LIBRARY Michigan State University This is to certify that the thesis entitled HUMAN SEXUAL INFORMATION, BEHAVIORS, AND ATTITUDES AS REVEALED IN AMERICAN REALISTIC FICTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, 1965-1974 presented by Sandra Faye Bone has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requirements for Ph.D. degree in Elementary and Special Education flat/QM Major professor Date November 18, 1977 0-7 639 © Copyright by SANDRA FAYE BONE I977 HUMAN SEXUAL INFORMATION, BEHAVIORS, AND ATTITUDES AS REVEALED IN AMERICAN REALISTIC FICTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, T965 - 1974 By Sandra Faye Bone A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Elementary and Special Education 1977 ABSTRACT HUMAN SEXUAL INFORMATION, BEHAVIORS, AND ATTITUDES AS REVEALED IN AMERICAN REALISTIC FICTION FOR YOUNG PEOPLE, 1965-1974 By Sandra Faye Bone The purpose of this study was to determine the portrayal of human sexual information, behaviors, and attitudes in realistic fiction, l965-l974 publications, set in contemporary America, and intended for readers aged ten through sixteen. The major questions which this study sought to answer were: What is revealed, explicitly or implicitly, to be the nature of (1) information, (2) behaviors, and (3) attitudes regarding human sexuality? A review of the literature revealed that forty-one graduate studies using content analysis and assessment had been conducted in the United States prior to l976 in the field of children's literature. None dealt specifically with human sexuality. A random sample of lOO trade books, ten per year l965—l974, was drawn from four selected professional book lists. Content assessment was the method used to determine answers to the three questions stated above. Sandra Faye Bone Prior to data collection, two raters were used to determine the reliability of the research method. Each book was read twice. All passages pertinent to any of the three categories were recorded; classified into sub-categories; and conclusions were then drawn. Sex information content was evidenced in twenty-eight books on sixteen topics, in order of frequency: childbirth; sexual inter- course; pregnancy; care of infants and new mothers; adoption; puberty; birth control; genetics; human anatomy; sexual diseases; 'agencies for unwed mothers; abortion; aphrodisiacs; frigidity; sterility; and, homosexuality.» Most information was presented accurately. Misinformation was almost always doubted, rejected, or clarified. Friends and parents were the most frequent infor- mational sources though mass media, professional people, and insti- tutions also appeared; sources seemed equally reliable. Among the numerous discernible trends relating to sex ' information, striking increases were observed in: number of books revealing information; variety of subject matter; detailed and graphic presentations; incidence of younger children apprised of information; and, use of informational sources. Sexual behaviors of seven types were evidenced in eighty-four books, in order of frequency: flirting; affectionate gestures; use of Obscenities; sexual activity; procreation; fantasies; and human anatomy/body exposure. Behaviors were shown through characters of a wide age range, all marital states, varying sexual preferences, and were generally commensurate with developmental levels. Males Sandra Faye Bone were implied to be more aggressive, more demanding, and more sexually active than females. Most behaviors were demonstrations of sincere interest/affection or efforts to achieve pleasure. Discernible trends indicated increasingly open and diverse sexual behaviors on a more routine basis in premarital, marital, and extramarital situations. Through the period, behaviors were more graphically portrayed and indicated less regard for traditional "double standards." Eighty-five books revealed human sexual attitudes on twelve topics, in order of frequency: appearance; romance; flirting; affectionate gestures; sexual activity; marriage; adult supervision; Obscenities; human anatomy/body exposure; procreation; fantasies; and body functions. Attitudes were revealed through characters of a wide age range, all marital states, varying sexual preferences, and were generally commensurate with developmental levels. Positive attitudes occurred most frequently. Generally, older characters, females, and married characters were less permissive than younger, male, and unmarried characters. Most characters revealed higher personal standards than they expected of society. Religious atti- tudes were notably absent. Permissiveness increased regarding most aspects of human sexuality. Numerous other trends were also observed, including increases in the incidence and divergence of attitudes regarding: romance; marriage; and premarital/extramarital behaviors. Changes in the appropriateness of appearance and attire clearly reflected Sandra Faye Bone fashion trends through the period sampled. Increasingly, attitudes represent various ethnic, racial, age, cultural, financial, and educational strata. To my mother and father, especially, and to Paula for their phenomenal love, devotion, encouragement, endurance, and self- sacrifices . . . ii TABLE OF CONTENTS DEDICATION . ACKNOWLEDGMENTS LIST OF TABLES Chapter I. THE PROBLEM AND PURPOSES OF THE STUDY The Need for the Study . . The Importance of the Study Purpose of the Study Questions . . Assumptions. . Delimitations of the Study Definition of Terms . . An Overview of the Organization of the Study II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE . The Effect of Books on Young People . Suppositions Concerning the Effect of Books Studies Analyzing the Effect of Books . . Studies of the Content of Children' 5 Trade Books Chapter Summary . . . . . . . . III. DESIGN OF THE STUDY Book Selection and Sampling Methodology . . Reliability. . Rationale for the Selection of. Categories and Sub- -Categories . . . . . Analysis of the Data . Chapter Summary Page ii viii Chapter IV. SEX INFORMATION . Discussion of Findings . Types of Information . Sources of Information Summary of Findings . Types of Information . Sources of Information Chapter Summary V. SEXUAL BEHAVIORS Discussion of Findings . Flirting . . . Gestures of Affection Use of Obscenities Sexual Activity Procreation . . Fantasies and Dreams . Human Anatomy/Body Exposure. Summary of Findings . Flirting. . Gestures of Affection Use of Obscenities Sexual Activity Procreation . . Fantasies and Dreams . Human Anatomy/Body Exposure. Chapter Summary VI. SEXUAL ATTITUDES Discussion of Findings . Appearance Romance . Flirting . . Gestures of Affection Sexual Activity Marriage . . Adult Supervision . Human Anatomy/Body Exposure. Procreation . . Fantasies and Dreams . Body Functions . . Summary of Findings . Appearance Romance iv 202 203 203 203 217 235 240 248 267 300 306 320 323 324 325 328 Chapter Flirting. . Gestures of Affection Sexual Activity Marriage . . . Adult Supervision . Obscenities . . Human Anatomy and Body Exposure Procreation . . . Fantasies and Dreams . Body Functions . Chapter Sumnary VII. SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS . Summary . Sex Information Sex Behaviors . Sexual Attitudes Conclusions Recommendations . Implications for Further Study APPENDICES . A. Directions to the Raters B. PermiSsion Acknowledgments BIBLIOGRAPHY Page 332 334 336 339 343 345 346 347 350 BST 35] 353 353 354 355 365 383 386 394 396 397 406 413 Table 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. LIST OF TABLES Category Assignments Made by the Raters and the Investigator . . . . Number of Category Assignments Agreed Upon by the Raters and the Investigator . Levels of Agreement Among the Raters and the Investigator Category Assignments Made by Rater Two and the Investigator . . . . . . . Number of Category Assignments Agreed Upon by Rater Two and the Investigator Levels of Agreement Between Rater Two and the Investigator Number of Books in which Sex Information was Revealed, 1965-1974 . Number of Sex Information Subjects as Revealed in Books per Year . . . . . Number of Books in which Sex Information Sources were Revealed, 1965-l974 . Number of Sex Information Sources as Revealed in Books per Year Number of Books in which Sexual Behaviors were Revealed, 1965-1974 Number of Sexual Behavior Subjects as Revealed in Books per Year . . . . . . Number of Books in Which Sexual Attitudes were Revealed, 1965-1974 . Number of Sexual Attitude Subjects as Revealed in Books per Year . . . . . Vi Page 59 59 60 64 64 64 103 108 108 108 187 187 326 326 CHAPTER I THE PROBLEM AND PURPOSES OF THE STUDY He looked directly at Mrs. Putnam and raised his voice ever so slightly. "Fucking. I wanted a book about fucking." Mrs. Putnam's face darkened and reddened and her eyes watered just a little. Freddy watched. "You mean sex education," Mrs. Putnam said quietly, after a moment. Freddy wasn't at all sure that that was what he meant. Mrs. Putnam turned and walked a few paces from Freddy. Freddy waited. When she turned around, Freddy saw she was smiling again. “I'm not exactly sure what to do," she admitted. "You mean you haven't got a book like that here?" Freddy asked. "On sex?" Mrs. Putnam mused. Freddy was determined there should be no misunderstanding. "0n fucking," he said clearly. "It's nearly the same thing!" Mrs. Putnam's voice rose and seemed suddenly very thin. The above was excerpted from a book of contemporary American realistic fiction for young people. Its intended audience is that group of young persons beginning to pose questions regarding sex and love; this group would likely consist of young people aged ten through sixteen years. Freddy's Book is a straightforward account of a young boy's efforts to gain enlightenment about what to him is a baffling and "not-to-be-discussed in public" subject, as well as his efforts to improve communications and relations, in general, with his father. 1John Neufeld, Freddy's Book (New York: Random House, Inc., 1973), pp. 55-56. Current realistic fiction for young people is, in general just as open and frank as Freddy's Book. Social issues and contro- versial topics that seem to have pervaded this country have also pervaded young people's realistic fiction with contemporary American settings. Subjects such as puberty, sexual intercourse, crime, divorce, abortion, war, homosexuality, as well as physical, mental, and emotional handicaps are commonly encountered in novels which are intended for young readers. Teachers, librarians, and others interested in the growth and development of young people are necessarily concerned with the attitudes, values, and information with which those young people are confronted in all aspects of life, including reading matter. Literature has long been considered a transmitter of societal attitudes and values and, as such, many hold that it should be assessed for both literary merit and the attitudes and values conveyed by the content. The Need for the Study Books referred to as "adolescent novels“2 became popular reading fare fer American teenagers during the l930's. Read avidly, particularly by younger adolescents, the books dealt with ". . . problems, preoccupations, and interests of young people. ."3 The protagonists of these books were always young people 2"Transitional novels" and "juvenile novels" are two terms used synonymously with the term "adolescent novels." 3Alice Brooks McGuire, "Reviews of Books for Young People," Journal of Reading, XVIII, 7 (April, 1975), p. 561. and the plots frequently focused on peer acceptance, friendship between boys and girls, and finding self-identity by such means as being invited to a prom or scoring the winning points in a close basketball game. Adolescent novels published prior to the mid-1960's are today considered tepid little stories of the Cinderella variety. It is an understatement to say that they did not deal with signifi- cant, and perhaps controversial, issues-~they were rarely mentioned. Significant social issues began to emerge during the mid- 1960's among large segments of the United States citizenry. Indeed, that era has often been referred to as one of social revolution; it has been cited as an era when a sexual revolution began to 4 emerge in the United States. The issues raised were not only for, and among, adults. Children and young people were very much involved in, and affected by, those issues. The implications which evolved from these issues were numerous, varied, and included-- significantly-~those concerned with literature for young people. Nancy Larrick, in 1967, wrote: It is a truism to say that we are living in a time of world revolution. We see its most brutal manifestations in such places as Vietnam, Nigeria, Detroit and even Cambridge, Maryland. Prolonged rioting on our city streets and accompanying police brutality are symptoms of the social revolution in which we live. Children are a part of this, and as a result the whole pattern of their reading is changing-~their sense of need, their sense of values, and their taste in books. 4Philip H. Dreyer, "Sex, Sex Roles, and Marriage Among Youth in~the 1970s,“ Youth. The Seventy-fourth Yearbook of the National Society for the Study of Education, Part I (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1975), pp. 194-223. 5Nancy Larrick, “Bab Dolls Are Gone," School Library Journal, XCII (October, 1967 , p. 139. Larrick quoted Dr. Arthur Pearl of the University of Oregon: "If Booth Tarkington were to write Seventeen today, he'd "6 Larrick remarked that the have to change the title to Twelve. 12-year-olds of 1967 seemed to have greater inclination to cope with a greater number and variety of problems than did Seventeen's 7 That books of a more serious nature were being hero and heroine. sought by younger readers than ever before in this country was a major point of emphasis made by Larrick. ‘ The interest in books of a more serious nature was being responded to, Larrick held, by manywriters and artists of books fer youth. She pointed out that some of the books were grimly realistic and that many dealt with such crucial issues as: probation, gang warfare, racial prejudice, insecurity of youth, violence, broken homes, poor interpersonal relationships, and the search for understanding. It is interesting to note that in this 1967 article there was no mention of sex or sexuality as a contempo- rary issue or concern. In Larrick's concluding remarks, she stated: Not all of these young heroes achieve success or even the hope of it. But one cannot read about them without new insights into one's own thinking and new understanding of our social and economic crisis. This is what youngsters are li§ing with. It is what many of them want to read about. 61bid., p. 140. 7Eightyears later, in a personal interview with this researcher on July 1, 1975, Robert L. Egbert, Dean of Teachers College at the University of Nebraska and Professor of Psychology and Measurements, stated he believed that if Tarkington were to write Seventeen in 1975, the title would have to be changed to leg, 8Larrick, op. cit., p. 141. In the same time frame, a number of the writers of books fer youth--especially writers of contemporary realistic fiction-- were reacting against the body of adolescent literature available as failing to accurately face the real problems and concerns of contemporary American youth.9 Maia Wojciechowska, recipient of the 1965 Newbery Award, was one of the writers who voiced genuine concern regarding the content of books accepted as realistic fiction. In her judgment, too many of them were either "tepid little stories" about proms, "phoney-sounding" parent-child conflicts, and friendships broken then mended, or stories based on writers' own turn-of—the-century childhoods. Wojciechowska was convinced that a "gulf" existed between the real child of the 1960's and his fictional counterpart. She found the fictional youth much too bland and childish. Of the real youth of the 1960's, she wrote: The movers and the shakers of the world are the young. They grow fast, at an amazing rate, from the age of 13 to 20. ifileloieilfwwfilfilssliiieé’la$21,332:??? t°°" "‘ "fet'm‘" Authors, publishers, and librarians were charged by Wojciechowska--and in that order--as being responsible for bridging the gulf. Marjorie Sullivan revealed her view regarding the bulk of the reading matter directed to the mid-1960's young adult reader, 9McGuire, loc. cit. 10Maia Wojciechowska, "An End to Nostalgia," School Library Journal, XCIII (December, 1968), p. 13. to be very similar to Wojciechowska's. She found that too often young adult novels (directed to the sixteen to eighteen year old age group) were comprised of "bland irrelevancies"; "no real people"; "no real problems."11 Illustrating her point, Sullivan explained: Screening books for review in the New York Times Book Review, George Woods, looking for modernity, boldness, and realism, discovered no definitive works in several crucial areas: narcotics, illegifiimacy, alcoholism, pregnancy, discrimination, and retardation. The cries for more young people's literature to deal with contemporary topics and social issues--including human sexuality-- in open, honest fashion were heard. Books that were intended to meet the expressed needs and desires began to be published with increasingly apparent frequency. Indeed, Stavn, then a member of the School Library Journal staff, opened one of her articles by stating: During 1968 and 1969, an unusual number of juvenile novels aimed at an audience of young teens and attempting realism have allowed pot to be puffed and sex to rear a timid head. Often self-hailed on their jackets as "timely," "relevant," and "authentic," these stories are, however, often written according to the language, structure, and content specifi- cations of children's books. A thorough re-examination of critical standards for the teen's novel is long overdue-~and really beyond the scope of a brief article. But, toward this end, I've re-considered some recent novels that center on, or hover around, teenage sexual experience or encounters with marijuana, in an attempt to isolate the factors that can lead to failure or excellence in such fiction for this age group. 3 nMarjorie Sullivan, "Reading for Relevance,“ School Library Journal, XCIII (December, 1968), pp. 15-17. 12George Woods, "Screening Books fbr Review," Wilson Library Bulletin (October, 1966). PP. 169-172, as cited by Marjorie Sullivan in Ibid. 13Diane Gersoni Stavn, "Watching Fiction fbr Today's Teens: Notes of a Critical Voyeur," School Library_Journal, XCIV (November, 1969). pp. 139. Since the mid-1960's modern realistic fiction directed to young readers has dealt with such subjects as: crime, drugs, penal institutions, alcoholism, racial and ethnic prejudices, drop-outs, sit-ins, war, death, mental and emotional disturbances, the senior citizenry, rejection, alienation, murder, stealing, loneliness, physical handicaps, broken homes, single-parent families, gang warfare, political and technological problems and issues, suicide by adults and young people, religious matters, human growth and development, and human sexuality. In the realm of human sexuality one may readily locate books which are intended for youth and that deal with such matters as: premarital sexual intercourse, pubes- ence, abortion, pregnancy, homosexuality, heterosexual petting, and masturbation. Three recent tradebooks of contemporary American realistic fiction for young people may be cited as indicative of the diversity of human sexual behavior portrayed in present-day literature: Fitzhugh's14 Nobody's Family is Going_to Change makes reference to a teenage male transvestite; Klein's15 Taking,Sides centers around two children whose divorced parents are pursuing new life styles--Dad has a lover who is married to another and Mom 16 has chosen to share life with a lesbian; Juliusburger, who was seventeen when her book Beginnings was published, has dealt with 14Louise Fitzhugh, Nobody's Family Is Goingyto Change (New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc., 1974). 15 1974). 16Susanna Juliusburger, Beginnings (New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1974). Norma Klein, Taking Sides (New York: Pantheon Books, a situation fostered by a ménagg_§_trgj§_in which the main character's parents had engaged as college students. The advent of adolescent novels which deal with, or at least allude to, significant social (and often controversial) issues has stimulated much controversy and debate among adults concerned with literature for young people. The voiced concerns regarding (only) human sexuality as revealed in literature are numerous and varied. Proponents of the Women's Liberation movement are con- cerned with the portrayal of female characters as "sex objects." Supporters of the Gay Liberation Movement are concerned with the treatment of homosexuality. Some professional people have, at least, serious reservations relating to young people's exposure 17,18 to explicitly sexual passages in books; others advocate an increase of sex in printed matter, even in picture books for 19 children. Especially among authors, there are some concerns that literary merit is often being overlooked or forgotten when undue emphasis is placed on t0pics or issues.20’2‘ 17Edwin Roth, M.D., "A Child Psychiatrist's View," School Library Journal, C (March, l975),pp. 68-69. 18Barbara Wersba and Josette Frank, "Sexuality in Books for Children: An Exchange,“ Library Journal, XCVIII (February 15, 1973), pp. 620-623. 191bid. 20John Rowe Townsend, "It Takes More Than Pot and the Pill," The New York Times, Book Review Section 7, Part II (November 9, 1969). 2‘Isaac B. Singer, "I See the Child as a Last Refuge," The New York Times, Book Review Section 7, Part II (November 9, 196977 In view of the plethora of questions, reservations, and convictions regarding human sexuality as revealed in literature for young people, it is interesting that a thorough review of professional literature unveiled not one serious research study in this area. Indeed, the minute amount of study related to this area that has been done was conducted: (1) rather informally with only a small number of selected books; or (2) without human sexuality being a major point of emphasis for the study. There is little, if any, question but that large numbers of contemporary American youth are interested in social issues and concerns--such as human sexuality--which are being depicted in realistic fiction. There are, however, questions regarding these works that demand responsible answers. This study has attempted to responsibly answer questions relating to sexual information, behaviors, and attitudes as revealed through realistic fiction set in contemporary America and intended for readers aged ten through sixteen. The Importance of the Study Ambrose and Miel, in reporting findings and implications of research studies in social education, indicated that . , regardless of age, as a child's world expands to include more people whom he knows personally, as well as persons in fiction, on radio or television, he will try out many roles found both in the immediate and the extended environment. His identifications will overlap and shift, 10 some fading and some growing in dominagge, as he tries out var1ous roles and as h1s needs change. In further explanation of developmental changes in identifi- cation, Ambrose and Miel stated that as a child grows into adoles- cence an ideal identification is accepted; the ideal accepted is usually a composite of numerous identifications rather than a single identity. In concluding, they added: "Identification, like other processes of socialization, continues throughout life. Even adults take values and behaviors from those whom they admire."23 In view of the Ambrose and Miel research findings and supportive findings of other researchers, content assessments to determine the attitudes, behaviors, and values of literary charactersiarehighly desirable, if not essential. School and library personnel as well as others concerned with young people, must make judgments as to the worth of the attitudes, information, behaviors, and values revealed to young readers through literature directed to them. In addition to questions regarding the merit of the reader's possible identification with literary characters, there are other factors that give import to studies of literature for young people, such as this one. One of these factors relates to the generally accepted notion of literature having potential for 22Edna Ambrose and Alice Miel, Children's Social Learning: Implications of Research and Expert Study (Washington, D.C.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, A Department of the National Education Association, 1958), pp. 88- 89. 23Ipid., p. 89. 11 helping the reader gain insights and understandings of self and others. Since its conception, the adolescent novel has generally been recognized as "formula fiction." Further, it is often con- sidered to have dual purposes: utilitarian and aesthetic. Staneck24 believes that the dual purposes of adolescent novels are problematic. This point was made clear when she wrote that "the dual but conflicting responsibility of socializing under the guise of entertainment has constrained some of the best adolescent 25 Among the results of this, Staneck maintains, is authors." inadequate or ineffectual characterization--frequent1y stereotypic representations. Given that Staneck's conclusions are valid, one must then question whether the reader may truly gain insights and under- standings of self and others. If so, then, what are those in- sights and understandings? How valid are they? Questions and concerns revolving around literature and the young reader are compounded by the volume of youth literature published annually. Wise and prudent book selection processes are increasingly important in this day and age. Responsible studies of trade book content facilitate book selection processes. 