicate physical nature stereotypical for a
girl. For example, after Edward runs through the woods with Bella on his back, he “gently
unloosened my stranglehold on his neck. There was no resisting the iron strength of his hands.
Then he pulled me around to face him, cradling me in his arms like a small child” (Meyer 280).
In this scene, Edward’s physical prowess only heightens Bella’s delicacy, a point that is
emphasized repeatedly throughout the novel, even when they just hold hands. Bella says, “He
held my hand between his. They felt so feeble in his iron strength” (Meyer 278).
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Bella’s description is sparse, but when Edward is described, it is in great detail, and
Meyer devotes nearly an entire paragraph just describing his eyes, which are “a strange ocher,
darker than butterscotch, but with the same golden tone” (Meyer 46). The reader has no idea
what color Bella’s eyes are, though, let alone her hair color. The message here is that Bella does
not matter; instead, what matters is Edward, the boy. He is the focal point of the novel, more so
than Bella, the supposed main character. Meyer’s attention to Edward, and not Bella, reinforces
the teenage stereotype that boys dominate a girl’s life. It also sends a message to girls that
relationships begin solely based on physical looks.
The stereotype that boys dominate a teenage girl’s life continues when Edward and Bella
officially become a couple. As soon as they start dating, Bella’s attention is focused solely on
Edward. Bella loses interest in her friends and does not spend much time with them after Edward
enters her life. When Edward saves her from some men following her, she cannot wait to get
away from her friends so that she can just be with him. Bella says, “I wanted nothing more than
to be alone with my perpetual savior” (Meyer 166). She also starts to sit at a lunch table with
only Edward. Theresa Go Suico’s dissertation “Privileged High School Girls’ Responses to
Depictions of Femininity in Popular Young Adult Literature” notes Bella’s focus on Edward. In
her dissertation, she catalogues the responses teen girls had to various aspects of Twilight. When
it comes to Bella forgoing her friends for Edward, Suico finds that most of the teen girls found
Bella’s attention to Edward negative. Suico states:
Three of the participants spoke at length on the problems that might come from
Bella’s willingness to ignore her classmates’ friendly overtures so she can become
more involved with Edward. For Vivienne and Hayley, this depiction was a sad
but true example of art imitating life, where girls, when forced to choose between
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their friends and their boyfriends, often chose their boyfriends. Although they did
not view this as desirable, they also acknowledged that it happened, and their
responses indicated that they were resigned to this occurrence. (166)
Bella’s attention to Edward does happen in reality, but when teenage girls read Twilight, the
message they receive is that Bella’s extreme focus toward Edward is a positive quality girls
should have in a relationship. After all, Bella gets Edward, the perfect, god-like, gorgeous, rich,
adoring boy who spurned all other girls until she came along. Though teenage girls, as in Suico’s
study, may acknowledge that solely focusing on a boyfriend is negative, it still happens, and they
view it as a normal aspect of being in a relationship. Meyer’s portrayal of Edward and Bella’s
relationship takes what is seen as a negative trait and turns it into a positive one.
Another negative aspect of Bella’s relationship with Edward is the amount of control and
power Edward has over Bella. Girls may view Edward’s actions as those of a protective and
caring boyfriend, but they are actually obsessive. Edward admits to Bella, “It makes
me…anxious…to be away from you,” and then tells her “I was distracted all weekend worrying
about you” (Meyer 188-189). He becomes so worried about her that he actually follows her to a
different town and tracks her down by smell and by listening to other people’s thoughts [his
special power as a vampire]. He cannot stand to have her out of his sight, which some girls might
see as endearing, but it is actually controlling. For Debra Merskin, she goes so far as to claim
that Edward’s obsessive and controlling behavior are characteristics that make him a
“compensated psychopath.” She writes, “Part of the CP’s [compensated psychopath] need to
control his environment is expressed in his need to organize everything and everyone around
him. Once they become a couple, Edward spends nearly every moment of every day with Bella,
even watching her sleep” (167).
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Often, teenage girls look at Edward’s actions as signs of love, but watching her sleep at
night is not love—it is breaking and entering and stalking. When Bella finds out, she accuses him
of spying, but then she says, “But somehow I couldn’t infuse my voice with the proper outrage. I
was flattered” (Meyer 292). She is not angry that he spies on her without her knowledge, she is
not angry he breaks into her house, and she does not realize how inappropriate his actions are.
