Author: Acdemia.edu

Summary: »Adolescence isgenerally regarded as a developmental phase in which most young adults begin to explore their sexuality. One might argue that Western culture is marked by pervasive sexualization-especially in popular culture-and that this heightened awareness of sexuality also plays an increasingly explicit role in Young Adult Fiction (YAF), although there are successful examples of YAF, such as the Harry Potter series (1997-2007) or Cornelia Funke's Tintenherz (2003; Inkheart, 2005), that mostly eschew explicit mentions of adolescent sexuality. YAF often depicts adolescent sexuality as uncontrollable, awkward, and sometimes dangerous. Abuse of power and sexual assaults are often not labeled as such, nor are they problematized within the narrative. Many story lines draw on old myths of the complicity of victims; or they portray sexualized violence as a "natural" form of interaction between the sexes.
Feminist research uses the term "sexualized violence" to refer to all forms of violence that weaponize sex and sexuality in order to exert power. Mithu Sanyal, for example, offers a powerful definition of rape: "Das ist der Grund warum Feministinnen heute von sexualisierter Gewalt-und nicht von sexueller-Gewalt sprechen, um deutlich zu machen, dass Sex zwar die Waffe, nicht aber die Motivation einer Vergewaltigung ist" (That is why feminists today speak of sexualized violence-and not sexual violence- to make it clear that sex is the weapon but not the motivation for rape.)
This chapter aims to illustrate how key moments connected to the #MeToo movement, including introducing the topic of sexualized violence into public discourse and labeling it as such, also had an impact on YAF. Indeed, YAF can empower young adults to explore sexual desires while setting limits, and it can provide guidance to those affected by sexualized violence. In the following, I analyze two novels that offer unique takes on the topic: Beate Teresa Hanika's Rotkäppchen muss weinen (Little Red Riding Hood Has to Cry) and Lilly Axster's Die Stadt war nie wach (The City Was Never Awake). Both prizewinning novels portray the psychological and social effects of abuse on adolescents. In the end, the characters manage to break free of the taboo surrounding sexualized violence; they speak out, advocate for one another, and thus regain their agency.« (Source: Cambridge Core)

Wikipedia: History of Europe: History of Germany | Literature | German literature / Young adult fiction | Sex and the law: Sexual violence