24Lou Willet Staneck, "Adults and Adolescents, Ambivalence and Ambiguity," School Library_Journal, IC (February, 1974), pp. 21- 25. 251pm, p. 21. 12 ‘ The importance of studies such as this has been articulated by numerous professional people in a variety of ways. In the ngigw_ of Educational Research, Brown wrote: There is little doubt that analyses are needed of the character- izations and plots of the large numbers of children's books that have been published, more analyses gill be needed if the current trend in publication continues.2 27 concurred Three years later, in the same journal, Early and Odland with the position stated by Brown. At the time of the statements by Brown, as well as those of Early and Odland, the publication of children's books was in- creasing almost annually. In 1968 the production of children's books peaked with nearly 3,000 new titles being produced. In 1974, production had dropped to just over 2,000. The recent and great reduction of federal monies available for libraries and library services combined with diminishing production levels demand more thoughtful book selection by teachers and librarians.28 Purpose of the Study The purpose of this study was to determine the human sexual information, behaviors, and attitudes portrayed in realistic fiction, published in 1965 through 1974, with settings in 26George I. Brown, "Literature in the Elementary School," Review of Educational Research, XXXIV (April, 1964), p. 193. 27Margaret Early and Norine Odland, “Literature in the Elementary and Secondary Schools," Review of Educational Research, XXXVII (April, 1967), pp. 178-185. 28Lillian N. Gerhardt, Pamela D. Pollack, Jane Abramson, and Leah Stenson, "Best Books of 1974," School Library Journal, XXI (December, 1974), p. 20. 13 contemporary America, and intended for readers aged ten through sixteen. Questions The major questions which this study sought to answer were confined to three aspects of human sexuality as revealed in con- temporary American realistic fiction directed to a reading audience aged ten through sixteen years. The questions were: 1. What is revealed, explicitly or implicitly, to be the nature of information regarding human sexuality? 2. What is revealed, explicitly or implicitly, to be the nature of human sexual behavior? 3. What is revealed, explicitly or implicitly, to be the nature of attitudes regarding human sexuality? Assumptions Underlying this study were these assumptions: 1. Literature for young people mirrors the society from which it originates. 2. Young people can be influenced through books. 3. Books assessed in this study are available to young people through the school, library, home, or commercial enterprise. Delimitations of the Study In 1974, just over 2,000 new trade books were published for 29 young people. Volume alone dictated the necessity for establishing delimiting factors fbr this study. 291b1d. 14 Books selected for assessment had original publication dates during the years 1965 through 1974. This was essential as this investigation was directed to sexual infermation, behaviors, and attitudes as revealed in contemporary American realistic fiction. Further, the books must have been written by native or naturalized Americans for a reading audience of ten through sixteen years of age. Realistic fiction was the single genre of literature examined in this study. Events and situations presented in the content of the books assessed had to be plausible and credible in that they cggld_occur in the contemporary American setting. Book content involving settings prior to 1960 were excluded. The date 1960 was designated as the lower limit of contemporary times in the United States for the primary reason that the 1960's have been characterized as a recent revolutionary period.30’3] Further delimiting factors utilized in this study were: (1) Ten selected years comprised the time range from which to sample books; (2) Only ten titles were drawn from the book list for each year included in the study; and, (3) The major categories for assessment were limited to three. Definition of Terms The following terms have been defined as employed in the context of this study. 30 31 Larrick, op. cit., p. 139. Dreyer, loc. cit. 15 Attitude.--The term "attitude" refers to "a manner of acting, feeling, or thinking that shows one's disposition, opinion, etc."32 Belief,--The term ”belief" refers to the “conviction or 33 (The acceptance acceptance that certain things are true or real." of a "double standard" of sexual morality for males and females is an example of a belief in this study.) Birth control.--The term "birth control” as used in this study refers to the deliberate limitation of the number of children born through such means as contraceptives, the rhythm method, coitus interruptus, induced abortion, and the like.34 Concept.--The term “concept" as used in this study refers to "an idea or thought, esp. [sic] a generalized idea of a class of objects; abstract notion."35 (The idea of puberty and all that it encompasses is an example of a concept.) Content assessment.--The term "content assessment" refers to the method utilized to analyze the content of the books used in this study. "Content assessment" refers to a technique used in non-quantitative communication research studies. It is, as defined 32David B. Guralnik, ed., Webster's New World Dictionary, 2nd college ed. (New York: The World Publishing Company, 1970), p. 90. 331bid., p. 129. 34James Leslie McCary, Human Sexuality: A Brief Edition (New York: D. Van Nostrand Company, 1973), pp. 261 and 80. 35Guralnik, ed., op. cit., p. 293. by dae Sit in. .111 16 by Berelson and used in this study, "Judgment about content which does not refer to the precise magnitude with which the symbols appear."36 Contemporary.--The term "contemporary" as used in this study refers to the setting, in time, of the books analyzed in that they were "of or in the style of the present or recent times; "37 specifically, books with settings earlier than 1960 modern; were rejected for inclusion in this study. Heterosexual petting.--The term "heterosexual petting" as used in this study refers to those sexual behaviors ranging from "deep" or passionate kissing up to, but stopping short of, sexual intercourse. Institution.--The term "institution“ refers to "an organi- zation having a social, educational, or religious purpose, as a school, church, hospital, reformatory" or to "an established law, custom, practice, system" such as a marriage.38 Obscenity.--The term "Obscenity" as used in this study refers to any remark, act, event, object, or the like which may be offensive to actual frequently encountered notions of modesty and decency held by people. Procreation.--The term "procreation" refers in this study to the matters of conception, prenatal development, and childbirth. 36Bernard Berelson, Content Analysis in Communications Research (Glencoe, Ill.: The Free Press, 1952), p. 128. 37Guralnik, ed., op. cit., p. 306. 38Ibid., p. 730. 17 Protagonist.--The term "protagonist" refers to "the main character in a drama, novel, or story, around whom the action centers" or "the person who plays a leading or active part."39 Realistic fiction.--The term "realistic fiction" refers to those stories in which the author poses a problem for the central character (animal or human) and allows that character to solve or resolve the problem in a completely plausible way; there must be an absence of implausible coincidence, contrivance, and magical forces.40 Sexual attitudes.--The term "sexual attitudes," as used in this study, refers to “a manner of acting, feeling, or thinking 4] regarding matters that shows one's disposition, opinion, etc.," of human sexuality. Sexual behavior.--The term "sexual behavior," as used in this study, refers to the expression of human sexuality. Human sexuality is most commonly expressed in any of five ways: masturbation, nocturnal orgasm, heterosexual petting, heterosexual intercourse, and homosexual relations.42 Sex information.--The term "sex information" refers, as used in this study, to the knowledge regarding human sexuality one has, is seeking, or experiences a need for. 391bid., p. 1142. 4OZena Sutherland, rev., The Arbuthnot Anthology of Children's Literature, ed. by May Hill Arbuthnot, et al., 4th ed. (Glenview, 111.: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1976), p. 604. 41 42 Guralnik, ed., op. cit., p. 90. McCary, op. cit., p. 203. 18 Sexual maturity.--The term Nsexual maturity" refers, in this study, to the stages of physical development through which an individual proceeds, in terms of reproductive capabilities. Sexuality.--The term "sexuality" refers to the second definition given by Webster, that being: "(a) interest in or 43 concern with sex (b) sexual drive or activity.“ Stereotype.--The term ”stereotype" refers to "a fixed or conventional notion or conception, as of a person, group, idea, etc., held by a number of people, and allowing for no individu- a1ity."44 Trade books.--The term "trade books" refers to those books 45 which are not part of a graded or developmental series. A synonym often used for trade books, and one that is acceptable to the purposes of this study, is library books. An Overview of the Organization of the Study_ In Chapter I, the need for this study, and the purposes of the research conducted, have been presented. Literature pertinent to the study is reviewed in Chapter II. The design and methodology of the study are presented in Chapter III. Chapters IV, V, and VI contain research findings pertinent to the three questions to which the study was directed. Conclusions based upon the research results and implications for further research comprise Chapter VII. 43Guralnik, ed., op. cit., p. 1305. 44Ibid.. p. 1397. 45Charlotte Huck and Doris Kuhn, Children's Literature in the Elementary School, 2nd ed. (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968), p. 6. C11 CHAPTER II REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Literature has long been considered reflective of the culture from which it originates and as such, a means for the preservation and transmission of that culture's heritage, beliefs, values, and attitudes. These views apply to the body of litera- ture for children and young people as well as to that for the adult population. Literature for young readers has at times been extremely didactic. Much of the nineteenth century realistic fiction for American young people reflects this fact, with such books as those authored by Samuel G. Goodrich (with the pen-name Peter Parley), Jacob Abbott (the Rollo books), and Martha Finley (who, with the pen-name Martha Farquharson, authored the Elsie Dinsmore series).46 In twentieth century America, it is still believed by many that children's attitudes, beliefs, and values are shaped, in part, through exposure to the content of books. However, the majority of contemporary fictional books for children and young people are not moralistic in a didactic sense, as was apparent in the literature of earlier times. 46May Hill Arbuthnot and Zena Sutherland, Children and Books, 4th ed. (Glenview, 111.: Scott, Foresman and Company, 1972), p. 96. 19 20 The literature review presented here explores: (l) the effect of books on attitude development in children and young people and (2) studies of the content of children's trade books. The Effect of Books on Young People Suppositions Concerninggthe Effect of Books Numerous authors, editors, librarians, and specialists in literature for children and young people have advanced, or implied, suppositions regarding the effect of the content of books on their intended audiences. Indeed, the literature is replete with indi- vidual testimony conveying the ideas that book content reflects societal attitudes and values and that readers may be affected by the attitudes and values expressed therein. The lack of conclusive empirical evidence does not, however, permit acceptance or rejection of these suppositions. Nevertheless, the professional stature of some persons is such that their suppositions should be neither over-looked nor hastily dismissed as merely casual assumptions-- 47 and therefore they are more appropriately considered as theories merit inclusion in the review of literature pertinent to this and similar studies. Egoff, a Canadian librarian and author, has stated that she and other librarians see children's books in one whole dimension as 47The term "theories" as used here refers to "formulation of apparent relationships or underlying principles of certain observed phenomena which has been verified to some degree." This is the fburth definition of "theory" as given in David B. Guralnik, ed., Webster's New World Dictionary, 2nd college ed. (New York: The World Publishing Company, 1970), p. 1475. 21 ". . . indicators of the society that produced them, as a group portrait of the children and adults pictured therein, and as a potent influence on the generation that reads them."48 49 has also expressed the belief that literature Russell reflects ". . . man's most important social-ethical ideas," and man's values, ". . . the foundations of our society." Russell emphasized that these ideas and values are usually described with abstractions which are especially difficult for children to grasp. He maintained that some understanding of these ideas and values can be attained only with a wide variety of experiences, " but sometimes the process of getting to understand such ideas can be quickened through literature." Russell further maintained that Reading about such things at one's leisure, or in a small group where unhurried discussion follows, is our best hope that such values will become part of the lives of boys and girls.50 Hiebert held that books are indispensable tools in helping newly formed countries become functional. He emphasized Russell's belief when he wrote They [books] are not only a primary medium for transfer of knowledge and technical skills, but also play a significant 48Sheila Egoff, "Children's Books: A Canadian's View of the Current American Scene," The Horn Book, XLVI, No. 2 (April, 1970). p. 143. 490avid H. Russell, "Personal Values in Reading," Ins Reading Teacher, XII (October, 1958), p. 7. 5°1bid., p. 9. enl an ail 1h EV L7 22 role in changing attitudes, stimulating understanding, and enriching the culture. It has been noted that books may help children build and enhance their concepts and understandings of self, others, society, and the world. The belief that literature has potential for affecting the individual in a personal manner has been made clear in numerous statements, including: A well written story that shows all the complications of romance, its pitfalls and disappointments as well as its happiness, can provide young people with needed guidgnce in an approach to one of life's most vital problems. 2 The belief that literature has potential for affecting society, even the world, has further been implied: With the growing consciousness of a world in which all people are brought closer by the developments in communications and transportation, with children's increased awareness of such problems as war, pollution, and student unrest, there is an urgent need for books in which minority peoples gain not tolerance, but respect, books that attack the injustice and discrimination and apathy still prevalent in our society. In an article stressing the possible import of book content on the individual, teacher and author Viguers wrote . all our experience suggests that the boy or girl who reads easily and widely moves with confidence through the realms of life, naturally interested in all that is going on, naturally a leader among peers. 51Ray E. Hiebert, Books in Human Development (Washington, D.C.: The American University and the Agency for International Development, 1964), p. 53. 52 Arbuthnot and Sutherland, op. cit., p. 10. 53Ibid., p. 11. 54Ruth Hill Viguers, I'The Book and the Person," The Horn Book, XLIV, No. 6 (December, 1968), p. 663, citing August Heckscher, Reading_for Life (No other bibliographic data given). 23 She also stated that Books are truly alchemical agents; for they, more than any other of man's creations, have the power of transforming something common (meaning you and me as we are most of the time) into something precious (meaning you and me as God meant us to be). 5 Sebesta and Iverson expressed similar beliefs when they wrote that ". . . literature can lift children's eyes above their immediate circumstance, and the added vision can make long-term differences."56 Related to these suppositions is one by Sayers: We all have, in our experience, memories of certain books which changed us in some way--by disturbing us, or by a glorious affirmation of some emotion we knew but could never shape in words, or by some revelation of human nature.5 Huck, with specificity, concurred with these beliefs when she wrote Literature may provide opportunities for identification and for understanding the self and others. Books may contribute to feelings of success as children satisfy their desires for new experiences, gain new insights into their behavior and that of others, or "try on" new roles as they identify with various characters.58 ' In reviewing the literature pertinent_to this study, numerous suppositions were found regarding the effect of book content on the reader and the values of books; hOwever, the 55Ibid., p. 658, citing Lawrence Clark Powell, "The Alchemy of Books" (No other bibliographic data given). 56Sam Leaton Sebesta and William J. Iverson, Literature for Thursday's Child (Chicago: Science Research Associates, Inc., 1975), p. 18. 57Frances Clarke Sayers, Summoned by Books (New York: The Viking Press, 1965), p. 16. 58Charlotte S. Huck, Children's Literature in the Elementary School, 3rd ed. (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1975), p. 27. 24 implications were synonymous: Readers gan_be affected by that which they read. It must be noted that in addition to holding this belief, 59 60 as well as others make clear that Huck, Sebesta and Iverson, book content alone will not shape children; it is only one variable among many by which children may be influenced. Studies Analyzing the Effect of Books Though limited in number, studies have periodically been made in attempts to substantiate various of the many suppositions that have been made regarding the effect of books on the develop- ment, or alteration, of attitudes and values of children and young people. 6] published one of In 1940, Waples, Berelson, and Bradshaw the earliest reports of attitude change through reading. The report was, in fact, a summary of a group of studies conducted by Waples, et al., with college students. The subjects were given an attitude test before and after reading material designed to alter attitudes relating to religious beliefs, racial bias, economic status, and international beliefs. Waples, et al., concluded from differences in pre-post-test data that attitudes could be changed through reading. The researchers 591bid. 60Sebesta and Iverson, loc. cit. 6lDouglas Waples, Bernard Berelson, and Franklyn Bradshaw, What ReadingyDoes to People: A Summary of Evidence on the Social Effects of Reading (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1940). 25 believed that conclusion valid though the study had several limitations, including: 1. a minority of college students participated as subjects; 2. the subjects had knowledge of the experiment; and 3. only succinct readings were utilized. One particularly significant aspect of the study by Waples, et al., was the identification of five categories for determining the effects of reading. Three of the categories are pertinent to this and similar studies: "instrumental"--utilization of infor- mation to assist in the solution of personal or practical problems; "reinforcement"--stimulation of previously held views or beliefs; and "prestige"--identification with a prestige group to increase self-esteem. 62 reported results of a study in which In 1949, Russell teachers were requested to recall the effects of their childhood reading. Fifteen different effects were identified. One of the commonly recalled effects was identification with characters. In 63 found that college students an earlier and similar study, Lind remembered childhood reading experiences as having organizing influences on their personalities. A third study of this nature was cited by Robinson and Weintraub: 62David H. Russell, "Teachers' Memories and Opinions of Children's Literature," Elementary English, XXVI (December, 1949), pp. 475-482. 63Katnerine N. Lind, "The Social Psychology of Children's Reading," American Journal of Sociology. XLI (January, 1936), pp. 454-469. 26 At the high school level, Mechel reported many examples of positive identifications with characters in novels on family life based on vividness of students' memories. How- ever, he reported that identifications were repressed sometimes when tgfi character exhibited "unaccepted" per- sonality traits. Taba,65 in 1955, reported one of the more comprehensive studies of the effects of reading on attitudes. The study, sponsored by the Project on Intergroup Education, was designed to help a group of eighth grade students overcome their ethnocentric orientations and to become more sensitive to other cultural groups and their values. Taba observed the American society as being racially, economically, and ethnically segmented thereby cultivating ethnocentricity (which she saw as the major source of prejudice). She further observed that, being mobile and rapidly changing, the society was cultivating transitory relationships and weakening the transmission of its democratic culture. Taba believed that means of eliminating ethnocentricity in judgment and conduct were needed. She believed that children needed assistance in making the transition from an egocentric and ethnocentric orientation to 64Henry C. Mechel, "An Exploratory Study of the Responses of Adolescent Pupils to Situations in a Novel" (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Chicago, 1946), as cited by Helen M. Robinson with the assistance of Samuel Weintraub, “Research Related to Children's Interests and Developmental Values of Reading," Library Trends: Research in the Fields of Reading and Communi- cations, ed. by Alice Lohrer, XXII, No. 2 (Urbana, 111.: University of Illinois Graduate School of Library Science, 1973), p. 101. 65hi1da Taba, With Perspective on Human Relations; A Study of Peer Grogp Dynamics in an Eighth Grade (Washington, D.C.: American Council on Educatibn, 1955). 27 a more realistic, cosmopolitan one. Taba's observations and her conviction that these were problems for education were the basis from which the study was developed. Her beliefs in the need for the study were elucidated when she wrote The problem of maintaining a core of democratic values is serious in a society with a multiplicity of cultural pockets maintained by social segregation. There is an urgent need to explore the means for extension of sensitivity, for developing a capacity for understanding across barriers and the ability to bridge cultural and psychological distances, and to do these things by using peer groups as vehicles. Fictional literature and open-ended discussion was the means used in Taba's study to help extend social sensitivity and the capacity to identify with others and their values. Literature was considered a potent resource due to the identification oppor- tunities readily available in characters and problems. Plans for a reading program were made on the basis of the subjects own problems and concerns, as identified from analyses of special diaries and other of their writings. Fictional literature revealing the same or similar problems but depicting different or contrasting contexts and experiences was then selected for use with the subjects. Discussions were held pursuant to the subjects' reading of the selected materials. Discussion purposes were to analyze the story characters in terms of their problems, behaviors, and motivations, as well as to compare these findings to the subjects' own experiences. Special emphasis was placed on matters relating 66Ibid.. p. 101. 28 to the solution of the problem in the selection and in alternative solutions--matters such as validity, actions, and actual solutions. After one year of experimentation, Taba concluded that the technique utilized was effective in extending sensitivity to human values, in objectifying orientation to human relations, and in positively affecting the life of the peer group. Taba believed that the technique used could accommodate and affect a wide range of personality types and intellectual abilities. She also con- cluded It is evident that the use of fiction for teaching under- standing of human values is a method which allows a comfortable integration of emotional insights and of con- cept building, and that this integration is of aid in 67 deepening understanding and developing ability to transfer. In summarizing the study results Taba averred One can say, then, that an objective and analytical orienta- tion to human behavior was strengthened markedly. The tendency to use self-reference as a means to understand new situations was reduced. As a consequence these students became more cautions about assuming that complex problems of human relations can be handled by pat solutions and advice. Increasingly also, these students could abstract general ideas from the unique situations of the story, and translate their insights into generalizations. Greatest changes often occurred in people who were the weakest at the start. It was evident that these changes came about because the reading and discussions gradually built up a body of 68 concepts useful in the interpretation of human behavior. 