Instead, she is only embarrassed that he hears her talking in her sleep. Meyer sends a message to
teenage girls that any attention from a boy is good, even if it is essentially stalking. In high
school, teenage girls do yearn for attention from a love interest, and any attention from a love
interest that singles them out is seen as positive. Once again, Rosenblatt’s reader-response theory
states, “The reading of a text is an event occurring at a particular time in a particular environment
at a particular moment in the life history of the reader. The transaction will involve not only the
past experience but also the present state and present interests or preoccupations of the reader”
(20). When girls in high school read Twilight, their need to feel attention from a love interest
mirrors Bella’s emotions, thus making it more likely that they will see Edward’s actions as
charming rather than controlling.
Furthermore, Bella and Edward’s relationship is illegal due to the age gap between them.
Edward may look seventeen, but he is actually over one-hundred years old, so his infatuation
with a seventeen-year old girl is illegal and makes him a pedophile, but this fact is not even
addressed by Meyer. Instead, Meyer makes it seem like Edward’s pursuit of Bella is romantic
destiny. Edward tells Bella, “In the last hundred years or so…I never imagined anything like this.
I didn’t believe I would ever find someone I wanted to be with…” (Meyer 300). Bella never even
addresses their true age difference when their relationship starts because she is too enamored
with Edward and cannot believe how someone like him could ever be with someone like her.
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Meyer stresses that their age difference should be seen as a romantic journey. Edward tells Bella,
“For almost ninety years I’ve walked among my kind, and yours…all the time thinking was
complete in myself, not realizing what I was seeking. And not finding anything, because you
weren’t alive yet” (Meyer 304).
Bella is so astonished that Edward chooses her that she does not truly consider the
dangerous reason Edward is attracted to her. Edward is initially attracted to Bella because her
blood smells so good to him. To him, Bella is like a drug, and he is an addict. He tells her “you
are exactly my brand of heroin” (Meyer 268). Though Bella realizes Edward could easily kill her
to get his next “fix,” she continues their relationship. Meyer’s characters promote an unhealthy,
and possibly abusive, relationship to teen girls as positive and romantic. The basis of their
relationship is that Bella thinks Edward is gorgeous and Edward wants to drink Bella’s blood.
Meyer sends a message that Edward’s attention towards Bella means she is unique and special,
but in actuality, Edward’s attention towards Bella is deadly. In Lydia Kokkola’s essay “Virtuous
Vampires and Voluptuous Vamps: Romance Conventions Reconsidered in Stephenie Meyer’s
‘Twilight’ Series,” she confirms the negative message Bella and Edward’s relationship sends.
She writes, “The irrationality—madness—of Bella’s love for Edward is presented as though it
were a positive trait…Meyer depicts Bella’s willingness to risk her life in terms that suggest it is
something readers should admire” (171). The relationship between Bella and Edward is
dangerous, and the message it sends to girls is that being in a relationship is so important that it is
worth risking their life.
There are numerous reasons why Twilight sends a negative message to teen girls—more
than can be discussed in this paper, but overall, girls think they are reading a story about a boy
who adores a girl, a story about a relationship that was fated to be, and a story about two people
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whose love is forever. In actuality, these girls are reading a story about a boy who stalks a girl, a
relationship in which the boy must constantly refrain from killing her, and a relationship that is
solely based on physical attraction. Furthermore, Bella is a character who shows girls that it is
okay to focus all their attention on a boy and have their entire life revolve around that boy. Even
as a teenager, when I first tried to read Twilight, I remember being frustrated with Bella—she is
just so flat, so passive, and so boring. I remember I stopped reading the book because everything
was about Edward, and Bella did not even seem like the heroine in her own novel.
