books - sexually active main characters
 

One of the things that pisses me off when reading books is when the characters don't act the way real people would act.

For example, adults have sex.

If you're an adult, you have sex. If you're an unmarried adult and you are in a "relationship" with another adult, or you are "dating" another adult, they what you're really saying is that you are have sex with that other person.

So adults have sex, and most adults start haveing sex long BEFORE they become an adult.

And that's what leads me to my question:

How old does a main character have to be if that character is going to be sexually active?

In the last Harry Potter, Harry was 17 years old. Ron & Hermione were 18 & 17. Ginny & Luna were 16. In real life, these people would be having sex. A lot.

Now Rowling couldn't have Harry & Company banging each other in her books, because her readership included a lot of kids. But what about non-children's books?

If you have a book that's aimed toward adult readership, but still not an ADULT book if you get my meaning, then how young can the main character be, but still be sexually active? What if the character isn't just sexually active, but is in fact sexually adventurous? And would it make a difference if the book were labeled a "romance novel?"

If you were reading a "regular" novel about a modern 16 year-old boy and that boy were sexually active, say he had 2-3 sexual encounters with 16 year old girls, would that be "out of line?"

What if the character were a 16 year old girl? Is it suddenly exploitative? What if she were a 17 year old girl? And what if she were bi-curious?

What if it were a romance novel and the 17 bi-curious heroine had 2-3 sexual "various" encounters? Is this ok for a “main stream” romance novel, or is this limited just to erotica?

Re: books - sexually active main characters
 

scarlet letter

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http://files.ladoshki.com/data/news/2006-05/colombo.jpg

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so you are telling me that your biggest factual problem with a book about wizards and dragons and [censored] is that the main characters dont [censored] each other? yes, that is the only part of the book that doesn't match real life.

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hey i know. how about you ready books aren't INTENDED FOR CHILDREN?????!!!!!!!????!!!!!!


Edited to add bold and extra exclamation points.

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seriously OP, how many books do you read? it is extremely common for common to have sex scenes in books that aren't...ya know...intended for 10 year olds

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I wasn't sexually active when I was 17, so it's not really hard for me to believe that Harry isn't sleeping around.

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question: op is holden caulfield?

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ya sometimes people can be real phonies afaik. i swear you'd agree.

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lol

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i wasnt aware that they still made books.

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I think things used to be more liberal actually. For example, I can't see anyone being able to publish a book with this title in this century anytime soon.

Re: books - sexually active main characters
 

um in nabokov's lolita, wasnt she about 12? iforget, its been a while since i read it.

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like how [censored] stupid do you have to be think of this stuff?

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I wasn't sexually active when I was 17, so it's not really hard for me to believe that Harry isn't sleeping around.

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Plus wizards would obviously be nerds, adding to the unlikeliness of his sexing anyone.

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so you are telling me that your biggest factual problem with a book about wizards and dragons and [censored] is that the main characters dont [censored] each other? yes, that is the only part of the book that doesn't match real life.

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't know whether it's the phrasing of this or whatever but I actually just spat tea all over my monitors

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um in nabokov's lolita, wasnt she about 12?

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She was 13.

Not that I'm, um... I heard that she was 13.

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[ QUOTE ]
so you are telling me that your biggest factual problem with a book about wizards and dragons and [censored] is that the main characters dont [censored] each other? yes, that is the only part of the book that doesn't match real life.

[/ QUOTE ]

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http://rayne.woot.net/pix/Thundercats03.JPG

Re: books - sexually active main characters
 

Dean Moriarty

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manupod's avatar

Re: books - sexually active main characters
 

one of the things that annoys me about movies is that the characters dont look like people. I just got done watching the grinch that stole christmas, and the whole thing was completely animated. In real life, people arn't drawn!

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Bukowski- Women.

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That book that bukowski wrote about wizards and [censored] was pretty erotic.

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wtf blutarski is a published author?

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[ QUOTE ]
one of the things that annoys me about movies is that the characters dont look like people. I just got done watching the grinch that stole christmas, and the whole thing was completely animated. In real life, people arn't drawn!

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you mean like....bambi wasnt real?????????????????????????????????????????????? ?????????????????????????????????????????????????? ????????????????????

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With harry potter, there is no mention of it but there are quite a few mentions that could imply it. Harry and Ginny had "stolen moments" where they were "alone". The relationship between Hermoiny and krum was "more phyical". Ron was dating some girl in book 6 wich was heavily implied that they were doing other stuff too. Granted, this is a childrens book and the point of them having sex would really avert things from the main goal in the books, just like the fact that dumbledore was gay.

Anyways, thats just the harry potter case. OP is right in a lot of other things tho. One other thing that bothers me a lot is that in the real [censored] up world we live in. A guy that kidnappes a girl will have a high change he will rape her too.

Take for instance "Lois and Clark: New adventures of Superman". Lois gets kidnapped like every other episode in there? And NOT ONCE is she raped! None of the guys even tries, they just lock or tie her up. Now lois isn't BBV10 but she isn't that ugly too. Same goes for so many other series/movies. (X-men movie 1, they kdinap the really hawt girl, and some uberman like sabertooth is there with them, IRL sabertooth would rape her over and over again. X-men 2: Mystique wants to [censored] with Wolverine, Mystique shows she can look any way he wants her to look and Wolverine still declines, YEAH RIGHT).

EDIT: The most realistic movies and series are Anime

Re: books - sexually active main characters
 

Good point, Zagga.

Getting really far afield, in the Batman stories The Joker kidnaped Batgirl I and Robin II (Barbera Gordon & Jason Todd). Ultimatly he shot both of them, killing Jason and paralizing Barbera from the waste down. It is hinted, however, that before killing them he savagly raped them both.

I'm just trying to guage how much sexual activity would be "too much" for a teenage main character in a "mainstream" novel. Naturally you can get away with more in a romance novel, but then you're getting away from mainstream.

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For example, adults have sex.

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a lot of people on this forum have never had sex

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For example, adults have sex.

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a lot of people on this forum have never had sex

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hi

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I think girls/boys should want to have sex at 13-15. They dont have to have it. If I had a child I wouldnt care if they read about any sexual encounters. After all its only sex.

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Murakami - The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle has lots of teh secks