69 In 1958, Russell reported the results of his review of seventy-three studies which dealt with the impact of reading on 671bid., p. 137. 68Ibid., p. 121. 69David H. Russell, "Some Research on the Impact of Reading,“ English Journal, XLVII (October, 1958), pp. 398-413. 29 children. He held that it would be erroneous to interpret the paucity of research in this area as indicative of reading having little or no impact on people. Russell expressed the difficulty in determining precisely what effect reading has on people; how- ever, he reported finding that ". . . clues about kinds and content of reading materials and the sorts of reactions we can expect from individuals of different background, interests, and personality patterns . . ." were beginning to emerge. He noted that evidence exists revealing the need for care in using printed matter in bibliotherapy. Russell concluded that From the research point of view, we suspect that much reading by itself has little effect on a person's deeper layers of feeling and behavior. So far we have been unable to disentangle the influences of reading from the consequences of other activities, and perhaps we never shall. Just as we reject statements that comics or mystery stories are a sole cause of delinquency or crime so must we reject the hypothesis that a book or story usually operates singly to produce favorable effects. We know that the impact of reading is related to constellations of factors in litera- ture, in people, and in the settings in which reading is done. Impact is a resultant of numerous and interacting variables, among them being the nature of the message, the structure of the situation, the reader's previous experiences and expectations, and his personality and value systems. The process of effect is highly complex and not easily predictable.70 71 Worley conducted a study to ascertain if developmental task situations in stories were perceived by youngsters and, if so, to determine the youngsters' reactions to them. Using two basal 7O 7IStinson E. Worley, "Developmental Task Situations in Stories," The Reading Teacher, XXI (November, 1967), pp. 145-148. Ibid.. p. 410. rea: SEYE dE‘i’i 30 readers appropriate to Worley's fifth and sixth grade subjects, a seven-member adult jury selected twelve stories containing various developmental task situations. Each of the 1,500 subjects was requested to describe (in writing) something in the story he liked. The stories were ranked according to (1) the presence of develop- mental task situations described therein and (2) their frequency in the subjects' written descriptions. A coefficient of correlation between the two ranks was .81 for grade five and .84 for grade six. Worley concluded that children in grades five and six describe developmental task situations in stories and that their interest in stories is in proportion to the developmental task situations the stories present. Lukenbill cited two studies conducted to determine if the mere reading of literature would affect readers' attitudes. First, Tatara sought to ascertain the effect of a supplementary reading program of selected fiction about the scientist on the ideas about scientists expressed by certain groups of high school seniors. Using both an experimental and control group, he concluded that the experimental group, which had been exposed to four novels which presented the scientist in a positive mode, had a statistically higher regard for scientists than did the control group which had not been exposed to the selected noVels.7 72Walter Thomas Tatara, "The Effect of a Supplementary Reading Program of Selected Fiction about the Scientist on Senior High School Students" (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, New York University, 1962), as cited by W. Bernard Lukenbill, "A Working Bibliography of American Doctoral Dissertations in Children's and Adolescents' Literature, 1930-1971," Occasional Paper of the Graduate School of Library Science, No. 103 (Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1972), p. 8. 31 Then, The Negro was . . . the subject of Hayes' investigation. She attempted to determine if reading literary works would modify certain attitudes toward Negroes held by secondary students from a white, urban environment. She found that the exposure did have an effect in improving the subjects' overall attitude toward the Negro; however, when tested eight months later, the game group displayed some evidence of attitude regression.7 In 1968 Fisher74 reported a study he conducted to determine the use of reading and discussion in affecting attitudinal change in children. Using as subjects the students in eighteen fifth grade classes from different socio-economic levels, Fisher assigned two classes from each level to each of three treatment groups. Six selected stories about American Indians were read (sans discussion) by one group; a second group had discussions pursuant to reading; a third group, as control, had neither the reading nor the dis- cussions. A Test of Attitudes Toward American Indians for Children in the Upper Elementary Grades was constructed by Fisher. The instrument was administered, on a pre-post basis, to the three treatment groups involved in the experiment. Fisher also tested 73Marie Therese Hayes, "An Investigation of the Impact of Reading on Attitudes of Racial Prejudice" (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Boston University School of Education, 1969), as cited by W. Bernard Lukenbill,"A Working Bibliography of American Doctoral Dissertations in Children's and Adolescents' Literature. 1930-1971," Occasional Paper of the Graduate School of Library Science, No. 103 (Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1972 , p. 9. 74Frank L. Fisher, "Influences of Reading and Discussion on the Attitudes of Fifth Graders Toward American Indians," ggurnal of Educational Research, LXII (November, 1968), pp. 130- 134. 32 for relationships between attitude change and the variables of IO, reading achievement, socio-economic status, race, and sex. Fisher found that the attitudes of the two treatment groups that read the selected stories changed significantly while those of the control group did not; and, that the group which engaged in discussion pursuant to reading changed attitude more than the group that only read. Further, results of Fisher's correlations between pre-and-post treatment attitudes revealed that subjects with low attitudes initially made the greatest gains. He noted that the amount of attitude change ". . . was not great numerically even though the differences between the treatment groups were signifi- cant." Nevertheless, he concluded that The results of this study support the accepted premise that iiii‘llinl'$23125,-fisaiiiieiiil‘13?ailitfilitcfiliééii?" Two factors may be considered limitations of the study by Fisher. No determination was made as to whether the attitude changes evidenced were temporary or sustained. No determination was made as to whether the attitude changes helped the subjects in actual social adjustment to American Indians. In a study similar to F. Fisher, Tauran focused on the attitudinal change toward Eskimos displayed by third grade children. Positive and negative stories and articles about Eskimos were given to the various treatment groups. From this empirical approach, the author concluded that "racial ideas can be influenced in the positive or negative direction depending upon the kind of reading presented.“ However, it 7516id.. p. 133. 33 was pointed out that children's racial ideas are much less rigid than those of adu1ts.76 In 1945, Lorang77 made an extensive study to determine the effect of printed matter on the reader; in 1968, she replicated the study.78 Detailed questionnaires were used to survey high school students in the United States and a few foreign countries; 2,308 subjects were involved in the original study and 3,216 in the replication. The subjects were requested to identify books and magazines which they believed to have had an effect on them--good or bad. An adult panel of judges evaluated the books and magazines identified by the subjects; 31 percent of the printed matter was judged as unfit for high school students to read. Lorang reported a positive correlation between the kind of book and the kind of effect. Analysis of the subjects' responses revealed that 86 percent stated that books had aroused their emotions; 53 percent stated 76Rouland Herman Tauran, “The Influences of Reading on the Attitudes of Third Graders Toward Eskimos" (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Maryland, 1967), as cited by W. Bernard Lukenbill, "A Working Bibliography of American Doctoral Disserta- tions in Children's and Adolescents' Literature, 1930-1971," Occasional Paper of the Graduate School of Library Science, No. 103 (Urbana-Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1972), p. 10. 77Sister Mary Corde Lorang, Burningylce: The Moral and Emotional Effects of Reading (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1968). 78Lorang's first study was "The Effect of Reading on Moral Conduct and Emotional Experience" (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, The Catholic University of America, 1945). 34 they had attempted to imitate a character; and 42 percent said they had behaved in some way because they had read about it.79 Lorang concluded that a good book or magazine usually had a good effect and that a bad one usually had a bad effect. Her conclusion was supported by direct quotations from subjects' responses. It should be noted that in Lorang's work, attitudinal changes were neither measured nor explicitly purported to be. Also to be noted are these limitations of the study: 1. Items on the questionnaire sometimes appeared to be leading. 2. Conclusions were almost totally based upon experiences reported by the subjects; hence, accuracy of the responses and the conclusions would be difficult to determine. 3. It could be argued that the population sample was not representative due to the large number of subjects being enrolled in parochial schools--in the United States and abroad. 4. Professional literature reflects that in many instances the effect of reading is not conscious and therefore would be beyond the reporting capabilities of the subjects. The paucity of research analyzing the effects of reading, as well as the inconclusiveness of that which does exist, may be attributed to the serious limitations of research techniques for 79Another thought-provoking finding was that the number of books identified per subject increased 1,400 percent and the number of magazines 288 percent from the first study to the second. 1”“ HH LxeYA 35 investigation in this as in other facets of the sociology of reading. These limitations, it should be noted, are not unique to research in reading and literature--they also exist in psychological and sociological studies of children. Nevertheless, it is clear that improved and increased research is needed in this area. Studies of the Content of Children's Trade Books Previous research conducted to analyze or assess the content of trade books fbr children and young people is minimal and relatively limited in scope; research, especially that of Lukenbill8O and 8] in the area of content analysis supports this view. Bekkedal, The great preponderance of research which exists in the area of content analysis and assessment of children's books has been done for partial fulfillment of academic degree requirements. A thorough review of the professional literature revealed forty- one such studies conducted in the United States prior to 1976-- four masters' theses and thirty-seven doctoral dissertations. The earliest intensive research effort, in the United States, to study the content of children's trade books appears to 80W. Bernard Lukenbill, "A Working Bibliography of American Doctoral Dissertations in Children's and Adolescents' Literature, 1930-1971," Occasional Paper of the Graduate School of Library Sciegce, No. 103 (Urbana;Champaign: University of Illinois Press, 1972 . 8lTekla K. Bekkedal, "Content Analysis of Children's Books," Library Trends: Research in the Fields of Reading and Communications, ed. by Alice Lohrer, XXII, No. 2 (Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Graduate School of Library Science, 1973), p. 110. 36 82 Examination of the have been that of Helen Martin in 1934. research of children's trade book content that has been conducted in the United States from 1934 to 1976 revealed that, of the forty-one studies, 27 percent were reported prior to 1960; 24 per- cent were reported during the 19605; and, 49 percent were reported in 1970-1976. In 1973, on the basis of her research in the area of content analysis of children's trade books, Bekkedal stated that The majority of the content studies can be grouped into one of three subject areas: studies of human relationships depicted in books, studies on values and cultural content incorporated into books, and studies concerned with the 83 portrayal of spec1f1c rac1al and ethn1c groups 1n books. The review of professional literature related to the present study led this researcher to concur with the content analysis subject areas designated by Bekkedal. The major portion of previous research pertinent to the present research may be appropriately identified (in this researcher's judgment) as being concerned with human relationships and/or values and cultural content as depicted in children's trade books. 84 In 1966, Shaw reported her study of themes recurring in children's books published in the United States from 1850 through 82Helen Martin, "Nationalism in Children's Literature" (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Chicago, 1934), as cited by Tekla K. Bekkedal, Ibid., pp. 112-113 and 125. 83 84Jean Duncan Shaw, "An Historical Survey of Themes Recurrent in Selected Children's Books Published in America Since 1850" (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Temple University, 1966 . ’ Bekkedal, loc. cit. 37 1964. The purpose of Shaw's historical survey was to ascertain whether children's literature reflected the values of American society within the time period selected. Two constructs were essential for the methodology of Shaw's study. One, a time line of important events in American history was developed. Two, a list of themes most frequently found in children's books was compiled pursuant to analysis of post-1850 American children's literature textbooks. Shaw classified the themes identified into six categories: (1) Searching for Values, (2) Problems of Growing Up, (3) Travel and Understanding People in Foreign Lands, (4) Lives of Heroes, (5) Escape Literature, and (6) Urge to Know.85 Shaw reported that thousands of children's books were read86 and their themes identified. The themes were then compared with the historical event(s) correlating with the publication date of the books. Based on the findings of her study, Shaw concluded that children's books could, indeed, be classified according to recognizable themes. She further concluded that It is clear that the books written for children have varied in popularity as the need to know has grown, and that themes employed in writing for children have indeed illumi- nated social, economic, and cultural influences in America to the extent, in the cases of civil liberties and the space race, of moving ahead of events. The second hypothesis, that historical milestones may have a relationship with popularity of certain themes has 85Ihid., p. 55. 86The exact nunber of books read was not given. 38 also been evidenced. There have been no glaring incon- sistencies between events and themes, and in some cases recurring conditions have consistently seen a recurring pattern in the stories for children, as in the case of three high prosperity periods showing coincidental high levels of popularity in fantasy stories.8 Based on the idea that children's books are important to the socialization process and to personality development, Hubbell88 conducted a research study in which he attempted to answer the questions "what type of American childhood is described in trade books, what themes are put forth as important to the developmental progress of the American child?"89 From the Children's Room of the Greensboro Public Library, Hubbell randomly selected fifty children's books. The selection criteria were: (1) copyright between 1940 and 1950, (2) of interest to children ages 7 to 17 years, (3) primary characters of ages 5 to 12 years, and (4) modern American children portrayed in everyday situations. Two of Hubbell's findings are pertinent to the present study: The culture of these fictional children does not, however, perfectly correlate with the culture of the real-life American child. For it is the culture of a nation which has wars, but no murders; orphans, but not of divorce (there is only one passing reference to divorce in the fifty books); . . . injuries from machines, but no death, 87Ibid.. pp. 300-301. 88William K. Hubbell, "The Role of Children's Books as Socializing Agents" (Unpublished M.A. thesis, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, 1951). 891bid., p. 23. 39 except as a past and long-adjusted—to-event (not even pets die); anger against siblings, but not hatred; . . . . the child does not know the meaning of parental dislike or neglect.90 The design of Hubbell's study was designated "a species of content analysis;" it was, in fact, a form of content assessment. This discrepancy between the actual design of the study and its designated label was partially explained by Hubbell in a two page note preceding Chapter II when he wrote: One year after the completion of this essay, Bernard Berelson published his Content Analysis in Communication Research (Glencoe, 111.: The Free Press, 1952)thich would have been an invaluable guide for a more intensive analysis of these children's books.9 Hubbell took excerpts from books to ". . . draw a set of themes basic to American childhood (a§_presented jn_these volumes) which structure the attitudinal patterns of behavior of these children toward one another, toward adults, and toward the world "92 However, no apparent attempts were made in which they live. to categorize themes, nor was the frequency of theme occurrence given. Indeed, Hubbell stated that he had "taken singlg_repre- sentations of certain themes as significant."93 Hubbell seemed to reach numerous conclusions without substantial evidence. He offered only one book as support for his contention: "Thus it is that parents will often leave to the 901616.. pp. 54-55. 136. 9‘16id., p. 25a. 92 93 Ibid., p. 23. Ibid., p. 25a. 40 children the solution of their peer problems, recognizing (no doubt unconsciously) the socializing as well as the psychological 94 Hubbell cited only one book to support value of such a course.“ his conclusion that: . children who read these books may well emerge with the well-implemented idea that it is a man's world, that girls who compete in sports and other activities appropriate to males are, while amusing, nothlfilling their proper role.95 He held that "There is, however, the tendency among the boys to admire the tomboy as a buddy while dismissing the 'nice' little 96 These girl as boring" but gave no support for the conclusion. examples are only a few of the many conclusions Hubbell reached with little or no supportive evidence being offered. It should be noted also that the study was further limited in that the researcher's sample was drawn from only one source. In 1962, John Shepherd97 reported an analytic study in which sixteen books were scrutinized to determine the character treatment in each. The books examined were most frequently selected by middle and upper grade students, a fact revealed by librarians, teachers, and parents. According to the researcher, examples represented nearly a century of writing and all genres of literature. 94Ibid.. pp. 129-130. 951bid., p. 140. 96Ibid., p. 140. 97John P. Shepherd, "The Treatment of Characters in Popular Children's Fiction,“ Elementary English, Vol. 39 (November, 1962), pp. 672-676. 41 In Shepherd's study, both favorable and unfavorable characters were identified for each book in the sample. The characters were compared and categorized according to the following classifications: (1) race, (2) nationality, (3) religion, (4) physical appearance, (5) socio-economic status, and (6) standards of conduct and attitude. Each category was then rated as positive or negative treatment of characters. 0n the basis of his research, Shepherd concluded that . . . heroes and heroines strongly tend to be clean, white, healthy, handsome, Protestant Christian, middle-class people. . . . Because the number of favorable characters is almost three times in these books (152 to 60) young readers meet many more American heroes than they meet villains. In addition, when an unfavorable character was portrayed as an American, there were no evil qualities associated with his "Americanness." On the other hand, villains portrayed as foreigners were often given some negative national stereotype. With respect to general behavior, all of the villains were painted in evil, un- acceptable ways. On thS other hand, not all the heroes and heroines were paragons. 8 99 completed a study to ascertain the inter- In 1963, Homze personal relationships (adult-child, child-adult, and child-child) revealed in children's realistic fiction with United States settings. Book samples for each five year period from 1920 to 1960 were analyzed to determine changes in the treatment of inter- personal relationships. Homze also examined such background information as number and sex of child characters, family units, 98 99Alma Homze, "Interpersonal Relationships in Children's Literature, 1920 to 1960")(Unpub1ished Ed.D. Dissertation, Pennsylvania State University, 1963). Ibid., p. 672. 0C Ch. id at: 42 occupations of adults, as well as socio-economic status and ethnic identification of characters. Homze found that the books analyzed depicted a predominately white, middle class American society in which children direct their own activities. She perceived indications of trends toward: (1) smaller families; (2) increased mobility of characters; (3) character interaction in urban, rather than rural, locations; (4) child characters' preference for interaction in unsupervised areas; (5) adult characters being less critical of, and less authoritarian in, their relationships with children; (6) child characters being more critical of adults; (7) more competition among child and adult characters; and (8) less expression of affection among child and adult characters. Homze concluded that it is important for parents, teachers, and librarians to know what interpersonal relationships are revealed in children's books because children may,use literary models to extend or enforce their own behaviors. In a study very similar to Homze's, forty-seven books of 100 to realistic fiction for children were analyzed by Ziegler determine the interpersonal behaviors of characters and such back- ground information as characters' age, sex, ethnic identification, socio-economic status, and adult character occupations. The major distinctions between Homze's study and Ziegler's are that the latter 100Carlos Ziegler, "The Image of the Physically Handicapped in Children's Literature" (Unpublished Ed.D. Dissertation, Temple University, l971),as cited by Tekla K. Bekkedal, Ibid., p. 112. 43 focused exclusively on books containing at least one physically handicapped character and the study sample was drawn from books published from 1940 to 1969. Based on study findings, Ziegler concluded that children's literature increasingly depicts diverse types of physical handicaps, more honest criticism of the handi- capped child by other children, and more realistic life situations. A study to examine the social values revealed in literature ‘0‘ in 1965. Seven for young children was reported by Chambers social values described by experts in child growth and development and child psychology were identified for exploration in the study; they were: (1) the person as an individual; (2) peer group rela- tions; (3) family living; (4) neighborhood and community living; (5) national and world living; (6) social values such as fairness, honesty, and cooperation; and, (7) the passage of time and social change. Using content analysis, Chambers detenmined the frequency and intensity with which these values appeared in content. The study was designed to provide for the analysis of all the fiction books for children ages five through nine published by The Viking Press and Harcourt, Brace and World in 1963-1964. This specification limited the study in several ways. The study sample included only twenty-nine books. Utilizing books published by only two companies could hardly be representative of a field in which about one hundred publishers were then engaged. Another limitation 10IDewey W. Chambers, "An Exploratory Study of Social Values in Children's Literature" (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Wayne State University, 1965). - 44 exists in that frequently publishing companies seem to favor publishing books of a particular nature or genre; therefore, bias would likely be a factor though it was not alluded to in the study. Chambers concluded that the social values examined were treated in a unifbnmly weak manner. He found that there was little opportunity to explore either racial or religious differences, that friendships most frequently depicted were between middle- class Caucasian children, and that the stories had settings in "Anywhere USA" neighborhoods. Chambers also concluded that If one were to assume that education in social values does result from the reader's interacting with the fiction books selected for this study, that assumption can be challenged. If one were to assume that modern literature for children contained the social value producing material that traditional fiction is reputed to have contained this assumption can also be challenged. Similar forces seem to affect the editorial policies of both publishing houses to such an extent that any given social value analyzed in this study was shown to have had an 85% chance of being dsglt with in the same intensity order by both publishers.1 ‘03 analyzed Newbery In a related study, Lowry and Chambers Medal Award books to determine the American middle-class moral and ethical values presented, the frequency and intensity of those values, and the trends reflected in five year periods from 1922 through 1966. The writings of ten experts in education and sociology 1”Ibid.. pp. 81-82. 