However, I was an exception amongst teenage girls: I was secure in my identity, and was
raised by fairly feminist and liberal parents. The average teenage girl is not as secure in their
identity, so they can easily identity with Bella, the girl who thinks she is average and ordinary,
but turns out to be extraordinary. Bella is wanted and desired by Edward, and many teenage girls
yearn to feel desired as well. As an adult, it is easy to see the negative messages Twilight sends
young girls, but for a teenage girl who does not feel special, these messages are not interpreted
the same way. Rosenblatt states that there is a “transaction” that occurs between the printed text
and the reader (21). She says, “The transaction is basically between the reader and what he
senses the words as pointing to” (21). Once again, a reader’s interpretation of a text depends on
when they read it, or at what point in their life they read it, so for a teenage girl, Twilight’s
messages have a very different interpretation than the one an adult may form. Teenage girls often
feel insecure and undesirable, so when they read Twilight with these feelings, Edward’s actions
are seen as endearing and charming. If a teenager engages in experience-taking with Twilight, the
consequences mean that there are a slew of teenage girls participating in harmful and unhealthy
relationships because they saw how positive and wonderful it appeared to be in Twilight.
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As a high schooler, Bella’s character frustrated me, but I was much more enamored with
Clary Fray when I read City of Bones. In this book, I met Clary, a girl whose unique personality
and feisty attitude spoke much more to me than Bella Swan ever did.
City of Bones (The Mortal Instruments series)
City of Bones, published in 2007 by Cassandra Clare, is a supernatural novel about
fifteen-year old Clary Fray who discovers she is a Shadowhunter, or a person with special
abilities to fight demons. After an evil faction of Shadowhunters kidnap her mother, Clary must
band together with a group of three other teenage Shadowhunters to find and defeat her mother’s
captors. When girls read City of Bones, they bring to the reading a sense of comradery with
Clary. She is a mixture of both positive and negative qualities: while at times she seems to be
secure in who she is, she also experiences self-doubt; she is not actively looking for a boyfriend,
but she also experiences a desire to be with one; she is confident in herself, but also experiences
jealousy and compares herself to others. Clary, then, with her positive and negative traits, is very
much a typical teenager, and teenage girls see how Clary is not perfect.
The novel begins with action, and while Clary is not an action hero, she is a girl prone to
taking action instead of passively waiting or standing aside. When Clary spots two boys across a
club going after another with a knife, she takes action and goes to stop it. Her actions are
certainly impulsive and probably not wise (her friend Simon takes the smarter approach and gets
security guards), but she does stand up for what she believes in and tries to put a stop to it. Clare
writes, “Even if she yelled now, no one would hear her, and by the time Simon got back,
something terrible might already have happened. Biting hard on her lower lip, Clary started to
wriggle through the crowd” (7-8). Clary is scared about the confrontation likely to ensue, but she
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decides that standing up and trying to stop a crime is more important and takes action to stop it.
Even when the two boys tell her to leave them to their business, Clary claims boldly, “I’m not
going anywhere” (Clare 12).
This opening scene sets the tone for the rest of the book and firmly establishes Clary as a
girl who takes action. She further displays this trait when she encounters a Ravener demon at her
home. Although terrified, she chooses to defend herself instead of cowering: “It began to slither
slowly down the wall. Some part of Clary had passed beyond terror into a sort of icy stillness.
The thing was on its feet now, crawling toward her. Backing away, she seized a heavy framed
photo off the bureau beside her…and flung it at the monster” (Clare 51). By chance, she ends up
killing the demon, but sustains injury from its poisonous bite. Jace, a Shadowhunter, ends up
saving her, but she rarely seems like a damsel in distress. When she wakes up after being
unconscious for three days, Jace asks her, “Who finally kissed you awake” to which she replies,
“Nobody. I woke up on my own” (Clare 62). Clary’s actions send a message to girls to take
action and fight back.
Clary continues to take action when Simon, after being turned into a rat, is taken by
vampires back to their lair. She is not trained to take on vampires, or even the werewolves when
they show up, but she willingly goes into the lair of the vampires, threatens the vampires to make
an exchange, and even throws a dagger at a werewolf, all in order to rescue Simon. Clary’s
actions walk a fine line between bravery and stupidity, but they do send a message to girls to
take charge. For Clary, it was not even an option to not rescue Simon. When Simon seems
bewildered that she came for him, she says, “Wouldn’t come back for you? But of course I
did…Of course I did” (Clare 294). Clary’s reaction sends a message to girls about the
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importance of friendship and how it takes precedence over fear. Friendship becomes a defining
theme in the novel as Clary struggles to keep Simon a part of her new life.
