Forever

Forever by Judy Blume is an easy-to-read, explicitly informative young adult novel focusing on all things sexual.  When Blume's daughter was 14 years old, she asked her mother to write a novel about adolescents falling in love, having sex, and not having any repercussions.  Forever was her response; although, it is arguably one that her daughter was truly asking for.  In Blume's novel, Katherine and Michael are journeying together throughout her first sexual encounters.  While the book highlights Katherine's experiences (the text is written from her point of view), several other characters are struggling to define themselves as sexual beings as well: Michael's attempts to avoid chauvinism in his relationship with Katherine, Artie's inferred homosexuality, etc.  

Trites's chapter on sex and power in her book Disturbing the Universe extensively discusses the issues that young adult novels bring to fruition when talking about human sexuality.  Once again, Trites connects Foucault's philosophical work, from his book The History of Sexuality, and discusses the notion that Western societies have regulated sexuality, causing it to be "influenced by, even created by, language."  While I agree with Trites on the majority of her points, I have several fundamental issues with several of her arguments.  

One: When discussing Forever, Trites offers the following analysis: "The text tries to liberate teenage sexuality by communicating that curiosity about sex is natural, but it then undercuts this message with a series of messages framed by institutional discourses that imply teenagers should not have sex or else should feel guilty if they do (88)."  I completely disagree with this statement.  Blume's message about sexuality does indeed communicate that teenage curiosity about sex is natural; however, I do not agree that it sends a message that giving into that curiosity and engaging in sexual acts should make teenagers feel guilty.  Blume does create consequences for some characters in the text, but it is obvious that she feels that adolescents need to be aware of the real-life consequences that come from having unprotected sex, especially at a young age.  For example, Sybil gets pregnant and gives her baby up for adoption, obviously suffering some emotional hardships; however, it is quite obvious to the reader that Sybil really "gets around."  Another example is the impending end of Michael and Katherine's relationship, although Katherine herself states at the end of the novel that she does not regret having sex with Michael (not to mention, she has no physical consequences of having sex in a monogamous, "loving" relationship).  In complete disagreement with Trites, I believe that Blume did an excellent job in this novel of communicating to adolescents that sexual curiosity is indeed natural, but one must be careful to avoid the consequences that are very real and do happen in real life.

Two: Another problem that I have with Trites's analysis may seem simple, but it did bother me.  After quoting Katherine from Forever describing her disdain upon hearing her parents making love, Trites writes: "Forever doth protest too loudly: the reader may learn to feel shame about sex from being told not to feel ashamed (89)."  Once again, I wholeheartedly disagree and believe that Trites is taking this idea a bit too far.  Katherine's statement about her parents love-making is simply something that just about every human being (especially adolescents) feel and I believe Blume was only including this statement to allow adolescent readers to connect.  For example, I personally am very open and outspoken about sexuality, regarding both myself and others; however, I draw the line when I have to think about my own parents having sex!  This does not at all mean that I feel any shame regarding sex or sexuality.

Third: Trites seems to believe that there is an overwhelming amount of objectification of women in Forever, quoting several examples from the text.  I do slightly agree with Trites here.... but I do not think that it is an overwhelming theme throughout the novel.  I believe that because the book is written from Katherine's point of view, we are seeing (and analyzing) everything from a female's perspective.  Unfortunately, this does not allow the reader to empathize with any male characters and the struggles that they inevitably face with their sexuality as well (namely, Michael and Artie).

I also have a few contentions with Trites's analysis on Queer Discourse, but I will save these notes for my blog on Boy Meets Boy.

As an adolescent lit teacher, I am honestly not sure if I would incorporate this text into my classroom lesson plans.  Just noting how our education system is addressing the issue of adolescents and sexuality (ahem, abstinence-only education, ahem), I can already see the repercussions from parents, administrators, community members, etc., of incorporating a novel such as this!  I would, however, keep this novel on hand as a "teachable moment" resource.  This is an age group where sexuality is quite often a topic of discussion... if I found an opportunity to use this topic as a class discussion, this novel would be perfect.  I could also see using this in small-group instruction, perhaps with advanced/accelerated students.