103Heath W. Lowry and Dewey Chambers, "A Content Analysis: Middle-Class Morality and Ethical Values in the Newbery Books," English Record, 18:20-31 (April 1968). 1191 The the boo the int the The her me hi the ha 111 hr: Wit-l 45 were utilized to identify the values to be examined in the study. The values identified and analyzed were: (1) civic and community responsibility, (2) cleanliness and neatness, (3) importance of education, (4) freedom and liberty, (5) good manners, (6) honesty, (7) initiative and achievement, (8) justice and equality, (9) loyalty, (lO sacredness of marriage, (11) importance of religion, (12) responsibility to family, (13) self-reliance, (l4) sexual morality, and (15) thrift and hard work. Data analysis revealed that all of the books utilized in the study contained some of the values being analyzed and some books included all of them. Lowry and Chambers concluded that the values presented were treated positively and with only moderate intensity; this latter conclusion was interpreted as indicating that the books analyzed were not didactic in any traditional sense. The researchers found that frequently several of the basic values were treated with strong intensity in some of the books not giving over-all emphasis to all values. Lowry and Chambers concluded that the books analyzed only sometimes provide opportunities for the reader to explore the criterion-values. In the trend analysis facet of their research, Lowry and Chambers found relatively strong intensity of the treatment of values in 1932 through 1936 and an even stronger emphasis in 1957 through 1961. However, they found a sharp decrease in the intensity with which values were treated in 1962 through 1966. 46 104 in 1971, reported the results of an Carmichael, investigation of the treatment of four selected social values and the corresponding value themes in books for children; the values examined were justice, work, obedience, and knowledge. A sample of 126 books was drawn from selected issues of two annual recom- mended book lists,105 from 1949 to 1969. Carmichael found that (1) one of the four selected values was a major theme in fifty books-~or forty percent of the sample; (2) ninety-four percent of the books sampled mentioned at least one of the four values; (3) acceptance of responsibility was the theme occurring most frequently; and (4) the theme least emphasized was the belief in equal opportunity for all people. I 106 revealed the In another study reported in 1971, Noble results of a study which differed from all its predecessors in that social values were not examined, but rather, three specific social institutions: the family, the church, and the school. The research technique employed by Noble was content assessment. A sample of 125 trade books, drawn randomly from selected recommended sources of children's books, was utilized. 104taro1yn Wilson Carmichael, "A Study of Selected Social Values as Reflected in Contemporary Realistic Fiction for Children" (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Michigan State University, 1971). 105The two lists utilized in Carmichael's study were the American Library Association's "Notable Children's Books" and the New York Times' "Outstanding Children's Books of the Year." 106Judith Ann Noble, “The Home, the Church, and the School as Portrayed in Contemporary Realistic Fiction for Children“ (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Michigan State University, 1971). fro; 9011' of 1 and fave stuc a mi icti and ligh sahp were 411‘ nonn lheli 47 All of the works were American realistic fiction and were published from 1965 through 1969. Noble classified the data into four cate- gories: the importance of family and family structure, the importance of religion and religious education, the importance of education, and the development of personal responsibility. Noble found that the family was generally portrayed in a favorable light; however, stepfamilies and stepparents were revealed in a strongly negative light. In congruence with many previous studies was the finding that the family was generally depicted as a middle-class, white one. Information on religion and religious activities was found to be minimal in the books sampled. School and education were found to be depicted in a predominately negative light though they were treated in three-quarters of the books sampled. Noble's findings revealed that modern educational methods were seldom described'and that teachers were depicted in a stereo- typic fashion. She found only one child character demonstrating nonresponsible behavior; all others were responsible to an over- whelming degree In 1972. 8ekkeda1'07 reported results of a research study to analyze what has been contemporary realistic fiction for children in the United States since the Second World War. The primary purpose of Bekkedal's study was to determine if the trend ‘n—A 107Tekla K. Bekkedal, "A Study of Contemporary Realistic Fiction for Children Published in the United States Since World War II" (Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, University of Illinois, 1972), as cited in Tekla K. Bekkedal, "Content Analysis of Children's Books," .Library Trends: Research in the Fields of Reading and Communications, ed. by Alice Lohrer, XXII, No. 2 (Urbana, 1111: University of Illinois Graduate School of Library Science, 1973), pp. 109-126. 48 toward a new realism, which had been alluded to innumerable times, for a number of years, in the professional literature, was actually observable in children's trade books. Bekkedal drew her preliminary list of contemporary realistic fictional books for children from the Book Review Digest, beginning with the year 1940. Six volumes published at five year intervals were utilized. Books were not screened by subject or theme. The final sample was comprised of thirty books from each of the six years studied. The focus of Bekkedal's study was on background material contained in the books, with four aspects of content examined: physical settings, group membership of the characters, structure of the protagonist's family unit, and selected literary character- ' istics. Data collection and analysis were according to . . twenty-four categories such as racial and/or ethnic identification of the main character(s), number and sex of children in the family, occupation of the father and/or mother, and primary and secondary theme of the story. The data were compared with statistical sources (primarily census data), wherever possible, to ascertain how closely the society pictured in the books matched actual contemporary society.10 Bekkedal concluded that, on the whole, books in the study sample appeared to realistically represent the majority of American families. She indicated the inadequate representation, however, of . . . all those people who differ from the majority in some way--the child whose parents are divorced, the American 108Ibid.. pp. 121-122. 49 Indian child, the lower-class family, the family with strong ethnic tiesO the child whose family moves frequently, to name but a few. Other conclusions made by Bekkedal and pertinent to the present study include: The trends toward increased realism in books in this sample appear to be either in those areas where changes are obvious [sic] accepted or where needs have been articulated. Subjects which could be considered controversial were, by and large, avoided.no . Studies conducted to analyze and assess the content of trade books for children and young people are few in number; results of the research reported are limited and inconclusive. It is clear, however, that research results have provided interested adults with concrete information about various aspects of the content of literature for children and young people. Further, it is evident that research of this nature is increasing in quantity as well as quality and that information is being provided about a greater variety of subjects. Chapter‘Summary In Chapter II, a review of the professional literature in two research areas was presented: (1) the effect of books on attitude development in children and young people and (2) studies of the content of children's trade books. The design of the study will be presented in Chapter III. 109 110 Ibid., p. 122. Ibid., p. 122. DE C0 as (111 ut f0 re 111’ 58 th Th 50! Th Dn CHAPTER III DESIGN OF THE STUDY Historically, studies of children's books have dealt largely with such things as reading interests and book selection. A com- paratively recent development has been the study of actual book content. The research methods used are content analysis and content assessment. In content analysis, preconcieved categories and specific items for analysis are delineated and are then identified and tabulated from book content. Conversely, content assessment utilizes only very broad categories thereby facilitating the researcher whose expressed interest is in examining book content for all possible items for analysis within the broad categories. In this study, the use of content assessment facilitated the researcher in exploring realistic fiction for children to deter- mine the information, behaviors, and attitudes relating to human sexuality as revealed therein. Matters crucial to the design of this study are detailed this chapter. Sources used for the selection of books are given. The procedures utilized to select the books, to draw a random sample, to gather the data, and to assess the data are described. The manner in which raters were used to determine reliability is presented. 50 in 51 Book Selection and Sampling The sources used for identifying the books were: (1) Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, all issues of 1965 through 1975; (2) Children's Catalog, editions and supplements published in 1965 through 1975; (3) The Horn Book Magazine, all issues of 1965 through 1975; and (4) the Library Journal, all issues of 1965 through 1975. These sources were selected for use because: (1) They are profes- sionally reputable; (2) They publish a relatively substantial number of book reviews; (3) They have been in publication for the 1965-1974 time span; and, (4) They are independently published. From these sources, books meeting the following criteria were identified: (1) original copyright date during the years 1965 through 1974; (2) originally published in the United States; (3) realistic fiction portraying a contemporary setting in the United States; (4) of interest to young people of ages ten through sixteen. Each source was examined for books meeting these criteria. All acceptable titles were recorded, alphabetically filed by author, 1]] A record was kept of and arranged by year, 1965 through 1974. each source reviewing each book, as well as how the book was rated. In data collection it was discovered that one book included in the study sample did not meet one of the four criterions specified above. Jesus Song by R. R. Knudson had its major setting in the backwoods of Canada, a fact not revealed in the review of the book 111The number of titles identified as meeting the criteria were, by year: 82 in 1965, 86 in 1966, 94 in 1967, 95 in 1968, 96 in 1969, 67 in 1970, 91 in 1971, 90 in 1972, 94 in 1973, and 101 in 1974. 52 as presented in the September, 1973 issue of the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. Nevertheless, the book was retained and analyzed as a part of the study sample. This action seemed justified for several reasons. The protagonist was depicted as a teenage girl who left her home in Washington, D.C. to follow a predominately young group from that area to Canada with the hope of joining their commune and finding her religious self. Though the major portion of the story did take place in Canada, it was in a community populated primarily by United States citizens. Further, the story did begin and end with its setting in the United States. Finally, the book does represent the trend witnessed in recent years of young people moving about the world and experimenting with corrmunal living, exploring various religious cults, and the like. Portions of two other books included in the study sample were set in foreign countries. In The Country Cousin by Betty Cavanna the protagonist had a brief visit to France. You Can't Make it by figs by James L. Summers included a school sponsored trip to Mexico as a part of the story. In both books, these excursions were merely brief visits; in view of this, neither book was in conflict with the specified criteria. Pursuant to the identification of titles pertinent to the study, a number was recorded for each title in the book list for 112 each year. A table of random digits provided the numerical order in which the books were drawn. 112A11en L. Edwards, Experimental Design in Psychological Research (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1968), pp. 390-394. 53 The random sample of books included in this study was drawn from a total of 896 books and consisted of 100 realistic fiction books for young people ten through sixteen years of age. Ten titles for each year, 1965-1974, were randomly selected, from the book list for each year, to comprise the Master Book List. (The Master Book List is presented as the first division of the Bibliography of this study; see pages 411 - 416.) The Master Book List was then arranged alphabetically by author. A number was recorded for each of the 100 books comprising 113 was used to deter- the ten year list. A table of random digits mine which three books from the Master Book List would be read by the raters for the reliability check for the study. Methodology Berelson terms the research technique utilized in non- quantitative studies of communication as "content assessment." The technique of "content assessment" refers to "judgments about content which does not refer to the precise magnitude with which the symbols appear."n4 Utilization of content assessment appeared to be the most appropriate_means of data collection for this study. Indications which seemed to substantiate this judgment are evidenced in the positions held forth by Berelson: "316m. H4Bernard Berelson, Content Analysis in Communications Research (Glencoe, Illinois: The Free Press, 1952), p. 128. 54 1. "Qualitative" analysis is often based upon presence- absence of particular content (rather than relative frequencies). 2. "Qualitative" analysis is relatively less concerned with the content as such than with content as a "reflection" of "deeper" phenomena. 3. "Qualitative" analysis employs less formalized cate- gorization than quantitative analysis. 4. "Qualitative" analysis utilizes more complex themes than quantitative analysis. Two methods are frequently used in conducting theme or topic assessment. Specific coding units, established prior to data collection, are set up in grid or similar form; findings in the data collection process are tabulated thereon. The second method entails the excerpting of specific examples from the material being studied. Since this study was a descriptive analysis, the second method was employed primarily because it permits more "f1exibi1ity."116 The general subject investigated in this study was human sexuality as revealed in juvenile American realistic fiction with contemporary settings. Using the questions specified earlier in this study, three categories were identified as basic for assessment. The categories were: (1) sex information, (2) sexual behaviors, and (3) sexual attitudes, as revealed in book content. Each book was read in its entirety because it was thought that differences in information, behaviors, and attitudes relating 1”Ibid.. pp. 119, 123. 125, and 126. 116Alexander L. George, "Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches to Content Analysis," Trends in Content Analysis, ed. by Ithiel de Sola Pool (Urbana: University ofilllinois Press, 1959), p. 9. 55 to human sexuality might well be found throughout each book. Excerpts identified as relating, implicitly or explicitly, to any of the three categories were recorded--regardless of length. The recorded passages consisted of sentences, paragraphs, and/or longer passages. Further, gll_findings related to the study were recorded, whether positive, negative, or neutral. The recording procedure used by the researcher was the same as that used by the raters who were involved in the study. These passages were then grouped into sub-categories within each of the three categories. The numbers and names of the sub- categories were dictated by the examples found in the books. This technique is in keeping with George's notion of the "flexibility" 117 Further, permitted in qualitative studies, such as this one. this technique has been utilized in several content assessments conducted as doctoral studies. Noble's Ph.D. dissertation is one outstanding example of research where this technique was utilized."8 Using the examples found in each of the categories and sub- categories, responses were given to the questions raised in the study to describe the human sexual information, behaviors, and attitudes revealed in contemporary realistic fiction for readers aged ten through sixteen. Berelson holds that there is no clear-cut dichotomy between quantitative and qualitative analysis, even with matters of frequency. 117 118 Ibid. Noble, op. cit., pp. 53-58. 56 Just as quantitative analysis assigns relative frequencies to different qualities (or categories), so qualitative analysis usually contains quantitative statements in rough form. They may be less explicit but they are nonetheless frequency state- ments about the incidence of general categories.1 9 He clarifies this statement by explaining that quantitative terms such as "repeatedly,“ "rarely," "usually," "often," "emphasis," etc., are frequently utilized; and, that statements such as these could be reformulated into tabular forms with numerical values.120 This procedure was used when clarification or emphasis of certain findings in this study seemed desirable. Clearly, there are limitations inherent in this procedure. For example: mere presence or absence of a factor may be signifi- cant; and the contextual setting of some findings may involve more intensity, etc., than others. This being true, the procedure was used and, to provide for more precise interpretations, limitations were delineated. Reliability The reliability of a list of symbols (e.g., Gray, Kaplan, and Laswell, 1949) may be high, but the reliability of a complex semantic analysis is another matter. Presumably the use of complicated and sophisticated categories creates serious problems in reliability. This is the problem referred to in our discussion of "qualitative" analysis, the problem of the balance between reliability of the procedures on the one hand and the richness of the categories on the other. What does it matter that we gain reliability if in the process we lose all our insights? This critical area of content analysis, i.e., the reliability of samplex categories, still needs to be adequately handled. 119 120 121 Berelson, op. cit., p. 116. Ibid.. pp. 117-118. Ibid., p. 173. 57 The richness and flexibility permitted by use of three broad categories was deemed highly important for this study; npt, however, at the expense of reliability. The three broad categories (infor- mation, behaviors, and attitudes) were used and checks for reliability were made, independently, by two raters in an effort to gain the precarious balance to which Berelson referred. Three books that were randomly drawn as explained earlier in this chapter were assessed first by the investigator and then, independently, by each of the two raters. Directions for the raters, recording forms, and definitions pertinent to the study are presented in Appendix A. To determine the level of agreement of the two raters and the investigator, a simplistic formula was used:122 R = 3(9,2,3) C1 + C2 + c3 In this formula, C1,2,3 represents the number of category assign- ments agreed upon by the raters and the investigator. C1 + 02 + C3 represents the total category assignments made by the raters and the investigator. The appropriateness of this formula for studies of this nature has been substantiated by Budd, Thorp, and Donohew.123 122Robert C. North, Ole Holsti, M. George Zaninovich, and Dina A. Zinnes, Content Analysis: A Handbook with Applications for, the Study of International Crisis (Evanston, Illinois: Northwestern University Press, 1963). 123Richard w. Budd, Robert K. Thorp, and Lewis Donohew, Content Analysis of Communications (New York: MacMillan Company, 1967), p. 68. 58 Category assignments made by the two raters and the investi- gator were tabulated for each of the three selected books in each of the three designated categories: human sexual attitudes, infor- mation, and behaviors. Results of these tabulations are presented in Tables 1 and 2. The Holsti formula was used to compute the level of agreement among the two raters and the investigator for each of the three books in each of the three category assignments: attitudes, information, and behaviors. These percent levels of agreement are presented in Table 3. The formula was also used to compute an overall level of agreement for the two raters and the investigator: 3(19) category assignments agreed upon 57 = -—-= 58.163% 98 total category assignments made 98 The tabulation of category assignments made by the two raters and the investigator quickly revealed large discrepancies in the number of assignments made--especially in the attitude category. These discrepancies were, of course, made even more obvious with the results of the Holsti formula computations. Pursuant to the researcher's tabulations and computations, discrepancies in the category assignments made by the two raters and the investigator were explored. Excerpts which were treated in differing ways were examined. In the case of I Can Stgp Any Time I Want by James L. Trivers, the discrepancy among the assignments made to the attitude category was interesting for two reasons. First, both rater two 59 * TABLE l.--Category Assignments Made by the Raters and the Investigator. Attitudes Information Behaviors Rl R2 I R1 R2 I Rl R2 I ICan Stop Any Time I Want by 6 l6 l8 0 0 0 l4 15 l4 James L. Trivers Marchers for the Dream by Natalie 3 l 3 0 O 0 0 O 0 S. Carlson Little League l l Stepson by l O 3 l O 0 0 Curtis Bishop - *Rl = Rater l; R2 = Rater 2; I = Investigator. TABLE 2.--The Number of Category Assignments Agreed Upon by the Raters and the Investigator. Attitudes Information Behaviors I Can Stop Any Time I Want by 4 0 ll James L. Trivers Marchers for the Dream by Natalie l O 0 S. Carlson Little League 0 Stepson by 0 0 Curtis Bishop 60 TABLE 3.--Levels of Agreement Among the Raters and the Investigator. Attitudes Information Behaviors I Can Stgp Any Time I Want by 29.268% l00.0% 76.744% James L. Trivers Marchers for the Dream by Natalie 42.857% l00.0% 100.0% 5. Carlson Little League Stepson by 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% Curtis Bishop and the investigator had a large number of entries (l6 and l8, respectively) while rater one had made only six. Secondly, assign- ments made by the raters and the investigator in the information and behaviors categories for the same book seemed far more compatible. Discrepancies such as this were initially considered as likely to be due to errors made in the recording process used by the raters and the investigator. While not difficult, the recording process was most certainly tedious because book excerpts applicable to more than one category were frequently encountered and as such were to have been assigned to each of the applicable categories. The following excerpt from the Trivers book, for example, should have been categorized as revealing both a behavior and an attitude. "I made the Press and Newsda ." "Oh yeah?" I_3§k5d, steppifigxback from the doorway. "Yeah. They say I raped a blond secretary over in Everdale." He made a noise that sounded like a giggle (p. Sl). 