Clary’s friendship with Simon dates back to their childhood. For Clary, Simon has been a
permanent fixture in her life, and she views him as her brother. This presents a problem, though,
when Simon admits his feelings for her. She is shocked at his confession: “He might was well
have kicked her in the stomach. She couldn’t speak; the air had been sucked out of her lungs. She
stared at him, trying to frame a response, any response” (Clare 320). Simon’s confession leaves
Clary confused, and she does not know how she feels in return, even though the reader can see
that she has subconsciously toyed with the idea of loving Simon. For example, when Simon
shows interest in Isabelle, a stunningly beautiful Shadowhunter, Clary thinks, “Maybe [Isabelle]
would realize what an amazing guy Simon was: how funny, how smart, how cool. Maybe they’d
start dating. The idea filled her with a nameless horror” (Clare 170). After viewing Simon as a
friend and brother for ten years, Clary does not know how to process the notion that Simon loves
her, and she might love Simon. Their entangled relationship shows girls that platonic friendships
with the opposite sex become complicated as teenagers, and trying to maintain that platonic
status always hurts one person.
While Clary’s friendship with Simon is a mess, her budding relationship with Jace is
even messier. From the start, Clary finds Jace attractive, but she does not pine after him. Often
times, once a handsome boy has been introduced in young adult fiction, the story begins to
revolve around their romance. In City of Bones, Clary and Jace’s romance is second to finding
Clary’s mother and discovering who she is; at one point, Clary even admits “She had nearly
forgotten that Jace was cute, given everything that had happened” (Clare 86). The fact that their
romance does not dominate the plot is a message to young girls that boys should not be their sole
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focus. This message is reinforced when she leaves Simon in her room to have a midnight picnic
with Jace. The two end up kissing, and when they return to her room, Simon opens the door and
sees them kissing. Both Jace and Simon are angry: Jace leaves and Simon and Clary get into a
fight, ending with Simon also leaving.
Clary is left alone to piece together her feelings, and what she feels is guilt. She admits,
“for those brief moments, upon the roof with Jace, she’d forgotten her mother. She’d forgotten
Luke. She’d forgotten Simon. And she’d been happy. That was the worst part, that she’d been
happy” (Clare 321-322). Clary realizes that focusing on Jace has led her to lose focus on what
really is important to her: her mother, Luke (her pseudo-father), and her best friend. Clary’s
emotions send a mixed message to girls. One message girls receive here is that romance should
not dominate their vision, and the other message is that they should feel guilty when they get to
be happy. Clary feels happiness at the expense of Simon, and thus, she feels guilty. This mixed
message may confuse teenage girls reading this novel.
Another message City of Bones sends girls is about physical appearance. In the novel,
Clary does not see herself as beautiful, and she compares herself to her mother, who she believes
is beautiful and graceful:
People always told Clary that she looked like her mother, but she couldn’t see it
herself. The only thing that was similar about them was their figures: They were
both slender, with small chests and narrow hips. She knew she wasn’t beautiful
like her mother was. To be beautiful you had to be willowy and tall. When you
were as short as Clary was, just over five feet, you were cute. Not pretty or
beautiful but cute. Throw in carroty hair and a face full of freckles, and she was a
Raggedy Ann to her mother’s Barbie doll. (Clare 24)
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Clary’s description of herself makes it clear that she is very aware of society’s definition of
beautiful and that she does not meet that definition. She is thin, which is a positive according to
society’s standards, but she does not have the blonde hair and flawless skin those standards also
call for. Clary continually compares herself to other girls, namely Isabelle, and she continually
finds herself wanting. For example, when Isabelle, who is tall and athletic, lends clothes to Clary,
their different body types and sizes are apparent. “Isabelle’s clothes looked ridiculous. Clary had
to roll the legs on the jeans up several times before she stopped tripping on them, and the
plunging neckline of the red tank top only emphasized her lack of what Eric would have called a
‘rack’” (Clare 61). This constant comparison only brings out jealousy and anger from Clary.
