Saturday, February 05, 2011

Prom Leads to Forever?

In the past week, I read Prom by Laurie Halse Anderson and Forever: A Novel by Judy Blume. While aimed at the same general age groups, these two books could not have been more different in tone and attitude, despite their similar outcomes (Click here for summaries of Forever and Prom).

With thirty years between the two novels, Blume and Anderson have created similarly strong female characters in Katherine and Ashley. They are both seniors in high school feeling unsure about the future and having some clashes with the authority figures in their lives. Beyond these similarities, the two characters are very different - suburban vs. urban, upper-middle class vs. working class, college-bound vs. unsure. While Katherine and Ashley certainly have different world views and experiences, it is their thoughts about sexuality and relationships that are particularly interesting.

In Forever, Blume has created enlightened parents and grandparents who speak freely about sex and believe that a sexually educated daughter is the safest form of birth control. Within the household, there is even a private room with lockable door and a fireplace in which Katherine and her boyfriends could find privacy. Katherine's grandmother senses that Katherine is about to begin a sexual relationship so she casually mails Katherine a package full of information about Planned Parenthood and birth control. When Katherine decides she is ready to have sex, she promptly makes an appointment at Planned Parenthood and surprises her boyfriend with her new package of birth control pills. Their new sexual relationship is explicitly described and is evidently quite a positive experience for both of Michael and Katherine.

Anderson, however, deals with sex in a much more indirect way. First, Ashley's parents never seem to acknowledge the sexual relationship between Ashley and T.J.. It is unclear if their daughter's sexuality it just assumed, if they had a conversation when Ashley was younger, or perhaps it doesn't even occur to them to inquire. Nothing is directly addressed within Ashley's family.

When Ashley is speaking about her relationship wtih T.J., it is obvious that the two are sexually involved and have been for some time. The only references to birth control include the pregnancy of Ashley's classmates (and thus their lack of birth control use), and the giant box of condoms Ashley and her friends try to obtain as prom favors. By the discussions had by Ashley and her friends, the distribution of condoms and shot glasses are the best possible gifts for high school seniors. Their sexual activity and drinking habits are known and accepted. The discomfort of the Principal and Mr. Gilroy shows that the teenagers' comfort with their sexuality does not extend to the authority figures.

The two sets of parents in these books appear to have very different perspectives on serious relationships in high school. While Katherine's parents, particularly her father, fear that Katherine and Michael are getting too serious at too young an age, Ashley's parents, particularly her father, encourage her to be patient with T.J. and let him outgrow his late-teen angst. Katherine's parents are concerned that her relationship with Michael will limit her future prospects, while only Ashley's friends appear to have this concern for Ashley and her relationship with T.J. One set of parents encourages dating around while the other seems to support committed relationships, even at the age of eighteen.

Blume's Katherine clearly undergoes a decision process about what sex is (physical or emotional connection), whether or not to have sex with Michael, and then, if her relationship with Michael should continue. All of these things seem to be deeply considered from every possible angle. Ashley, however, does not seem to have the same deep associations with sex, meaning it does not seem to have been such a big decision for her as everyone around her is also doing it. When she finally breaks up with T.J., it is after some consideration about her future, but mostly due to a loss of temper with his antics. Previous to T.J.'s final infraction, Ashley appears to make excuses for their relationship despite knowing that their future would be difficult.

The role of friends in these books is also of interest. Erica encourages Katherine to have sex and to be in a committed relationship. Ashley's friends are not concerned with the sexual aspects of things, but instead that their friend's boyfriend is dragging her down. Never do Katherine's friends worry that her relationship with Michael will prevent her from succeeding - that is the role of her parents. In Prom, Ashley's friends believe that she can do better for herself and should do so before it is too late. The parents do not seem overly concerned one way or another.

Blume and Anderson, writing thirty years apart from each other, have been and are developing into the writers of a generation. While Blume's writing still holds some truths of adolescence, the world she writes about is almost utopian. Anderson captures a very different reality. One of speed, constant noise and information, increasing responsibilities, feigned apathy, and latent desires to achieve something for the greater good. I do wish, however, that some of Blume's consciousness about the responsibility of sexual relationships and the affect of sexual activity on self-image and self respect would permeate Anderson's Prom. In an age of abstinence education and denial combined with a hyper-sexualized society and people, perhaps that is too much to ask of a contemporary writer.

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