61 This particular excerpt was assigned by both raters and the investi- gator to the behavior category; however, only rater two and the investigator assigned it to the attitude category as well. In the book by Trivers rater two and the investigator identified thirteen excerpts revealing both_attitudes ang_behaviors; rater one identified only three of those excerpts as belonging to both_the attitude and behavior categories. It is conceivable that differences such as these could be due to recording.an excerpt in one category and inadvertently failing to do so in another. Because the other two books used for evaluation contained so little data pertinent to the study, this notion is difficult to substantiate. While errors in the recording process may have caused some discrepancies in the category assignments made by the two raters and the investigator, it seems likely--based on analysis of the excerpts involved--that partial cause for the discrepancies may be attributed to relative skill in critical reading. One of several instances of an apparent failure to read critically was when rater one classified as sexual behavior an excerpt in which a mother winked at her teen- age son during a casual discussion. Rater one, in another instance using I Can Stop Any Time I yggt_by James L. Trivers, classified as revealing a sexual behavior this statement: "The sweet girlie voices came from the Falcon's back seat" (p. 7). Neither rater two nor the investigator concurred with this assignment. Indeed, it is difficult to surmise why the category assignment was made because the girls were with their boy- friends who were riding in the front seat as they chatted in the back. 62 Using the same book, rater two and the investigator classified the passage below as revealing a sexual attitude but rater one apparently interpreted it differently or, perhaps, overlooked it: Janey muttered something to herself. "Anyway, Graham, when you get out, I'll steal some booze from my house and we'll get really drunk and party, if that's what you like to do. I'll do anything for you, Graham" (p. 97). The level of agreement among the two raters and the investi- gator was clearly held to low percentages in several instances, as well as overall, due to rater one's analysis. When the Holsti formula was used to compute the level of agreement between (only) rater two and the investigator, quite a different picture emerged. The category assignments made by rater two and the investigator are presented in Table 4; Table 5 reveals category assignment agreement; Table 6 presents the levels of agreement for rater two and the investigator. The formula was also used to determine the overall level of agreement of rater two and the investigator: 2(35) category assignments agreed upon 70 = -—-= 95.890% 73 total category assignments made 73 Difficulties experienced in attempts to establish reliability in studies using content analysis or content assessment are fre- quently described in the professional literature on research methods. There seems to be a concensus that when low reliability levels are found, as in this study, it is often extremely difficult to determine where the fault lies. The problem may be in an otherwise qualified rater's competency in verbal flexibility or task compulsivity. The 63 problem may be in task complexity, including: directions, code units (categories), and recording procedures. The problem may be with the particular formula used to measure levels of rater agree— ment. Clearly, these problems are tedious and findings in studies where these problems exist are surely inconclusive. All of these factors point up the need for improved procedures for establishing reliability in content analysis and content assessment as research techniques. Another point to be stressed is that the level of agreement (reliability) in one study should not be indiscriminately compared to the level of agreement in another, because task complexity may not be reflected in percentages of agreement among raters or coders.124 Rationale for the Selection of Categories and Sub-Categories The three categories investigated in this study were based on the questions cited in Chapter I. These categories were (l) Sex Information, (2) Sexual Behariors, and (3) Sexual Attitudes, as revealed in contemporary American realistic fiction for young peOple. Specific sub-categories were not delineated before analysis of the books. This study was a descriptive analysis designed to determine whgt_was present; thus, the use of pre-conceived sub- categories might well have excluded some pertinent findings from inclusion in the study. 124Gilbert Sax, Empirical Foundations of Educational Research (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice—Hall, Inc., l968), p. 279. 64 TABLE 4.--Category Assignments Made by Rater Two and the Investigator. Attitudes Information Behaviors R2 I R2 I R2 I I Can Stop Any Time I Want by James L. Trivers l6 l8 0 0 l5 l4 Marchers for the Dream by Natalie S. Carlson l 3 0 0 0 0 Little League Stepson by Curtis Bishop 0 3 0 0 l l TABLE 5.--The Number of Category Assignments Agreed Upon by Rater Two and the Investigator. -‘——v— Attitudes Information Behaviors I Can Stop Any Time I Want by James L. Trivers l6 l l3 Marchers for the Dream by Natalie SI Carlson l l l Little League Stepson by Curtis BishOp O-q l l TABLE 6.--Levels of Agreement Between Rater Two and the Investigator. Attitudes Information Behaviors I Can Stop Any Time I Want by James L. Trivers 94.ll7% 100.0% 89.655% Marchers for the Dream by Natalie S. Carlson 50.0% l00.0% l00.0% Little League Stepson by Curtis Bishop .00% l00.0% 100.0% 65 Because changes in information, behaviors, and attitudes could occur in various parts of a book, each book was read twice in its entirety. Regardless of length, each passage that revealed information, behaviors, and/or attitudes regarding human sexuality was recorded. In addition to length, there were other variations in the passages recorded. Passages revealing information were recorded whether the information was accurate, inaccurate, or being sought. Passages revealing sexual behaviors were recorded whether the behaviOrs were normative or deviations from the apparent normative. Passages revealing attitudes were recorded whether they were positive, negative, or neutral. These passages were then grouped into sub-categories within each of the three categories. The numbers and names of the sub- categories were dictated by the examples found in the books. This technique is in keeping with George's notion of the "flexibility" permitted in qualitative studies, such as this one.125 Analysis of the Data After all 100 books had been read, the passages pertinent to this study were reread and placed in one of the three categories: information, behaviors, attitudes. During this process, sub- categories became apparent. In the category "Sex Information" two sub-categories were evidenced: types of information and sources of information. Seven sub-categories were identified in "Sexual 125George, op. cit., p. 9. 66 Behaviors": flirting; gestures of affection; use of obscenities; sexual activity; procreation; fantasies and dreams; and, human anatomy/body exposure. In "Sexual Attitudes" twelve sub-categories were observed: appearance; romance; flirting; gestures of affection; sexual activity; marriage; adult supervision; obscenities; human anatomy/body exposure; procreation; fantasies and dreams; and, body functions. The categories and sub-categories are discussed in Chapters IV, V, and VI. On the basis of the data collected, conclusions were drawn as to information, behaviors, and attitudes regarding human sexuality that were revealed over the ten year period. Conclusions were also drawn as to the emergence, during the ten year period, of trends in the presentation of information, behaviors, and attitudes regarding human sexuality. Representative passages were recorded in reporting the study. The number of books in which each variable was evidenced was reported and tables were constructed for further clarification. Chapter Summary The design of the study has been reported in Chapter III. The sample for the study, the method of gathering data, the rationale for the selection of categories and sub-categories, and an explanation of procedures used to determine reliability have been discussed. The research findings pertinent to the three questions to which this study was directed are presented in Chapters IV, V, and 67 VI. Chapter VII is comprised of the conclusions based upon the research results and the implications for further research. CHAPTER IV SEX INFORMATION Twenty-eight of the loo books analyzed were found to contain sex information content. To indicate and analyze the pertinent data, this chapter is divided into three parts: (l) Discussion of Findings; (2) Summary of Findings; and (3) Chapter Summary. Discussion of Findings In the category "Sex Information" two sub-categories were identified: (l) Types of Information and (2) Sources of Information. These sub-categories are presented here, as in Tables 7 and 9 (pp. l03 and l08, respectively) proceeding from the most frequently occurring topics to the least. Types of Information Sixteen types of sex information were detected: childbirth, sexual intercourse, pregnancy, care of infants and new mothers, puberty, birth control, adoption, genetics, human anatomy, sexual diseases, agencies for unwed mothers, abortion, aphrodisiacs, frigidity, sterility, and homosexuality. In nine of the ten books containing information about child- birth, the process was revealed as a normal one not necessarily requiring special assistance or facilities. In §h§gj_by Margaret Embry, a Navajo woman who had tended her flock of sheep and a young 68 69 child through the day returned home where her seventh grade daughter, Emma, helped deliver her baby. Her mother came back late in the afternoon looking tired and sick. She lay down on a pile of sheepskins and asked Emma to bring her a cup of coffee. While Emma was putting more sticks on the fire to get the pot boiling again, her mother cried out in pa1n. "Someone must go get the aunts quickly'" . She poured a cup of coffee and helped her mother sit up to drink it, then wiped the sweat from her mother's forehead. Bima turned restlessly toward the wall and back again and groaned. Emma didn't know what to do to make her more comfortable. Then quite suddenly there was a lot of blood, and a small slippery bundle emerged from under her mother's skirts. Emma had sense enough to grab a clean cloth and catch the wet baby and wrap it up. She had helped her mother many times bring the baby lambs, and this wasn't too different. Her mother told her what to do next and how to clean things up, so by the time Aunt Mary got there everything was in order (pp. 20-2l). Living in New York City, a Puerto Rican mother of seven had only two of her children in a hospital as portrayed in DOn't Look at Me That Way by Caroline Crane; the other five children were born at home. Just One Indian Boy_by Witheridge revealed that Mary Thunder, mother of a large Chippewa family, only went to a hospital when a birth was difficult. Emphasis continued to be placed on birth as a normal process even when the prospective mother utilized a doctor and hospital services as did Ellen in A Spark of Joy by Barbara Schoen. At about age 23, Ellen reflected on her experiences in bearing her first child. The time came swiftly, and soon I was sitting up in bed, eating a hearty breakfast and calling Wisconsin. Mother burst into tears, so I did, too. I was unbearably proud and happy. . . What had I expected?. I had read all the books. .About how. you went into the labor room for awhile and then the delivery 70 room. You gave birth and they tagged it and put it in a basket and brought it to you to be fed every four hours. Much later you got to dress it in its new clothes and take it home and show it off to all the admiring neighbors. But it wasn't like that at all. After Jim left me, I was so alone. All those white-clad doctors and nurses standing around helpfully, disembodied faces, smiling down at me, waiting to be of assistance. There was nothing they could do for me. Voices around me were like whispered echoes at a great distance. I could understand the separate words, but I could not put them together to make sense. How can a man, who is a creature of the present, understand what it is like to have a piece of the future unfold from your own self so that you can hold it, separate, in your hands? She [the nurse] wiped my forehead with a damp towel. I saw in her face as she stood patiently holding my hand that she understood and wondered at the uncommunicable essence of each new birth. I watched her knowing fingers tag my damp, limp, mottled, uncomfortable daughter, and I thought how terrifying it must be to be born. Soon I was holding the baby tight, to make up for the agonizing experience of birth (pp. ll5-l22). In Naomi in the Middle by Norma Klein, mom went to a hospital but a conversation between Naomi and her dad revealed that she had a "natural" childbirth. "Did it hurt coming out?" I said. "Not a bit. I held Mommy's hand, and she was awake the whole time." "Didn't she even have a shot?" "No, she didn't want one. . . ." (p. 52) Labor pains were implied in several books but explicitly treated in only four: Don't Look at Me That Way by Crane, Me and Jim Lgkg_by Branscum, §h§g1_by Embry, and Plague of Frogs by Terris. The latter book was the only one that dealt with the amniotic sac breaking and afterbirth. The most graphic depiction of the birth process was given in Plague of Frogs by Susan Terris. Sixteen year old unwed Marcella was 7l assisted through labor and delivery in a remote area of the Ozark Mountains by her friends Roger, age thirteen, Jo, age fourteen, and Myrtle, a middleaged midwife. Roger grabbed hold of Jo's arm. "What does she mean, her water broke?" "The fluid," Jo answered. "The amniotic sac must have broken." "Is she right? Will the baby come now?" . "If Marcella says so, she probably knows." . .Jo had persuaded Marcella to lie down on the bed. "Now what?" Jo asked. "Now we wait, " Marcella said. "How long?“ "I can't tell. No hurrying a baby, Myrtle always says." Jo dragged her quilt back and sat down next to Roger. "I think," she said, "as long as we're waiting all this time that we should discuss what we have to do to deliver a baby." . . . "You said in the film you saw that the doctors just caught it. That's what we did with the puppies. They came and we helped pull them out. " . .We' ll make a list. . . ." . . "ATlright, you said no hot water. . . Jo reconsidered. "Maybe a little hot water wouldn't hurt. We could make Marcella some tea if she wanted it. And we might need boiling water to sterilize a knife for cutting the umbilical cord. " "Cutting the cord'" Roger groaned. "We'll have to do that? What do we do? Tie it in a knot?" . "Maybe. 0r we'll use some string. . . . ”What about food for the baby?" Roger asked. Jo smiled. "That's not our worry. Marcella comes equipped to handle that!" Roger changed the subject. "Well, do we slap it on the bottom when it comes out?" Jo shook her head. "They don't do that any more. . . . Now they clean the nose and throat with sterile cotton swabs or something." "Now, just where are we supposed to find cotton swabs?" Jo nodded her head. "All right. Then we will have to plan to spank it on the bottom." She paused. "I wonder what happens with the afterbirth. Is there a lot of bleeding?" "Uncle Bruce's cow ate the afterbirth," Roger said. "Shut up," Jo said. She was beginning to feel uneasy again. "What will we do if there's a lot of bleeding? Maybe the baby will die or be born dead." . . . 72 . . . Marcella lay doubled up on the bed. Every minute or so, she would stiffen and clench her teeth together. New beads of sweat would seep out onto her forehead. . . . .Marcella was crying. Her face was contorted with pain. . . When the cabin door flew open, Jo didn't move. . . It was Myrtle--. . . If she'd taken the time to pray, this is what she would have prayed for--a midwife to deliver Marcella's baby. Myrtle took charge immediately. . . . Then she gave Marcella a cupful of brandy. "That'll ease the pains and slow'em down some, give me time to get myself ready and time to check her over. . . Jo watched with fascination as Myrtle examined Marcella. She moved her strong hands over the girl's abdomen. Then she pressed one ear against her stomach and listened for the baby's heartbeat. At last, she heard Myrtle's voice. . . . "Push. Push now, my little lady. You've been dandy. Keep it up. Don't let me down now. Keep pushing!" Marcella was screaming. . . . Jo was holding Marcella's hands when the baby's head appeared. . . . . . . She stared without blinking as Marcella screamed and Myrtle pulled at the base of the head to release the baby's shoulders. . . Jo stood frozen to the spot and Myrtle rotated the little body and pulled out the torso and then the bony little legs. And the red-marked baby was crying already. No one would have to hold it up and slap its bottom. . . . .Myrtle was busy with a towel. She was wiping the pathetic squalling child. . . .And the marks were washing away. They weren't birth- marks. Just blood. Good, red blood. "It's a girl," Myrtle crowed, . . .She moved forward and placed it on Marcella's chest. Then Myrtle rolled up the bottom of the quilt and began pressing her hands against Marcella's stomach. "Oww," Marcella cried out. "No more. Stop. Don't. That hurts." "Well, it's gonna hurt," Myrtle told her. "But I got to take care of the afterbirth and you've got to be patient with 73 me, girl. You've got to hang on a little longer. Not too bad if you help. And it should be worth it to you. You got your baby--. . . . (pp. l38-l67) The only deviation from the pattern of childbirth being shown as a normal process occurred in Don't Look at Me That Way by Caroline Crane. Rosa's mother, nearly nine months pregnant, died of a heart attack but a doctor saved the infant. Rosa, who was away at the time, learned of these events from a neighbor: . .When I went upstairs, your mother had a heart attack. I called the doctor and the priest. They came and then your mother died. They took her away. " "Where?" Rosa asked in a whisper. . . . "I don't know. The doctor cut her to save the baby." "Mama was afraid to be cut.“ "But she was dead." "Yes, and the baby," she sobbed. "The baby?" asked Rosa. . . . "The new one. The one the doctor cut out." "It's dead." "No, the doctor said she will live." "A girl?" "Yes, a girl. They took her in an ambulance" (pp. l42-l43). Information about postnatal depression was revealed only in A Spark of Joy_by Barbara Schoen. Ellen, about age twenty-three, became very depressed and resentful on the third day after bearing her first child. She was resentful of her hospital room and attendant services, distressed about her physical appearance, as well as con- cerned and frightened about her baby when friends (a married couple with several children) visited her and detected the problem. "It's PND time,“ said Fred. "Are you rising above it?" I'd heard of postnatal depression but had dismissed it with a laugh. It hardly applied to me. (Oh, no?) "Worried about your looks?" said Alison. "Hair falling out? Revolting rolls of flab? Shaky knees?" 74 "Not really--" I said, turning my head away from them on the pillow. Their sudden kindness and understanding caught me off balance. "Worried about the baby?" asked Fred. "She's not eating well? Has some rare disease that no one notices but you?" "Oh, Fred," I said. "She-j-jerks." "Remember Eric?" Fred asked Alison conversationally. "He was our jerkiest." said Alison. "I thought he had St. Vitus's dance. Even an old mother like me." "The best babies always jerk," said Fred. "Invariably," said Alison. I grinned. It seemed right for Eric to be their jerkiest (pp. l25-l26). Even though Ellen suffered postnatal depression she quickly recovered physically from childbirth. Quick recoveries without complications were exemplified in all but one of the books sampled and in that one the mother died bgfgrg_the birth and from other causes. Generally, mothers recovered and were functioning within a week of childbirth as in Sally, Star Patient by Alice R. Colver. Three days after Janet returned home with their precious baby, she was walking down the aisle in her apple-blossom- ink dress with Mary-Ann, as Sally had wanted her to do (p. l8l . Two books were found where even young children had some knowledge of the process of childbirth. In both cases, however, the children lacked complete understanding as shown through seven year old Naomi in Naomi in the Middle by Norma Klein. Naomi knew that: ". . . they hit you whenryou' re just born . . . to make sure you' re all right and can breath" (p. 22). . two people in one family being born right on the same day . . . was just coincidence (p. 36). However, when her mother was in labor and leaving for the hospital, Naomi's thoughts revealed her lack of complete understanding. 75 I hope it doesn't hurt coming out. Some babies just slide right out, even in elevators or taxi cabs. I hope this one waits till they get to the hospital (p. 48). Reassuring Naomi about the lack of pain in childbirth, nine year old Bobo revealed her lack of complete understanding when she said simply that their mother would get a shot, go to sleep, wake up, and it would be all over. An opposite view of birth was held by twelve year old Jason in The Drowning Boy by Susan Terris. Jason stared at the little clothes. That bony, squirming baby in there would fight its way out. Helpless and quivering, it would cry out, demanding all of Roseanne's attention (p. 120). The most serious misconception about childbirth was revealed in (George) by E. L. Konigsburg. Ben, a schizophrenic who thought a little mannamed George lived inside him, was about five or six years old when the misunderstanding occurred. Ben had watched his mother; she had told him that the new baby was inside of her and that he would come out and that that was called being born. It was perfectly logical for Ben to expect that George who lived inside of him would get born, too. But after Mother's new baby had come out as Howard and was nothing but red and screaming and couldn't talk or say any of the clever things that George did, Ben had never regretted that George didn't get born then or ever. 0r ever afterwards (p. 4). Only one myth relating to childbirth was detected. In Elaggg_ of Frogs by Susan Terris, Myrtle, a mid—wife and purveyor of Shakespeare, folk remedies, and superstitions announced: "Born with a veil--a caul on her face. That's good luck" (p. 167). Information about sexual intercourse was revealed in ten books. The information presented was usually implied and of a general 76 nature. Interestingly, most of the information given was revealed through children seven to thirteen years of age. In The Real Me by Betty Miles, Richard (an eighth grader) made a philosophical distinction between producing a child and giving a child a start in life. "Always remember who gave you your start," said Richard. "I thought that was your mother and me," Dad said. "You merely produced the infant," said Richard. "I guided her through the highways and byways of newspaper delivery" p. 104 . Tony, the thirteen year old protagonist of Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume, assured his father that he knew how babies were produced though the word intercourse was not used. "You see Tony . . . there are things you should know about girls and about babies and about . . . look Tony, do you know anything?" "Sure Pop," I said. "You do? You know about babies . . . how they're made?" "Sure Pop. Since third grade." OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO "You're positive you have the right information?" "Sure Pop" (pp. 99-l00). Nine year old Bobo in Naomi in the Middle by Norma Klein revealed her information about sexual intercourse to her seven year old sister Naomi on at least two occasions. In the first case, the girls were discussing what their lives would be like when the family's new baby arrived. In "Hey, What's Wrong With This One?" by Maia Wojciechowska, three young boys determined to help their father find a woman to be their new mother and his new wife. It was implied that even Mott, a second grader, perceived the sexual aspects of marriage and the 77 necessity for keeping that in mind as they helped their dad find a new spouse. . . "That stupid jerk Mott doesn't even understand that a mother for us means a wife for Dad. It's got to be someone Dad likes. " , "That's right," Davidson said thoughtfully. Mott was very tempted to stick his head out and yell at them that he understood that. Hadn't he already found a pretty one that his father liked? He had done that all by himself, without any help. "Dad must like her enough to love her," Harley was saying. "Yeah, he must like her enough to want to kiss her and junk like that," Davidson agreed (p. 46). Other than "Hey, What's Wrong With This One?" by Wojciechowska, only Me and Jim Luke by Robbie Branscum revealed sexual intercourse as more than just for procreation. This fact was implied by twelve year old Jim Luke in a discussion with his ten year old nephew, Sammy John. "Ye seen our animals a matin', ain't ye, Sammy?" he asked. "Yep, and you don't have to sound so high and mighty. I know they's a doin' it and I know why--to get little'uns. And man, I don't want no little'uns fer I can't take care of my- self real good yet. So there," I said. "Oh shut up, Sammy, you just wait till you get as old as me. You don't know the half of nothin', and I bet you still believe in Santa Claus," he said (p. 34). An old wives' tale relating to sexual intercourse was found in You Can't Make It By Bus by James L. Summers. It was not made clear that the notion presented is myth. . . . Only then did he recall she had eaten all her sandwiches every day. A good appetite on that girl. Health. It was a sign of fortune, his mother would say. A woman with a good appetite, his mother might inform him, meant a wife who would perform well in the kitchen and elsewhere (p. 68). Information relating to sexual intercourse forced upon an unconsenting person (rape) was found in six books in the study 78 sample. Three of the six books presented rape primarily as a potential danger for female hitchhikers. In Riding Free by Robert Coles when fourteen year old Sallie approached her friend Sue about hitchhiking to Chicago, Sue calmly reminded her of the dangers involved. "Sallie, I can't figure you out. You know there are crazy people driving cars. A lot of girl hitchhikers have been beaten(and raped. There was one in the paper the other day. . . . p. 25 As sixteen year old Elizabeth in Bird on the Wigg_by Winifred Madison began her efforts to hitchhike from Lincoln, Nebraska, to Sacramento, California, she fearfully recalled news- paper stories about rape. . . . The unfortunate expression suddenly reminded her of a story she had read only the week before in the newspaper about a girl hitchhiker who had been picked up and later found within ten miles of her home; she had been raped and then disfigured for life because her assailant threw acid in her face before leaving her in a ditch. A flood of long-forgotten stories came to Elizabeth as she stood under the streetlight, her thumb out. Hitchhikers slashed with knives and left for dead; newspaper photos of a shallow grave by the roadside and a strangled girl; the story of the girl who had been raped while her boyfriend was forced to watch, his being tortured and shot, and then she herself shot but not killed, only paralyzed for life. Another story of a girl picked up by a woman and taken to an apartment where . . . (p. 43). Rape as a danger for girls alone in the city was revealed in Bird on the Wing_by Winifred Madison and in The Peter Pan Bag_by Lee Kingman. In the latter book Peter, a twenty-two year old research assistant, explained to Wendy, the seventeen year old - subject of his study, his concerns about leaving her alone in New York and, so, why he took her to Boston. 