When Clary sees Isabelle’s outfit for the party, she becomes angry that she can never
look that way: “She looked like a moon goddess. Clary hated her” (Clare 208). Clary’s jealousy
and anger grow, and she allows Isabelle to perform a makeover on her. Furthermore, she allows
Isabelle to go through with the makeover because Isabelle reminds her of her less than perfect
looks. Isabelle tells Clary, “You look about eight years old, and worse, you look like a mundane
[a normal human]” (Clare 208). Afterwards, Clary has a short, sexy black dress, fishnet tights,
black boots, makeup, and an elegant up-do, which finally makes her feel beautiful. Clary
wonders, “What had Isabelle done to her? Her cheekbones looked sharp and angular, her eyes
deep-set, mysterious, and a luminous green” (Clare 212). She looks sexy, fierce, and elegant, a
combination that finally allows Clary to believe she is beautiful. The problem, though, is that
Clary looks nothing like herself. The message here, then, for girls is that being themselves is a
negative. In order to be beautiful, they may have to completely change who they are.
Clary’s scathing opinion about her personal looks, though, does not stop both Simon and
Jace from liking her. For Simon, he has been in love with her for ten years, so his love is based
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on who she is, but for Jace, it is her physical looks that first draw him to her. Jace compares
Isabelle and Clary to each other saying, “Isabelle used her beauty like she used her whip, but
Clary didn’t know she was beautiful at all. Maybe that was why” (Clare 324). Once again, the
message here is confusing: girls learn that if they do not think they are beautiful, others do, or the
message is they have been beautiful all along, but cannot get past society’s standards to see it.
Overall, Clare’s City of Bones shows girls an independent heroine who takes action,
strives to protect the ones she loves, and, despite her feisty nature, is a teenage girl with
insecurities about her appearance. Most of Clary’s traits are positive, but her character does
reinforce negative aspects of girls, mainly their cattiness when it comes to other girls, and their
harsh critiques of their looks. Clary’s negative aspects allow teenage girls to identify with her
character; after all, our society encourages girls to harshly critique themselves and compare
themselves, or compete, with other girls. After identifying with Clary’s character, it then allows
teenage girls to take on Clary’s more positive traits, namely her desire to take action to do what
is right.
Clary’s negative traits are expected by teenage girls: body image and comparison to
others are assumed traits amongst all teenage girls. Rosenblatt notes that readers have certain
expectations about where a story will lead. She writes:
What the reader has elicited from the text up to any point generates a receptivity
to certain kinds of ideas, overtones, or attitudes. Perhaps one can think of this as
an alerting of certain areas of memory, a stirring-up of certain reservoirs of
experiences, knowledge, and feeling. As the reading proceeds, attention will be
fixed on the reverberations or implications that result from fulfillment or
frustration of those expectations. (54)
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Since Clary fulfills teenage girls’ initial expectations, it makes it easier for them to then accept
those traits that are different. For instance, Clary’s best friend is a boy, she reads Manga, listens
to The Doors, wears plain shirts and cutoff shorts, and is an artist. Combined with her short
stature and red hair, Clary is different, and the message here is that different is good.
Girls bring to their reading of City of Bones an expectation for what a teenage girl should
be, and Clary fulfills those initial expectations, but then Clary shows them how to embrace their
different qualities. For example, Luke, a good family friend of Clary’s, tells her, “Clary, you’re
an artist, like your mother. That means you see the world in ways that other people don’t. It’s
your gift, to see the beauty and the horror in ordinary things. It doesn’t make you crazy—just
different. There’s nothing wrong with being different” (Clare 23). The “different is good”
message continues with Katniss Everdeen’s character in The Hunger Games.
The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games series)
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins, burst onto the scene in 2008 and brought
dystopian literature back to the forefront of literature. Part of what makes The Hunger Games so
popular is its brutal concept of a government, the Capitol, forcing children to battle to the death
in an arena for sport. But the main reason why The Hunger Games became so popular is its
heroine, Katniss Everdeen. She is unlike many other female protagonists in young adult
literature, and I remember when I first read The Hunger Games, it was Katniss who drew me into
the book. I remember insisting that a friend read this book because “Katniss kicks ass.” Katniss
is the least feminine of all of the female protagonists in this thesis, and for a teenage tomboy, that
is precisely what made me like her. Other teenagers, too, may enjoy Katniss’s character precisely
because she is so different. For the girl who feels different and odd, Katniss shows them how to
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embrace those characteristics and remain true to yourself. Katniss may shock teenage girls
because they come to the reading expecting certain qualities when it comes to a female character,
and Katniss does not adhere to those expectations.
Katniss is unabashedly more masculine than feminine, and this trait is immediately
shown in the beginning of the book. She takes on the traditional male role of providing for her
family after her father dies. She regularly hunts to provide food for her family, and shuns a
traditional feminine appearance. For instance, when Katniss gets ready for Reaping Day (when
participants are chosen for the Games), she wears a dress and has her braided into an elaborate
style. When her sister, Prim, tells her she looks beautiful, Katniss replies, “And nothing like
myself” (Collins 15). Katniss’s response does not mean she thinks she is normally ugly; instead,
Katniss’s response shows that she prefers her own identity, even if this made up one makes her
look prettier. This is a powerful message to young girls about accepting themselves, even if that
self does not match society’s expectations.
This message is reinforced when Katniss prepares for her first interview before the
Games. When she sees her new stylish appearance, she refers to herself as a “creature…from
another world” (Collins 120). Katniss knows the girl she sees is not her true self, but she also
knows that she does not want to present who she really is in the interview. She tells her stylist, “I
just can’t be one of those people he wants me to be” (Collins 121). She is proud of who she is
and is unwilling to change, so she uses her new elaborate, makeup covered appearance as armor,
or a shield against the crowd. She says, “I am not pretty. I am not beautiful. I am as radiant as the
sun,” a sun whose rays she hide behind (Collins 121). In a situation where Katniss fears her
identity will be taken away from her, she protects it by hiding it behind the look the Capitol
wants to see.
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Katniss’s masculine traits also show in her personality, which Haymitch, her advisor in
the Games, labels as “sullen and hostile” (Collins 115). Katniss rejects the expectation that
women should be friendly, welcoming, warm, and smiling at everyone. Her struggle to survive
and provide food for her family has left her hardened and serious. Katniss may not be a bubbly,
smiling female, but she does have one trait that truly defines her: she is a fighter. When her
stylist suggests she go into her interview as herself, as a fighter, she realizes that is an aspect of
her persona she will allow others to see. She says, “My spirit. This is new though. I’m not sure
exactly what it means, but it suggests I’m a fighter. In a sort of brave way. It’s not as if I’m never
friendly. Okay, maybe I don’t go around loving everybody I meet, maybe my smiles are hard to
come by, but I do care for some people” (Collins 122). The message girls learn from this is that
they do not have to be the upbeat, smiling girl society wants from them—it is okay to be the
brave one, the serious one.
Katniss, though, learns the lesson that femininity can save her. When Peeta admits his
feelings for Katniss during his interview, she explodes, yelling, “He made me look weak!”
(Collins 135). Haymitch explains, “He made you look desirable! And let’s face it, you can use all
the help you can in that department. You were about as romantic as dirt until he said he wanted
you. Now they all do. You’re all they’re talking about” (Collins 135). Katniss realizes that since
sponsors, or people who can send her items and help during the Games, expect women to be
feminine, she must embrace that quality as a survival technique. In her article “The
Metamorphosis of Katniss Everdeen: The Hunger Games, Myth, and Femininity,” Kathryn
Strong Hansen notes, “Katniss here reveals her distaste for the role of desirable woman, which is
born of her belief that conventional femininity equates with weakness” (168). This scene sends a
conflicted message to teen girls. From this scene, they learn that there are certain times where
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femininity is required because our society still demands it. They learn to acknowledge that while
our society has changed, we have not been able to completely eradicate our notions of what a girl
should be, and part of that is being feminine.
Katniss continues to embrace masculine characteristics throughout the novel when she
continually protects others. This character trait is displayed at the beginning of the novel when
she volunteers to take her little sister’s place in the Games. Her protective instincts are next
shown when she befriends Rue, another player in the Games, who reminds her of her sister. She
takes Rue on as an ally “Because she’s a survivor, and I trust her, and why not admit it? She
reminds me of Prim” (Collins 201). Katniss also shows her protective instincts with Peeta. When
the rules change and allow two people to win the Game, Katniss rushes to find Peeta, only to
discover he is severely injured. She treats his wound, drags him to shelter, camouflages the
shelter, and hunts for him. She even battles and sustains injuries while getting Peeta medicine, all
in an effort to protect him. Katniss’s continual protection of others sends a message to girls that
they can be the protectors, a role traditionally reserved for men. Katniss is the one who rescues
Peeta, not the other way around.