79 ". . . I suddenly didn't feel right about just letting you beat you way into the Village and take all the risks of getting mixed 'up with hard— line dope addicts and the rapists and perverts that .girls can)unknowingly fall victim to in a very short time. " p l89 In Just One Indian quyby Elizabeth Witheridge a man attempted to rape Tamara, a college student in Minneapolis. Pursuant to the assault, Tamara was taken by a friend to a hospital for treatment of cuts, bruises and shock. A small amount of information about police action in such cases was revealed. "I know it was against all the rules to move her," Angie confessed, "but I couldn't bear to let her lie there on the dirty sidewalk, all bleeding and everything. The police won't do anything to me, will they?" "I don't think so," Andy answered. "They'll probably be glad that you moved quick enough to keep her from being raped--you and Fred, too.“ As they were taking her down the hall, a police officer came to check on her and to report that a man had been caught hiding in a backyard nearby. They suspected he was the one who had attacked her, but he needed a few more details from Tamara. "Not tonight," said the nurse firmly, . . Angie, calm and poised by that time, stepped forward and told him that she had witnessed the whole affair and probably could tell him more, actually, than Tamara could. Wouldn't that do? He said he guessed it would be all right. . . . (pp. l69, l7l) Information about pregnancy was revealed in passages of eight books included in the sample. The first of the books to present information relating to pregnancy was published in l970. One pattern found was change in the physical appearance of the pregnant woman. When changes in appearance were noted they were given, primarily, in terms of weight gain. In Don't Look and It Won't Hurt by Richard Peck, Carol (near sixteen years of age) looked with wonder at the changes in her pregnant sister whom she had not seen for about seven months. 80 We'd been strangers before, but never like this. It was true. She had changed--a lot. She was thick in the middle, heavy, in fact (pp. l5l-l52). In Plague of Frogs by Susan Terris, fourteen year old Jo thought Marcella--at about seven and one-half months pregnant-- seemed to be getting larger daily. She glanced at Marcella sitting patiently on the other side of the coffee table. Marcella was waiting for Grampa to wake up and take his turn at the checkerboard. Her patchwork quilt was draped across her lap--at least, it was draped across what was left of her lap. Every day [sic], that stomach of hers seemed to protrude a little more (p. 76). Another pattern found was the lack of change in physical activities of a woman during pregnancy. Nearly all the pregnant women portrayed in the sample continued throughout pregnancy with their usual work (from housekeeping to sheepherding) and recreational activities (from checkers to tennis). One extremely unrealistic case was depicted in Plague of Frogs by Terris when sixteen year old Marcella in one day traveled the length of Missouri in a bus, walked ten to twelve miles, attended a wedding, ran some distance, then delivered-~with little trouble--a healthy baby. The only pregnant woman ggt_continuing with her usual activities throughout pregnancy was Luz who was incapacitated by a heart condition in Don't Look at Me That Way by Crane. Most of the pregnant women in the sample were portrayed as having a doctor to whom periodic visits were made. However, the importance of regular medical checkups during pregnancy was made clear only in Don't Look at Me That Way_by Caroline Crane and, then, only after the death of Rosa's pregnant mother. 81 "Your mother never went to a doctor or a clinic during her pregnancy, did she?" Rosa shook her head. "I wish she had," he went on. "They could have discovered this heart condition of hers and treated it." "She was afraid of doctors." "Such a waste." "When you have babies," he told her earnestly, "I hope you'll come to the clinic regularly for checkups. You see-- your mother shouldn't have died" (p. l45). Information about prenatal devel0pment was found in Naomi in the Middle by Norma Klein, The Drowning Boy and Plague of Frogs by Susan Terris. The one stage of development revealed in all three books was the kicking of a fetus in the eighth month, as in this excerpt from The Drowning_Boy: "That baby just gave me such a kick! Jason, put a hand here and feel the baby." "Come on, Jason," Roseanne said, reaching out for his hand. "Right here. There--now you can feel the baby." Jason shivered as he felt something hard and bony moving under Roseanne's smock. Something was shifting back and forth under his palm. . . . (p. ll9) Changes in appearance of the expectant mother in relation to stages of prenatal development were revealed through the eyes of seven year old Naomi in Naomi in the Middle by Norma Klein. Naomi's parents announced her mom's pregnancy during her second month. Observing her mother in tennis shorts, Naomi decided she didn't look pregnant. "Is the baby there now?" I said, looking at Mommy's belly. It wasn't big and round, . . . "It's there," Daddy said, "but it's tiny." "How big?" I said. "One inch," Daddy said. I thought of that baby one inch long swimming in Mommy's stomach with all that room, like a little goldfish in a big bowl (p. 6). 82 In the fifth month of her mother's pregnancy, Naomi learned that the baby could kick. In the sixth month, she learned it could hiccup. When her mother was eight months pregnant and unable to see her own feet, Naomi learned that some babies kick more than others. Naomi thought her mother, in the ninth month of pregnancy, was the fattest person she had ever seen. Furthermore, Naomi was hopeful that her mother would regain her disappeared lap. Children were depicted in a few books as having some infor- mation about how pregnancy occurs. Jim Luke, age twelve, and Sammy John, age ten, revealed their knowledge in a conversation about copulation among farm animals in Robbie Branscum's Me and Jim Luke. In Naomi in the Middle by Norma Klein, Bobo (age nine) gave her sister Naomi (age seven) limited information about how pregnancy occurs. This was revealed when Naomi checked the information with her mother. "Bobo said the baby got there by Daddy putting his penis in you," I said. "It that right?" . . . Mommy said, "Yes, that is." "I wonder why it has to happen in such a funny way. Is it always like that?" "Yes" (p. 13). Only Plague of Frogs by Susan Terris was found to contain myths relating to pregnancy, and in almost every instance the myth presented was identified as just that. However, there was no evidence that sixteen year old Marcella, the prime believer in the myths, ever waivered in her beliefs. Marcella turned abruptly. "Don't you evil-eye my baby," she warned. "You can't talk about her. You and your frogs. You even keeps them in the house so I have to look away when I come in here. Least they're out from the bedroom now. That's 83 one good thing. They can't give me bad dreams no more. Frogs are a plague. A plague on all our houses. And you're no good, Jo Massie. Only Grampa and your mama. They're good. They care" (p. 13). . . . My dead mother was scared by a bullfrog when she was carrying me, and that's why my face is all marked up. . . . My daddy, he kept talking on the plague until I left. 'Stay i the house,‘ he told me, 'away from them frogs. Don't be showing your face around.‘ My daddy said Myrtle told him the frogs was a plague on all our houses. He said. . . ." Jo leaned her head to one side. "A plague on all our houses? I've heard that before. That must be from Shakespeare, too." Marcella opened her eyes. "Don't care where it's from, but if this baby in here comes out with marks on her face, I'll kill you, Jo Massie. . . . Jo shivered. She wasn't superstitious. The frogs couldn't hurt anything. Marcella's baby wouldn't be born with a strawberry- colored mark because of any frogs. This was all nonsense (pp. 50- 51 . "Toads are worse," Marcella insisted. "Why, anyone knows that stepping on a toad will make you have an idiot child!" "That's superstition again, Marcella. Just silly super- stition. . . ." (p. 79) Infbrmation about caring for infants and new mothers was found in eight books and was of a very general nature. In eight books, plans and preparation for infant care were made during pregnancy. Janet and Dick, in Sally, Star Patient by Alice R. Colver, typify the young married couple expecting the first child as shown in several books included in the study sample. And after they had found the house in a nice section, not far from the Bryans' there came the necessary redecoration and then the moving and, after that, the fun of outfitting the baby's room. Heavens, how much was needed! A bassinet or crib, a bath scales, a bathtable, a small dresser far the layette of tiny clothes and all the little sheets and blankets, a "potty" chair, a high chair, and, finally, the paraphernalia that would be needed for bottle feeding later (p. 176). The need of rest and limiting of company shortly after birth was revealed by nurses in A Spark of Joy by Schoen and in Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Blume. 84 Concern about infants encountering undesirable germs at the hospital was reflected in A Spark of ng_by Barbara Schoen. The following night we were called on the carpet because Jim arrived too early. 0h me, oh my, the babies were still on the floor. . . . And germy Jim was wandering aroung amongst them. "Please don't forget, Mrs. Bradley," she reprimanded, "your husband isn't sterile" (p. 116). The need for shots to immunize an infant against disease was mentioned only in Shadi by Embry. Though breast-feeding was mentioned in several books, it received treatment--and that minima1--in only two. In Qpn't Look at Me That Way by Caroline Crane a young mother demonstrated a substitute for breast-feeding: . . . Now, do you want to come in the kitchen and we'll mix up a batch of formula? You know how to do all that, and the sterilizing, don't you?" "No, I never did it. My mother always nursed her babies," Rosa said. . . . She watched Christy open a can of powdered formula and stir it into water. "Like a cake mix," said Christy. "It's so easy." She poured the mixture into bottles, arranged them in an electric sterilizer and plugged in the cord. "Now we let it cook for fifteen minutes. . . ." (pp. 66—67) Me and Jim Luke by Branscum revealed that breast-feeding can be perpetuated by some mothers over an extended period of time. Aunt Opal had one child who had teeth, could talk, and who stood on the floor at her knees as he nursed. Information about adoption was presented in five books in the study sample. Two of these five books were much more explicit in terms of describing adoption processes than were the others. 85 In Don't Look and It Won't Hurt by Peck, adoption was referred to as a viable alternative to abortion when an adult from a home for unwed mothers talked to an unmarried pregnant teenager and her family. In two books included in the study sample, two girls tried to learn more about their adoptions: Nothing But a Stranger by Arlene Hale and Lagrig by Bianca Bradbury. Both of these books dealt with girls in their late teen years trying to ascertain more about their true parents and the adoption process. In each case, the quest to find out about natural parents stemmed from a basic "Who am I?" question that is frequently experienced by people who have been adopted. In Nothing But a Stranggr_by Arlene Hale numerous facts about adoption were revealed, including: (1) it may take a year or more to get a child; (2) there are so many requests for children that adoption agencies have waiting lists; (3) reputable adoption agencies have qualifications that the prospective parents must meet; (4) thousands of children find a home through adoption; (5) it is usually one year before an adoption is final; (6) the average child is usually less than one year old when adopted; (7) an adopted child is only told who his/her natural parents are in very special circumstances before he/she comes of age and only then if he/she requests it and has the permission of both adoptive and natural parents--each case is handled uniquely. Adoption procedures were also briefly described in Lagrig_ by Bradbury and Edgar Allan by Neufeld. 86 Infbrmation relating to puberty was revealed in only four books in the study sample. Two of the books presented information regarding sexual maturation and two dealt with puberty rites conducted in two different cultures. Interestingly, in each pair of books, one dealt with males and one dealt with females. In Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume the thirteen year old protagonist, Tony, knew at the beginning of the story about wet dreams and wondered if he would ever experience them. Later, Tony learned from his gym teacher that another name for wet dreams is nocturnal emissions; he still wondered, though, if he would ever have one. When Tony did have his first wet dream, his reactions included surprise.) That night I dreamed about Lisa. My dream went on and on. It started out at the football game where Lisa put her arm around me. Only in my dream she didn't stop there. And Corky was in it too. She was sitting on the football field and Lisa kept saying, "You see, Corky . . . here's what to do . . . to do . . . to do. . . ." I woke up suddenly. It was morning. I felt wet and my pajamas were sticky. Oh God! There is something wrong with me. Really_wronq. . . . - Wait a minute. Wait just a minute. Maybe I had a wet dream. Yeah . . . I'll bet that's it. How about that? I thought they'd be different though. I thought a lot more stuff would come out. And anyway, I wasn't sure I'd ever have one. At least not yet (pp. 92-93). In Edgar Allan by John Neufeld, twelve year old Michael revealed the summer his sister, Mary Nell, was fifteen as a difficult one. He described M. N. as confused, very quiet then extremely talkative, pleasant then irritable. Michael avoided Mary Nell for a while though their mother had attributed M. N.'s erratic behavior to "physical things." Clearly, menstrual adjustments were implied as the cause of Mary Nell's unpredictable behavior. 87 The Navajo rite for celebrating the entry of a female into womanhood-~the onset of menstruation-~was defined and described in sgégi by Margaret Embry. The protagonist, Emma, was thirteen when faced with the advent of menstruation and the concommitant Navajo rituals established by custom. A Kinaalda, the Navajos called it. The other girls in the Dorm told her not to mention that first bleeding, or her family would hear about it at home and send for her to come and have a kinaalda. _ Her grandmother had told her a long time ago about the kinaalda, and it seemed such a fine thing when she was little that she could hardly wait until it would happen. But Ruby and those other girls told her that it was old-fashioned,. square. It was a long tiresome ceremony, and nobody liked to do it any more. The girls always kept quiet about the bleeding and hoped the old women would forget about it. . Her grandmother had told her it was a fine thing to become a woman. That was why The People, T'éé Diné, had a welcoming ceremony fOr their young girls at the time of their first period. The ceremony took four days and made Emma hot and tired, but she did not complain. The women dressed her in heavy pleated skirts with many petticoats and fastened on silver beads and smeared her face with dleesh, white clay, and chiih, red ocher. They brushed her hair with cedar twigs and braided it in the Old Way. One of the women,.who was considered to be admired because of her virtue and beauty, sat beside Emma as she lay on the floor of the hogan and shaped and molded her body so she would be beautiful too. Every morning Emma ran once at dawn toward the east and again in the evening toward the setting sun, with all the young children chasing her. Luckily, she out ran them all, which meant that she would be fleet and strong. At night she lifted her little sister, Violet, by the back of the neck, and all the other small girls too, so they would be tall and beautiful. Everyone stayed awake all night to listen to all the old songs and chants. The words were strange and the music went over and over again until Emma was so sleepy she could not keep her eyes open. Her mother sat beside her and kept poking her with her elbow so she would not fall asleep and shame them. It seemed forever until it was dawn of the last day. The men scraped away the dirt on top of the firepit, lifted off the blackened cornhusks, and there was the athlkaad, golden 88 and beautiful in the sunlight. They said there never had been such a cgrncake! Emma took a big knife and carefully cut out the bi'ei, the heart, the choicest part, to serve to the Singer who hag traveled many miles and worked hard to make it a good kinaalda. She then served all the other people who were waiting, her grandmother, her mother and father, her mother's elder brothers and their wives, her mother's sisters and their families, and finally her father's people. She gave small bits to her own brothers and to little Violet and took none for herself, as was proper (pp. 9-17). In The Loners by Nancy Garden, Paul Windsor (a junior in high school), alluded to puberty rites for African males: "In Africa," Paul said nastily, "boys get to be men when they're thirteen." He leered at Lloyd. "You should see what they do to them, too" (p. 44). Information about birth control was presented in only three books in the study sample. Each of the books offered a different slant on the subject. In Me and Jim Luke by Robbie Branscum an old wives' tale was offered regarding breast-feeding as a means of birth control, but debated. . . The kid sucking it was so big he stood on the floor at her knees and sucked like crazy, and I knew that dad-blamed kid could talk and had a full set of teeth. . . Aunt Imie was saying, "I swan Opal, when ya gonna wean that young'n?" The young'n they were talking about rolled his eyes from one to the other but never let go of the tit. . , "Well, I don't know. 'Course ya know as long as ya let one suck you can't get pregnant again." "Well, I don't know about that," Aunt Flo started, "'cause when I had Dale Evan. . . 3" (pp. 43-44) Laws about birth control were at least alluded to in two books in the study sample. The Peter Pan Bag by Lee Kingman revealed that there are laws about distributing or diSpersing infbrmation about birth control in various places. 89 She remembered Oriana, . . . saying firmly that the laws about possessing pot or even being found in the presence of pot were all wrong--and if she, Oriana, were arrested, she didn't mind. Because it would take honest and brave people like herself to fight unjust laws like that. The same, she said, as laws about not giving birth-control information were wrong (p. 111). The movement for Zero Population Growth was alluded to in Just One Indian qugby Elizabeth Witheridge. One of the girls had spoken a bit wistfully of years gone by when a girl could marry and settle down to keep house without Woman's Lib. peering over her shoulder. "Well gee, Karen," one of the men had said, "There's an easy way to fix that. Get pregnant right away, and nobody'll criticize!" "Oh sure, somebody would. There's always some character around to carp about the population explosion," someone else said (pp. 191-192). A small amount of information about genetics was evidenced in three books included in the study sample. In Miss Fix-It by Adele DeLeeuw, two high school seniors were fascinated with the interests of each other and discussed those interests in terms of heredity. "This--this mechanical ability. Did you inherit it?" "Mercy, no!" she laughed. "Father's a whiz in business, but he goes into a blue funk if a shoelace breaks and Mother just looks helpless if anything goes wrong with a dishwasher or a cleaner . . . well, in fact, practically anything." “Maybe it skipped a generation or two," he suggested. "How about grandfather?" "Both grandfathers were the kind who said, 'Abner, have my hoe--or my carriage--repaired by five o'clock.'" "Humm," Luke said. "I'm interested in genes. Remind me to ask you more questions after we eat." "Where are you bound?" "M. I. T." “To be an engineer?" "I hope, yes. Chemical." "That's quite a field,“ she said warmly. "Is that in line with your genes?" He quirked his mouth. "I wish Mother and Dad could hear you asking that. As far back as I know, my ancestors were in 90 banking or accounting, and chemistry's a closed book to my parents. They read about things and ask me to explain them." The quirk became a grin. "And that's the hard part!" (pp. 41- 44). Another aspect of genetics was found in That Was Then, This is Now by S. E. Hinton. Thirteen year old M&M had a brush with death as a result of a bad trip on LSD. Some time after M&M was released from the hospital and was back to his normal daily routine, he responded to friends who inquired about his health: "O.K.," he said, but he looked half-scared, and his old expression of complete trust and intent interest was gone entirely. He looked like a little kid--I had forgotten he was just a little kid. "But, I don't know-~It can come back, they told me. I could have a flashback, it could come back. And if I ever have any kids--something about chromosomes--they could be all messed up. I don't think I'll ever have any." He was quiet for a minute. "I don't remember things too good any more; all my grades are shot" (pp. 148-149). Genetic influence on masculinity/femininity was discussed in the context of homosexual tendencies in Sticks and Stones by Lynn Hall (see page 94). Several books presented sex information on a variety of additional topics. Information relating to human anatomy was revealed in two books; in both cases the information was regarding females. In Hold Yourself Dear by Pauline Smith a high school girl wore "falsies“ on a special occasion. Curiously, the girl's ten year old sister knew what "falsies" were but her father did not. Pubic hair was of interest to seven year old Naomi in Naomi in the Middle by Norma Klein. When Naomi was helping her mother take a bath she noticed that her mom had ". . . crinkly hair between 91 her legs that looks like moss." When mommy told Naomi that she would have it too, Naomi hoped that it wouldn't itch (p. 30). The incidence of human sexual disease was revealed in two books. In Viva Chicano by Frank Bonham, Keeny (a seventeen year old Mexican-American) was perplexed about the new halfWay house to which his parole officer had taken him. . . . The presence of the girls puzzled him. In all the halfWay houses he had seen, girls and persons infected with the plague were absolutely barred (p. 120). In The Peter Pan Bag by Lee Kingman it was revealed that one function of the Board of Health is to check living conditions in questionable places as a guard against social disease. "Robbie told me the Board of Health has been poking around the place he and Charlene have been using lately-- over in Cambridge. Something about too many people and insanitary conditions and disease. And nobody's causin any trouble at all. They're just ljngg_there" (p. 159 . Information about agencies established to aid unwed mothers was evidenced in two books: A Plagge of Frogs by Susan Terris and Don't Look and It Won't Hurt by Richard Peck. In both books the agencies were described as having medical services and a hospital for unmarried pregnant girls. The agency depicted in the Terris book did not provide room and board for the girl during pregnancy whereas the agency depicted in the Peck book had alternative plans for room and board from which its clients could choose. Indeed, Don't Look and It Won't Hurt by Peck presented a more complete picture of the workings of an agency functioning to assist unwed pregnant females than did the book by Terris. In the book by Peck it was revealed that seventeen year old Ellen, unmarried 92 and pregnant, had little or no difficulty in locating such an agency-~presumably with the help of her physician or the Salvation Army. Ellen was able to work with the agency in planning all the services she would require though her mother did have to sign her permission. It was revealed that Ellen had the choice of abortion, adoption. or keeping her child. The agency's desire for confi- dentiality was implied when Ellen revealed that the girls there were not supposed to mention their hometowns. Abortion as an option for the teenage girl who is unwed and pregnant was also revealed in Plague of Frogs by Terris when Roger and Jo discussed sixteen year old Marcella: . "Why didn't she get an abortion?" he asked. Jo nodded her head. "Because she didn't want one. She has some crazy idea that she's going to keep the baby, too. . . ?" (p. 15). In Donlt Look and It Won't Hurt by Peck when a representative from a home for unwed mothers interviewed seventeen year old Ellen and her mother, abortion was brought out in the discussion even though Ellen's sisters--sixteen year old Carol and nine year old Liz--were present. I suppose the word for Miss Hartman was discreet. But one thing she said that practically turned Mom to stone was, "Since there are so many fine families anxious to adopt children these days, I'm particularly lad that Ellen has not considered terminating her pregnancy" (p. 63). The only information about aphrodisiacs was evidenced through the thinking of thirteen year old Tony in Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume. Clearly, the information given was an old wives' tale but it was never identified as such. 93 Grandma smiled and offered me an olive. I really like olives. Big Joe says if you eat a lot of them you make out good with the girls when you're older. But that's not why I eat them. I liked them plenty before I ever heard about that. . . . (p. 6) A traditional though inaccurate definition of frigidity was implied in Bird on the Wing by Winifred Madison. The sixteen year old protagonist Elizabeth was filled with confusion and fear when she found that for some reason she could not engage in sexual inter- course with Eric as she had promised. She questioned: ". . . what if she were frigid, unable to love? A new fear" (p. 221). Sterility was defined through context in A Spark of Joy by Barbara Schoen. After Nora, a scientist, had been exposed to a very high level of radiation her colleagues discussed the effects she would experience. "Of course, she's sterile now," said Fred. "She really wanted a child," said Jim. "I guess she let it go too long because of her career. She was desperate for a child" (p. 147). Though Sticks and Stones by Lynn Hall is not a book about homosexuality, some information on the subject is provided within its pages. A little information regarding the incidence of homosexuality was revealed by the high school principal in a discussion with Tom, a rumored homosexual. . . "Look, Tom, maybe it's true; maybe it isn't. The trouble with a thing like this is that it can't very well be proved. Or disproved. You may be straight as a string, or you may have gotten yourself involved in a situation that's just a temporary thing, and, believe me, it's not as unusual as you might think. "On the other hand, it's been my experience that where there is this much talk there's usually at least some element 94 of truth in it. I've been aware of your situation since the start of the school year, but I was hoping if I just sort of kept the lid on things, it wouldn't have to come out in the open. I wish we could afford a school psychologist or counselor, but since we can't, I'm afraid it's up to me to handle these things as I see fit.