Katniss mainly challenges gender roles and gender expectations, but she also presents a
problematic message to teenage girls when it comes to her physical size. Katniss is thin, which
does reinforce society’s expectations for women, but it is only due to starvation. Katniss
struggles to find enough food to feed her family, and her thin frame is a result of this struggle.
Teenage girls may not realize this important fact and only see another thin female character. In
her article for The Atlantic, Julianne Ross notes an issue with young adult fiction. She points out
a growing trend, saying that “the women of young-adult fiction can be strong, independent, and
mature—as long as they’re also scrawny.” She notes that female protagonists who challenge
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traditional gender expectations when it comes to behavior also reinforce traditional gender
expectations when it comes to physical size. Ross writes, “It seems literature only goes so far in
its message of female empowerment, routinely granting its most kickass heroines classically
masculine-levels of strength (physical or otherwise) only when cloaked within the trappings of a
more delicate—and recognizable—femininity.” Thus, while Katniss allows teenage girls to see
how they can challenge society’s expectations, they also learn that it is only possible if they
maintain the thin ideal expected for women.
Since Katniss is a very different heroine in young adult literature, it is important she
embody some traits teenage girls expect to find. Rosenblatt argues that a novel which presents its
reader with elements they can identify with allows them to embrace new and different elements.
She states, “Traditional subjects, themes, treatments, may provide the guides to organization and
the background against which to recognize something new or original in the text” (57). Readers,
then, bring their expectations to their reading of The Hunger Games, and find parts that are
familiar, which then allows them to be open to the parts of Katniss that are different.
Conclusion
It is remarkable that in every novel examined here, there is a love triangle, or the
beginnings of a love triangle. Every girl has not one, but two guys vying for her attention and
affection. In Twilight, the Edward and the Bella’s friend Jacob vie for her; in City of Bones, Jace
and Simon vie for Clary; and in The Hunger Games, Peeta and Gale vie for Katniss. Not only is
each girl desired, but she is also desired by multiple men. Teenage girls learn from these novels
how to manipulate and navigate the affections of two boys. Instead of showing a healthy
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relationship with one boy, the authors instead show their characters learning to sift through their
emotions and determine which boy will win, as if it were a competition.
Furthermore, all three novels feature a unique girl. Each girl has some special trait that
makes her stand out from the rest. In Twilight, Bella is the one person whose thoughts cannot be
heard by Edward. Also, she is the one person whose blood affects Edward so potently it is like
his own personal drug. In City of Bones, Clary is able to create new runes, an ability nobody else
possesses, and she uses it to help find her mother. In The Hunger Games, Katniss is able to hunt,
which provides food for her family so they do not starve, and it also gives her an edge in the
Games. Each girl has some special trait that makes her extraordinary, and it proceeds to drive the
plot. The message for teenage girls, then, is that normal is boring and not good enough—they
need to be extraordinary.
Also notable is that the two novels which depict an independent heroine, City of Bones
and The Hunger Games, are also novels that are not set in a realistic world. City of Bones is an
urban fantasy or supernatural novel while The Hunger Games is a dystopian novel. Furthermore,
Clary and Katniss are two characters who possess unique talents and abilities that make them
stand apart from others. (Bella’s unique ability is her blood smells good to only one vampire, so
it does not make her stand out from other humans or vampires.) It appears, then, that female
heroines who are independent, intelligent, determined, and action-oriented are characters who
can only occur in a world quite different from our own. By placing Clary and Katniss in settings
that greatly differ from our current society, the authors can have these heroines embody a
different set of traits.
While the novels reinforce the expectations that girls should be in relationships and be
thin, they also reinforce the expectation that girls should be driven (with the exception of Bella).
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Our society expects girls to go beyond the role of wife and mother, and Clary and Katniss depict
girls who have set goals in mind: their lives, and the plot of the novel, is not driven by a
relationship, getting a relationship, or maintaining a relationship.
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CHAPTER 4
CONCLUSION
When comparing the messages young adult novels of the 1970s and the 2000s send
teenage girls, I find that they are remarkably similar. More than anything else, the message these
books send about physical appearance has remained completely unaltered. Every single female
protagonist in these novels is thin and slender, and even though Katniss’s size is only due to
starvation, she still has the body our society demands for women. Each girl is also physically
attractive, even if she does not believe she is. For example, after the diarist comes home,
becomes sober, and repairs her relationship with her family, a college boy starts to become
interested in her. Also, though Clary thinks her tiny frame, curly red hair, and freckles make her
unattractive, she still has two boys who want to become romantically involved with her. For
Bella, she finds her looks mediocre, but she is still able to gain the attention of Edward, and
Katniss, though she is completely uninterested in her physical looks, manages to grab the
attentions of both Gale and Peeta. Beauty, after an entire storyline focuses on her plain looks, is
then rewarded at the end with beautiful looks.
Each girl’s physical looks attract male attention, and for the past 40 years, the message
here is clear: girls must be pretty, whether they believe it or not, to receive male attention. In
today’s society, it almost seems ridiculous that decades after the women’s movement of the
1960s and 1970s we still harbor a culture that values women’s appearance as a primary trait.
Even more, our literature still reinforces this idea, thus perpetuating it onto the next generation.
Another message that perpetuates from the 1970s into the 2000s is the importance of
relationships. Every single girl experiences some sort of romantic relationship. The diarist’s
struggle to obtain a boyfriend is part of the reason why she begins to use drugs. Kath’s
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relationship with Michael consumes her life, and Bella’s relationship with Edward so completely
encompasses her that she is willing to die for him, and almost does. Beauty does not seek a
relationship, but she happily ends up in one, and while Katniss enters into a fake relationship
with Peeta, it is obvious to the reader that some of her feelings are real for him. Clary’s
relationship with Jace may have ended to their revelation that they are siblings, but she still has
loyal Simon to fall back on.
Once again, it is surprising to see that our society still places enormous value on romantic
relationships. With the exception of Forever and Twilight, almost every novel focuses on some
other major plot line, yet the heroine’s romantic life somehow always manages to squeeze its
way in to the plot. The message is not that a woman needs a man in her life, but rather that a
woman should have a man because that is what a woman does to become a woman—she enters
into a relationship. For teenage girls, they learn from these novels that part of being a woman is
being in a relationship. It is particularly felt in The Hunger Games, where even though Katniss is
so fiercely independent, she still must rely on her relationship, however fake, with Peeta to
ensure her safety and survival.
There are stark differences, though, between the two decades. As for the characters
themselves, the female protagonists from each decade are vastly different. While teenage girls
have not changed much in their desires, what has changed is their attitude. The heroines of the
2000s, with the exception of Bella, are much more action-oriented. Part of this is due to the plots
of the novels, which are focused more on achieving some goal instead of the typical coming-ofage plot. Part of it is also due to the changing nature of young adult literature. As young adult
literature expands to new genres, our heroines can be found in new situations. Clary becomes a
demon hunter, Katniss becomes a gladiator, and Bella must navigate a new world of vampires.
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With these new situations, teenage girls can see how these characters navigate a wider
range of emotions. Best Books for Young Adults states that no matter the genre, today’s young
adult novels
spotlight psychologically and emotionally invested protagonists who face internal
and external obstacles and are given the opportunity to learn and grow even if
their obstacles are not always surmountable. Strength is not always measured by
triumph in these books, nor is it limited to any standard definition. At times the
measure of success is simply a new awareness or understanding despite a difficult
situation; at other times, it may be little more than survival. (Koelling 34-35)
The hope, then, is that with experience-taking, teenage girls learn not only how to physically
overcome their problems, but also mentally overcome their problems on their own. They will
learn that they have strength on their own, and that achieving their goals is possible.
Rosenblatt’s theory that a reader’s interpretation of a novel depends on their own
experiences at that particular moment in their life shows how these young adult novels can have
a tremendous impact on teenage girls in this transitional state in their lives. What they read can
affect their perspectives, and even their behavior, so when they receive conflicting messages
from these novels, it reinforces the chaotic stage of their life they are currently in. We can hope
that girls read these novels, and despite their continued message about physical features, they see
the strong, independent heroines and say, “I can be like her.”
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