“ ". . . ,boys your age often go through temporary phases that aren't really too serious. And in any case, it needn't be the end of the world. We're living in an enlightened age and there's no reason why you can't lead a creative, productive life no matter--" (pp. 118-121). Information was presented by Ward relating the incidence of homosexual tendencies to genetic factors. . "Let's look at this thing objectively now. Suppose worst came to worst and you did have homosexual tendencies, as they say. You have to remember, everyone in the world is a mixture of male and female. In most people, one or the other predominates, but there are an awful lot of cases where the mixture is border- line to some degree. I think you'd be surprised if you knew the statistics. . . ." (p. 156) Through an explanation of his preference for homosexual relation- ships, Ward revealed that a person with homosexual tendencies may in fact be bisexual (though he never used that term). "When we first met each other, I told you I'd gotten a medical discharge from the service because of asthma. I didn't. I was discharged because of a 'homosexual involvement' with another guy in my barracks. It wasn't as bad as it sounds. It wasn't any- thing I ever expected to do; it just happened. I won't go into all the details, but I can't stand it any longer, trying to keep it from you. I do have these--tendencies. . . "So. I've gone out with girls, and I've even made love to a couple. But by now I've learned that what I need is real love, not just sex, and it's hard for me to find what I need with girls. . . . Maybe someday I'll meet a woman who understands my needs, and if she'll have me, we'll get married. But in the meantime. . . . (pp. 157-158) Information about discrimination as a result of the lack of toleration that society has for homosexuals was revealed in several ways but most explicitly when Orv, the local bait shop owner, talked to a high school boy about Ward and his discharge from the Air Force: 95 . . . "That Ward always was an odd kid, never had nothing to do with the girls. I says to myself when he joined the Air Force, I says, they ain't about to let somebody like that stay in the service. They'll find out about him and kick him out on his can, and now here he is, just like I said. 'Medical discharge.‘ Hahf (pp. 25-26). Sources of Information TWenty-seven of the one hundred books in the study sample were found to contain sex information content. The source for at least some sex infOrmation content was identified in nineteen of the twenty-seven books containing sex information. A tabulation of those nineteen books revealed that in twelve of the books most information was encountered rather incidentally; in four of the books most infor- mation was actively sought by someone; and in three of the books there was evidence of both incidental encounter and active search. As shown in Table 7 (p. 108), information was gained consistently through one or more of five sources: friends, relatives, media, professional people, and/or institutions. Friends were an informational source for matters relating to human sexuality in eleven books in the sample. The most frequently occurring information offered by friends consisted of reminders about rape as a potential danger to female hitchhikers and girls alone in the city as revealed in: Coles' Rigigg free; Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag; and, Madison's Bird on the Wing, In That Was Then, This Is Now by Hinton and in Sticks and Stones by Hall infbrmation about genetics was given to friends. In the book by Hinton it was revealed that drug usage can damage chromo- somes, thereby potentially affecting a person's future children. 96 Information relating genetic factors to the incidence of homosexual tendencies was presented in the book by Hall. In The DrowningyBoy by Terris, a married and pregnant friend of twelve year old Jason provided him an opportunity to learn some- thing about prenatal development by inviting him to feel her baby and experience it moving and kicking within her. In another book by Terris, Plague of Frogs, fourteen year old Jo learned about the process of childbirth through being allowed to witness, and assist with, the birth of her friend Marcella's baby. In A Spark of Joy by Schoen, Ellen knew about postnatal depression before she bore her first child. After the birth of that child, however, when Ellen actually experienced the phenomena, she failed to realize what was happening to-her. Friends more experienced with birth gave her the information she needed. It was Christy, Rosa's employer and apparent friend, who explained and demonstrated the preparation of an infant's bottle formula to Rosa in Don't Look at Me That Way_by Crane. Holly, in Nothing But a Stranger by Hale, utilized several sources to gain information about child adoption. The very friends who had sparked her interest in the subject through their plans to adopt a child responded positively to her pursuant requests for information. Thirteen year old Tony in Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't apparently gained much information from one of his older friends. Big Joe told Tony that eating olives would help you make out better with girls later; he also told Tony about wet dreams and how babies are made. 97 In The Peter Pan Bag by Kingman, friends shared information about the Cambridge Board of Health investigating communal dwellings to ascertain the quality of living conditions and possible presence of social diseases. In Sticks and Stones by Hall, Tom who was a high school senior rumored to be a homosexual attempted to learn more about homosexuality. His singularly most valuable source of information was realized in his friend Ward Alexander, a self-proclaimed bisexual who preferred homosexual relationships. Relatives were an informational source for matters relating to human sexuality in ten books in the study sample. Nine of the ten books revealed one or both parents as the basic informational source. Information given by parents was most frequently revealed to be about sexual intercourse and procreation. In four books mothers had the central role in providing such information: Embry's sgégj; Klein's Naomi in the Middle; Konigsburg's (George); and Summers'Ygg_ Can't Make It By Bus. (In the latter book, that information presented was actually a myth implying a relationship between one's appetite for food and sexual prowess.) In contrast, in Then Again, Maybe I ng:t_by Blume when thirteen year old Tony's parents decided that it was time he learned the facts of life, it became the father's responsibility to reveal them. Ellen's father revealed the facts of life to her at age three in A Spark of Joy by Schoen. In Me and Jim Lgkg_by Branscum it was ten year old Sammy John's twelve year old uncle and friend, Jim Luke, who was a source of sex information. Jim Luke talked to Sammy about sexual intercourse and pregnancy of animals on their farm and then sketchily related that information to humans. 98 Teenage girls in Laurie by Bradbury and in Nothing But a Stranger by Hale had the circumstances surrounding their adoptions as infants explained to them--in each case--by both parents. Further, the protagonist in the Hale book ultimately located her natural father who briefly expanded the story of her adoption. In Edgar Allan by Neufeld, Michael's mother provided him with at least enough information to enable him to cope with his older sister's emotional ups and downs which were presumably due to puberty. Fourteen year old Emma, in Margaret Embry's Shégj, was given information about the Navajo rites to be conducted in celebration of her entry into womanhood by her grandmother. Later one of Emma's aunts gave her a bit of information about how to care for her orphaned infant sister. The mass media was an informational source for matters relating to human sexuality in seven books in the study sample. Four of the seven books revealed that books were an informational source utilized; two revealed that newspapers were utilized; one revealed that television was utilized. Information gained from books was sought for different reasons 'in each of four books in the study sample. In Then Again, Maybe I nglt_by Judy Blume, thirteen year old Tony's parents gave him a book called "Basic Facts About Sex;" Tony used the book to learn more about wet dreams and masturbation. In A Spark of Joy by Schoen, Ellen read books about childbirth and related matters before she had her first child. It was revealed that she learned something about the birth process and postnatal depression from her books. 99 In Sticks and Stones by Hall, Tom, a high school senior, who was rumored to be a homosexual eventually began to have self-doubts. When he did, he drove to a library in a nearby city and researched the subject to find out how one knows if one is a homosexual. Holly, the eighteen year old protagonist in Nothing But a Stranger by Hale, researched child adoption first for developing a series of newspaper articles and later for her own information. Information about human sexuality was gained (rather incidentally) from newspapers in two books. In both cases, female protagonists reflected on information gained from newspapers about the incidence of the rape of female hitchhikers and girls alone in the city. These books were: Coles' Riding Free and Madison's 815g on the Wigg. Only in Plaque of Frogs by Terris was it revealed that human sexual information was gleaned from television. In this instance, the fourteen year old protagonist had seen a documentary on birth-- information gained from that viewing was later utilized. Professional people were a source of information about human sexuality in seven books in the study sample. Medical practitioners were most frequently the source of information though school personnel and physical scientists were also utilized. In all four books where information was gained through a medical practitioner, childbirth was a factor. In Don't Look at Me That Way by Crane a young girl was advised by a doctor to get adequate 100 medical care when pregnant and told that her mother would not have died had she done so. In That Was Then, This Is Now by Hinton, Hospital people advised M&M after a drug overdose that his future children might be affected due to damage of his chromosomes. In A Spark of Joy by Schoen, a new mother was given hospital instruction in how to care for her new baby. A midwife in Plague of Frogs by Terris allowed a fourteen year old girl to witness the birth of a child; she also explained a few procedures rather incidentally. In Don't Look and It Won't Hurt by Peck, the family doctor was noted as a possible source of information about agencies for assisting unwed mothers. School personnel were important as sex information sources in two books. In Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Blume, thirteen year old Tony was given instructional information and advice about wet dreams by his gym teacher. In Sticks and Stones by Hall, a high school principal all but charged Tom, a high school senior, with homosexuality then explained a few facts about the behavior. Physical scientists in A Spark of Joy by Schoen explained to their wives, from their professional knowledge, that a female colleague who was eXposed to a high level of radiation would be sterile as a result of that exposure. Agencies or institutions were an informational source for matters relating to human sexuality in four books in the study sample. In each case, agencies or institutions supplied information relating to birth, infant care, or adoption. In Don't Look and It Won't Hurt by Peck, an unwed pregnant girl was supplied--by an agency caring for such people—-at least some 101 information about the options available to her: abortion, keeping her child, or putting the child up for adoption. In A Spark of Joy by Schoen, one of the apparent hospital services for new mothers was to provide classes in infant care. In Shadi by Embry, a welfare worker contacted Emma regarding the care of her orphaned infant sister. In Nothing But a Stranger by Hale, Holly gained information about the adoption process from people employed by an adoption agency. Summary of Findings The question which provided the basis for the category "Sex Infbrmation" was: What is revealed, explicitly or implicitly, to be the nature of information regarding human sexuality? Twenty-eight of the 100 books in the study sample were found to contain sex information content. Two subcategories were found: types of information and sources of information. Numerous trends relating to sex information were discernible in the ten year period from which the sample was drawn; these are partially indicated in Tables 7, 8, 9 and 10 (pp. 103 and 108). Types of Information Twenty-eight of the 100 books analyzed were found to contain sex information content relating to at least one of sixteen subjects: childbirth, sexual intercourse, pregnancy, care of infants and new mothers, puberty, birth control, adoption, genetics, human anatomy, sexual diseases, agencies for unwed mothers, abortion, aphrodisiacs, frigidity, sterility, and homosexuality. 102 As shown in Table 7, childbirth was one of the two subjects for which information was most frequently presented. Nine of ten books containing childbirth information revealed the process as a normal function not necessarily requiring special assistance or facilities and from which new mothers quickly recover. Explicit treatment in four books showed labor pains as endurable; other books made the implication. Breakage of the amniotic sac and clearing of afterbirth were frankly and casually described in one book, as was postnatal depression in another. Most information about childbirth was accurate; however, in two books children aged five to nine were shown to have a few misconceptions and in one book, a middleaged woman revealed the superstition that a child born with a caul on its face is lucky. Also presented in ten books was very general information, much of it implied, about sexual intercourse. Sexual intercourse was recognized as the means for producing children in four books. One of those books and two more indicated that people engage in intercourse for more reasons than just procreation. Six books described the potential danger of rape, especially for females hitch- hiking or alone in a large city. Information was accurate except for an old wives' tale (found in one book) that implied a correlation between a female's appetite and her sex life. Information about pregnancy was revealed in eight books. Almost all of the books described the pregnant woman as: inevitably changing in physical appearance; continuing with her usual work and recreational activities, as well as added ones in several cases; and, 103 NNF-r—l—r— meMMNN m oF op xnmpmaxmmoeo: xuwpwgmem speewmwta mumwmwuocca< cowpeon< mcocpoz emaca Low mmwucmm< mmmwmmwo Fmsxmm P >Eopmc< swan: F muwumcma Foepcou cpcwm xucmnza cowpaon< mgmzuoz 3mz ucm mucmmcH mo memo zucocmmgm mmcaougmpcm pmsxmm nugwaupwcu Peace enmp mmmp «map pump osm— momp mmmp hoop comp mmmp .Umpmm>mm mm; cowumELonwcH xwm cut—3 cm mv—oom $0 L¢n=5211.~ mama: 104 seeking regular medical checkups. Various stages of prenatal development were described in three books, with all depicting eighth month fetal activity. Information was accurate except for a few superstitions, most of which were so identified, in Terris's Elaugg_ of Frogs. Typifying these superstitions was the notion that a pregnant woman who steps on a toad bears an idiot child. Eight books presented very general, but consistently accurate, information about caring for infants and new mothers. All eight books described the importance of planning and preparing, during pregnancy, for the care of an infant; the focus was generally on acquiring and preparing such things as clothing, bedding, paraphernalia for feeding and bathing, and baby furniture. Only a few of the books presented information regarding other matters, consisting of: the need for rest and limited company following birth; breastfeeding; hospital personnel's concern about infants encountering undesirable germs; and, the need of infants for immunization injections. Information about adoption was accurately revealed in five books. Three of the books described adoption procedures of reputable agencies; emphasis was given to the size of, and demand for, the operations, as well as to matters of confidentiality. In two books each, adoption was identified as an alternative for unwed pregnant females and for parents unable to adequately provide for their children. Two of the books also realistically conveyed that people who have been adopted often experience a need to know their natural parents or, at least, something about them. 105 Four books revealed accurate information relating to puberty. The subjects presented were: nocturnal orgasms, menstruation, and puberty rites of two different cultures. Three of the books real—: istically revealed some anxieties in relation to the pubescent stage described therein. Diverse information relating to birth control was evidenced in three books and was indicative of strong societal attitudes regarding the subject. Accurate revelations were that Zero Population Growth is a movement having sociological impact in the 1970s and that laws exist regulating the distribution of birth control information. An old wives' tale that prolonged breast-feeding is an effective means of birth control was put forth as information by a character in one book; however, the accuracy of the contention was doubted by at least one who heard the statement. Three books presented accurate but very limited information regarding genetic influence on masculinity/femininity, special and apparently native abilities, and children whose parents had experi- mented with drugs. At least one book presented (accurate) information for each of these topics: female human anatomy; sexual diseases; agencies for unwed mothers; abortion as an option for unwed mothers; sterility; and, homosexuality. A traditional though incomplete definition of frigidity was implied in the only book which mentioned the subject. 106 Aphrodisiacs were alluded to only in one book when a teenage boy who purported to give infbrmation transmitted an old wives' tale that consumption of olives increases one's sexual prowess and success. Several trends regarding sex information are reflected in Tables 7 and 8. Through the ten year period, increases were apparent in the number of books revealing sex information and in the variety of subjects presented. During the first half of the period (1965-1969), sex information was presented on an average of nearly two and one-half subjects per year. In contrast, an average of seven subjects per year were dealt with during the more recent half of the period. This marked increase in the incidence of sex information was observable in other ways. Information on eight subjects (half of those identified) was revealed exclusively in the 19705; these subjects were: pregnancy; birth control; sexual diseases; agencies for unwed mothers; abortion; aphrodisiacs; frigidity; and, homo- sexuality. Seventy-five percent or more of the books revealing information relating to four additional subjects were published in the 19705; these subjects were: childbirth; sexual intercourse; care of infants and new mothers; and, puberty. On only two subjects (adoption and sterility) was more infbrmation provided in 1965-1969 than in the more recent half of the period sampled; and, sterility was dealt with in only one book. Another distinct trend observed was that of increasingly detailed and graphic presentations of sex information in books published in the more recent years of the period sampled. Evidence of this trend has been presented throughout this chapter. 107 Increasingly younger children apprised of sex information was another trend observed in books published in more recent years of the period sampled. Children as young as five were revealed in several books as having sex information, particularly regarding sexual intercourse, pregnancy, and childbirth. Sources of Information Of the twenty-eight books containing sex information content, nineteen revealed the source for at least some of that content. In twelve of the nineteen books (63%), information was rather incidentally encountered; in four books (21%), it was actively sought; in three books (16%), evidence indicated incidental encounter and active search. As shown in Table 9 (p. 108), information was gained through one or more of five sources: friends, relatives, media, professional people, and/or institutions. Friends were an informational source in eleven of the nineteen books where sex information was revealed. Friends shared information about: rape as a potential danger for females; genetics; procreation; prenatal development; childbirth; postnatal depression; infant care; adoption; nocturnal orgasms; efforts to control social diseases; homosexuality; and, aphrodisiacs. All information was accurate except for an old wives' tale about aphrodisiacs and some super- stitions relating to prenatal development. Relatives were an informational source in ten books; parents were the basic informational source in all but one of these books. Relatives most frequently conveyed information about sexual intercourse and procreation; however, they also provided information about: 108 TABLE 8.--Number of Sex Information Subjects as Revealed in Books per Year. LOKONCIJONOr—NMQ E DOLOLOCDNNNNN +3 23922222222292 8 Subjects Revealed 2 2 O 4 4 6 8 9 5 7 47 Books Containing Data 2 2 0 2 3 4 4 5 2 4 28 TABLE 9.--Number of Books in Which Sex Information Sources were Revealed. Friends 1 l 2 2 2 2 l 11 Relatives 1 l 1 2 l 3 1 10 Media 1 l l 1 2 l 7 Professional People 1 l 2 2 1 7 Institutions 1 1 1 l 4 TABLE lO.--Number of Sex Information Sources as Revealed in Books per Year. to ON 00 03 CD I— N m <7 '0'; LD “3&0 so ‘0 N N l\ l\ l\ +J Ch 0101 05 Ch 03 O‘ 0‘ O5 0‘ O !— r—r— r- r— r- r— r- I'- r-- [-— Sources Revealed l 4 0 1 5 3 5 4 3 3 29 Books Containing Data 1 1 0 l 2 3 4 3 2 2 19 109 adoption; puberty and traditional puberty rites; and, infant care. All information was accurate except one old wives' tale regarding sexual intercourse. The mass media was an informational source in seven books. In four cases, books were utilized; in two, newspapers; in one, television. These sources were used for accurate information about: nocturnal orgasms; masturbation; procreation; adoption; rape; and, homosexuality. Professional people were a source of information about human sexuality in seven books. Medical practitioners were the sources in four books; school personnel in two; and, physical scientists in one. Infbrmation revealed by these sources related to: procreation; nocturnal orgasms; homosexuality; and, sterility. Agencies or institutions were an infbrmational source in four books in the study sample. Accurate information related to childbirth, infant care, abortion, and adoption was revealed by personnel of a home for unwed mothers, a hospital, a welfare agency, and an adoption agency. Several trends regarding sources of sex information were discernible in the period, 1965-1974, from which the sample was drawn (see Tables 9 and 10). The incidence of information provided by relatives and institutions was fairly consistent throughout the period. However, in 1972-1974, only one book showed a relative providing information. This finding may be indicative of a developing trend moving away from relatives as a source of information. In contrast, sharp increases in friends, media, and professional people 110 as purveyors of information were apparent. Of eleven books depicting friends as a source of information, nine (82%) were published in the were recent half of the period sampled. Five of the seven books (71%) depicting media as an informational source and six of seven (89%) similarly depicting professional people were also published in the more recent half of the period sampled. Additionally, the average number of sources revealed as providing sex information was two per year for 1965-1969, as compared to three and one-half per year for 1970-1974. All of these findings seem to indicate increases in: (1) the use of friends, mass media, and professional people as informational sources; (2) the use of multiple sources in acquiring sex infbrmation; (3) the availability of sex information for young people; and, (4) societal concern about human sexuality. Chapter Summary A wide variety of aspects of human sexuality was revealed in the informational content of books in the study sample. The scope of subjects dealt with ranged from aphrodisiacs and childbirth to frigidity and homosexuality. Misinformation was presented in only a few instances in five books and that was, in almost every case, doubted, rejected, or clarified. In all but two cases, old wives' tales were identified as myths. Whether infbrmation was apparently encountered incidentally or actively sought, patterns revealed the sources of information. Friends most frequently provided an informational source; parents-- almost always mothers--were the second most frequent purveyors of 111 knowledge; then came mass media and professional people; and last, agencies or institutions. Numerous trends relating to sex information were discernible in the ten year period from which the sample was drawn. Increases were observed in: (l) the number of books revealing sex infonmation; (2) the variety of subjects for which information was provided; (3) the incidence of detailed and graphic presentations of sex information; (4) the incidence of younger children apprised of sex information; (5) the use of friends, mass media, and professional people as sources of information; (6) the availability of sex information fOr young people; (7) use of multiple sources in acquiring sex information; (8) societal concern with human sexuality; and, (9) efforts by authors to provide readers with accurate sex information. CHAPTER V SEXUAL BEHAVIORS Eighty- four of the 100 books in the study sample were found to contain content revealing human sexual behaviors. To indicate and analyze those behaviors found, this chapter is divided into three parts: (1) Discussion of Findings; (2) Summary of Findings; and (3) Chapter Summary. Discussion of Findings In the category "Sexual Behaviors" seven sub-categories were identified: (1) Flirting; (2) Gestures of Affection; (3) Use of Obscenities; (4) Sexual Activity; (5) Procreation; (6) Fantasies and Dreams; and, (7) Human Anatomy/Body Exposure. These sub- (categories are presented here, as in Table Tl(p. 187), proceeding from the most frequently occurring to the least. Though most sexual behaviors were revealed through teenage characters in premarital states, other instances were found and are indicated in each applicable sub-category. Flirting Sixty-nine books contained content where one or more char- acters displayed flirtatious behavior toward others. The motivating factors for flirtatious behaviors seemed to fall into four patterns: 112 113 (l) attracting attention; (2) showing interest in, or affection for, a person one cares about; (3) promising sexual activity; and, (4) acting for reasons other than personal romantic or sexual interests. Flirting was displayed by characters in early adolescence through adulthood and in premarital, marital, and extramarital situations. Flirting to attract attention was one of the two patterns most frequently encountered. Characters in the ten to twelve year age group often flirted to attract attention by means of physical action of an aggressive nature. In Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag_a young man reflected that as a child he had stomped sandcastles being made by a girl in whom he was interested in order to get her attention. Big Red, a young boy in Blume's Iggie's House, used more direct approaches to get the attention of eleven year old Winnie. On one occasion Big Red caught Winnie by surprise and pushed her into the swimming pool. Another time, he interrupted her lunch and consumed part of it. Sometimes the ten to twelve year olds used language as a means of flirting to attract attention. In Mann's The Clubhouse, Isabella flirted with Carlos just in the way she greeted him on the street. A young boy in Sachs' Amy and Laura attracted twelve year old Laura's attention by offering to show her his prize-winning stamp collection anytime at her convenience. In A New Home for Theresa by Betty Baum, Theresa (a sixth grader nicknamed Tweedy) was attracted to a school friend when he scOlded and at the same time defended her in their peer group: 114 . . "Why don't you girls take a lesson from Tweedy. She's what my mother calls a good listener. And that, my mother says, will make you the most popular person in the world." Theresa flushed. Jonathan was looking at her as if he thought her pretty special (p. 117). Flirting to attract attention among ten to twelve year olds was rather innocent and noncommital. Among older characters, single or married, flirting to attract attention was less innocent, more blatant, and more serious, for whatever reasons. Voice, language, body, as well as skills and interests were used in flirting to attract attention by characters above age twelve. Typical of the teenage male's use of language in flirting with a girl was sixteen year old Scott's in I Need Some Time by Barbara Rinkoff. Scott described his introduction to Leslie: "You deaf or something?" "Not really," I said. "Not when I can listen to you." I was using my new technique on her. I had heard Ted talking to girls over the phone when he was home, and I could see the results he got with this type of line (pp. 9-10). The older male was portrayed as a bit more fOrward. In The Country_Cousin by Betty Cavanna, Peter Knox--a well-to-do Philadelphian in his early twenties--attempted to impress a seventeen year old girl with his worldly charm and experience. Peter turned and looked at her, really looked at her, his dark eyes taunting, then suddenly gentle. He reached out and took Mindy's hands, . . . "I think you're nice too," he said. "Very nice. But you've got a lot of growing up to do.“ Then he sighed, and as though he were flouting his better judgment, said, "Maybe you need an older man in your life. How about going in town for dinner with me some night next week?" (p. 113) 115 In Race the Wild Wind by Amelia Elizabeth Walden, Garth (a college student) used folk-singing before an audience as a vehicle for flirting with Marty, a high school senior. . . It was a rollicking love story, full of wit and charm, and in the end the girl discovered that the boy she wanted wasn't rea1--he went up in a puff of smoke' Garth kept turning toward where Marty sat, sending out the end of each stanza to her (p.57). Females also used language in flirting to attract attention. Lexi, a college girl in Lawrence's No Slipper for Cinderella, was very successful with males partly due to her facility with language. Lisa, a high school senior in Bradbury's Laurie, used language as one means for attracting males to her. In Walk in a Tall Shadow by Amelia Elizabeth Walden, sixteen year old Nancy demonstrated her ability to use language in flirting when she encountered a male friend of her older borther's whom she had not seen since she was twelve. "Remember me?" The voice was soft and wistful. He did not, but he felt anyone this beautiful deserved at least a white lie. "How could I forget?" "But I'm grown up," and she laughed, that small self- conscious laugh of young girls. "And it was four years ago, and you came with your big brother and I was with my family and I was just twelve then and I taught you how to dance. Square dance, I mean. " Then he remembered. "But you were skinny, with pigtails. " "No, a ponytail. " "That's right. You're right, you certainly have changed." She blushed. "I like the change." "You do?" "Who wouldn't?" He grinned down at her. . . . "You've changed, too." ll How?" "Sometime I'll tell you." So she had learned things, too, the strategy of the stall. "I'll tell you--sometime." The appealing femaleness of such a small mystery. She was giving him something to remember her b --come back if you want to find out (pp. 137-138). 116 In The Edge of Next Year by Mary Stolz, sixteen year old Jeanie told fifteen year old Orin that she was waiting for him to be her boyfriend. Middleaged adults also used language in flirting to attract attention. Waitresses in Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt and Hall's Sticks and Stones were flirtatious with male customers; in the latter book, Beulah went so far as to relate off-color stories and jokes to new customers in an effort to increase attention to herself. A less inhibited character was Rose, director of a half-way house, in Viva Chicano by Frank Bonham: “Well, it's so good to §g§_you, sweetie!" she said, with boozy affection. She reached up and kissed him, right on the lips (p. 52). Adult men flirted with teenage hitchhikers in Coles' Riding Free and Knudson's Jesus Song, among others. Most flirting to attract attention portrayed by characters over twelve years of age consisted of the use of language coupled with physical actions. Typical encounters of this nature consisted of verbal flirtations along with scrutinizing someone from top to bottom, rolling one's eyes, or body movement such as the shaking of hips. A less typical teenage encounter was presented in Way_tg_ Go, Teddy by Donald Honig when two high school girls met two minor league baseball players: We first noticed the two girls when we were sitting in Watson's one afternoon. . . . OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Mike looked at them from the corner of his eye, sort of sizing them up. He had a very stern look on his face, the way he never looked except when standing on the mound trying to , 117 stare down a hitter. He was trying to be mature about this. When girls giggle, you don't; when they don't, then you have to make the laughs. . . "Not bad, " he muttered after studying the girls. "You mean, pretty good, " I said. So we continued to sit in the booth like a couple of dummies while those girls kept peeking and giggling and spinning on their stools. They weren't going to do that forever, . . Then the brunette broke the ice, . . . "My father says Mike Delaney is the best pitcher Wyattville's had in five years.“ Then she tilted her head to the side and stared at Mike with pure mischief. Without a word, he got up and walked between the tables to her. He held out his hand and said, "Thank your father and give him this for me." They shook hands. Then he . . . leaned forward and kissed her on the cheek. "And that's for you," he said (pp. 69-71). In Amelia Elizabeth Walden's Race the Wild Wind on the evening that Kirk, a "wolf" by reputation, first saw Karin, a some- what shy and very beautiful Scandinavian girl, he tried to sweep her off her feet--with flirting and gestures of affection. . . . Kirk spotted Karin the instant she entered the room with a trayful of fruit cups. He did not take his eyes off her. Several times as Karin passed his place at the table he reached out a hand to detain her, holding her free arm, saying things that brought quick color to Karin's face. Once Marty over- heard. "I want every dance with the prettiest girl in the place. Ygu," After the girls had finished helping Tora, there was Kirk standing at the entrance to the big recreation room, . . "I' ve been waiting for you," . . he snatched Karin' 5 hand and . . . marshaled his forces for a conquest. . . . Just then Ez Baldwin . . . said, "Choose partners for the birthday dance. . . . . . It was Kirk's birthday too. By family tradition, he would have to pick his favorite girl for the dance. . . . He swung toward Karin and whisked her into his arms. . There were prizes-~gifts for the two boys and their girls. . . . . . . Then it was Kirk's turn. With a swift, dramatic gesture, he ripped off the gift wrappings from his birthday 118 prize. He clipped his tiepin on his tie. Then, as he raised his hands to put the chain with the little skier around Karin's neck, he pulled her to him and gave her a kiss. It was not the brother-sister kiss that Spencer had given Marty. It was the kind of kiss a boy would give a girl he liked very, very much (pp. 131- 133). In Guy's The Friends Norman tried to regain the interest of a former girlfriend, fifteen year old Phyllisia at a party. . Norman's arms tightened around me. He put his cheek against mine and whispered in my ear: “You sure are looking go-od [sic.], baby." I stiffened in disgust at his duplicity, yet felt a certain satisfaction. "Thank you," I said harshly. "Oh don't give that cold- shoulder routine, baby doll. You know I always dug you" (p. 151). In E. L. Konigsburg's (George), Ben Carr's mother (a divorcee) and his math teacher, Mr. Berkowitz, started flirting as soon as they incidentally met at the beach: Mr. Berkowitz was showing off! Not for Howard who was paying no attention and not for Ben who already knew how smart and nice he was. Not fOr George--certainly not for George. Mr. Berkowitz was performing for Charlotte Carr; for at the same time that George was noticing Mr. Berkowitz's voice, Ben was noticing that Mr. Berkowitz's eyes, if not his head, turned in the direction of his mother. Mrs. Carr felt those eyes, and she wanted to express interest, so she asked a question. . . . (p. 50) Three books explicitly revealed middleaged, married adults flirting to attract the attention of teenagers. In Don't Look and It Won't Hurt by Peck, a married waitress flirted with a high school boy. In Nancy Garden's The Loners the alcoholic mother of a teenage girl greeted one of her daughter's party guests: Paul was escorted to the living room by the woman--Mrs. Croning, he guessed--who had met him at the door. . . . She seemed a little unsteady . . . and held his arm uncomfortably close as she led him through the hall. . . . 119 . . . squeezing his arm still more and murmuring something about having a lovely time, . . . (p. 57) More deviant behavior was evidenced in Bird on the Wing by Winifred Madison. Don, second husband of Mollie and stepfather to sixteen year old Elizabeth, openly flirted with Elizabeth with the hope of establishing himself in a new role with her. . . Don, wanting to show Elizabeth off, put his arm around her and introduced her as his daughter, while Mollie refilled the drinks and passed around the dips. Elizabeth smiled nervously and tried to break away, but Don held her firmly, and of course her mother saw it all. Two mornings later, while her mother was upstairs on the extension phone, Don tiptoed up to Elizabeth and kissed her on the back of the neck while she was pouring orange juice for breakfast. . "Please, you musn't do that," she whispered. "Honey, we are related, you know. And I like having you around. Don't you want to be friends?" He kissed her and she broke away. "What would my mother think if she saw you?" "Well, what difference would it make?" (p. 122) Conversely, a fifteen year old girl repeatedly telephoned a married man in Bonham's Viva Chicano; the man's response to this flirtation was not made clear. Flirting to show interest in, or affection for, a person one cares about was the other of the two patterns of flirting most frequently encountered. This type of flirting generally involved both word and deed for all age groups and marital states. Typical of the flirtatious interaction of young teenagers was a scene in Igssie by Jesse Jackson: . "Where's that bearskin you promised to bring me from camp?" Jimmy Bibbe asked. Tessie liked Jimmy. "Hi," she said. "You're getting taller." "I'm eating my Wheaties." Jimmy grinned, . . . . 120 "Give me some skin, old friend." Jimmy held out his right hand, palm open, to Tessie. Tessie laid her right palm down, touching Jimmy's lightly. "Through thick and thin, old friend," Jimmy said, and they both quickly drew back their open palms. They looked at each other and grinned (pp. 5-7). Among high school, college, and adult characters, flirting to show interest or affection was often presented as teasing or joking. One example was a scene in A Rage to Die by Mort Grossman where a young black high school principal flirted with his wife while they entertained a female faculty member in their home. "My husband is always trying to do that with everyone he meets, Marge," said Yvonne. "As a matter of fact, when we met, I mentioned the name of a man I knew. Jim didn't know him, but he remembered the name. That was twelve years ago. Just before you came I mentioned to Jim that I saw the man today, and would you believe it, Jim remembered the name, Lou Jessup. Now, since dinner he has been trying to figure oUt what I meant by telling him." "That' s nonsense, Yvonne. All I wanted to know was what your connection with him was. Nothing else. " . . "Yes, dear, I know," crooned Yvonne, putting her hand to his cheek and pursing her lips. "Now stop it. Do you remember what I did the last time you teased me on the subject of other men?" "You wouldn' t," answered Yvonne. . . "I would, and I will. " He made a grab for her, but she slipped away and disappeared into the kitchen (pp. 42- 43). Numerous instances were found of junior high school through adult characters using compliments to show interest or affection. The compliments were sometimes for goodness, intelligence, and talents; however, they usually referred to physical appearance, as in Bryg_by Hetty Burlingame Beatty when elderly Grandpa Del responded to his wife's new dress: "Lord almighty!" he exclaimed. "I'm going to have to keep an eye on you in that outfit! The prettiest girl in the state, I d SW.“ "Oh, Del!" Gran laughed (p. 189). 121 The third pattern found in twenty percent of the books was flirting as an apparent promise of future sexual activity. In almost all cases, it was unmarried high school or college characters who demonstrated such behavior. For example, Ramona Tavares in You Can't Make It By Bus by James L. Summers was described as floating around high school ". . . being a movie star in flamenco rhythms. . . .flying the flag of piracy and clicking her various castanets, . . ." and having an entourage of males wagging their tails when around her (pp. 37-38). Paul Guevara knew that Ramona ". . . could be a chicano's woman, . . ." because she ". . . swished her broad hips at him plenty, . . ." (p. 64) Another example of flirting as a promise of sexual activity was explicitly depicted in Hold Yourself Dear by Pauline Smith where Harriet, a high school senior, finally felt forced to make those promises good with the result of pregnancy and marriage, in that order. Books with similar depictions included: Laklan's Surf With Me; Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag; Mills' The Rules of the figmg; Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way; Maxwell's Just Dial a Number, and Trivers' I Can Stop Anytime I Want. Several books depicted flirting as an apparent promise of future sexual activity when persons attempted to, or actually did, "pick-up" others--inc1uding hitchhikers. Usually high school and college age characters were portrayed in incidents of this nature as in Riding Free by Coles; That Was Then, This Is Now by Hinton; Jesus Soug by Knudson; Bird on the Wing_by Madison; and Don't Look and It Won't Hurt by Peck. However, in Valeria Winkler Griffith's 122 Runaway a teenage boy recalled an earlier time when a man unknown to him and his mother had approached his mother. . . . When Mom worked in Des Moines, before we went to live with Gram, she used to take me to the library a lot. Sometimes we'd go outside and sit on the riverbank and look at the water running fast under the bridges. Once, a man came over and spoke to Mom and she got up very fast and walked away (pp. 35-36). Evidence of married couples flirting as apparent promise of sexual activity was found in a few books including: Sally, Star Patient by Alice Ross Colver; A Spark of quyby Barbara Schoen; and A Rage to Die by Mort Grossman. One example fOund in the Grossman book involved a black high school principal and his wife, an elementary school teacher: ‘ "You're great," she said. "You're a hell of‘a guy." "You're right," he said. "Kiss me." She came to him. They smelled it at the same time. "Oh, God," she moaned, "my cheese sauce is burning." He smiled at her. "That's not all that's burning" (p. 25). The fourth pattern of flirting was identified in twenty-one books where persons acted for reasons other than personal romantic or sexual interests. All instances but one involved junior high school through college age characters. The motivating factors for this type of flirting were extremely diverse. Flirting was depicted as an endeavor to avoid or escape boredom in several books. In Mystery_of the Fat Cat Frank Bonham wrote: "When bored, the older animals [teenage boys] would even trifle with girls" (p. 17). Though less explicitly the same message was implied on several occasions by sixteen year old Bryon in That Was Then, This Is Now by S. E. Hinton. 123 It was a great place to go to pick up chicks. If you fOllowed a carload of them around fOr a while, they might pull over and exchange phone numbers with you. . . . If you fOund someone you wanted to drive around with, you parked your car and left it while you goofed around with maybe a dozen different people in one night. . . . A couple of blondes in an orange Camaro came by on M&M's [age 13] side of the car and made him an indecent proposition. I thought that kid was going to fall out the window, he was so shocked. The rest of us laughed (pp. 88-89). In Clymer's How I Went Shoppingyand What I Got, girls aged tWelve and thirteen frequented music shops to listen to music and to meet boys with whom to flirt--just for the fun of it. Flirting to enhance one's self-esteem or simply to reinforce one's sex role was revealed in several books including: Laurie by Bianca Bradbury; The Country Cousin by Betty Cavanna; Miss Fix-It by Adele deLeeuw; Inside the Gate by Mildred Lawrence; and Hold Yourself .QEEE.PY Pauline Smith. In the majority of instances where flirting of this nature occurred, it was through a female character about sixteen to eighteen years of age. One unique example of flirting to reinforce one's sex-role was found in The Edge of Next Year by Mary Stolz. Sixteen year old Jeanie was simultaneously afraid of boys and desirous of male companionship. As a solution to her dilemma, Jeanie sought out a younger male who was initially very perplexed by her flirtation. "I've always liked you, Orin. You're tall for fourteen." He smiled miserably. "When will you be fifteen?" "June. In June." "You're nice-looking, too. Really handsome." Orin began to find the conversation exciting. His pulse raced as he waited for what she'd say next. 124 The amazing thing she said was, "I want to have a boyfriend." Orin cleared his throat, but before he could think of some reply to this, she went on, "Actually, I'm afraid of boys. Not of you. You're very quiet and nice and even if you're so tall and all you're only fOurteen. I'm afraid of boys my age and the older ones. I mean, I think they're horrible. Every time I go out with somebody--I mean, boys are always asking me out--“ "I should think so," Orin croaked. "You're very pretty." She swept past that. "But they're always the same. Animals, that's what they are. I had to get Daddy to get rid of one of them for me." ll Huh? ll "Honestly. He just wouldn't leave me alone, so when he called one time, I put Daddy on the phone, and did he get told off. And he hasn't--that bo --spoken to me since. And you know, Orin, I think he told the other boys about it. What Daddy had said, I mean. Because now they look at me sort of funny, like they were laughing at me. So--" She let out a long tremulous breath. "I thought that if you didn't mind, you could be my boyfriend. We could walk together at school, and skate, and when the weather gets nice we could go on picnics. I'd cook everything. And I know you wouldn't be horrible. You know what I mean" (pp. 128-129). Teenage females in three books flirted to acquire special assistance in developing skills they desired. Rosa learned to drive an automobile in Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way. In Montgomery's Into the Groove, Jigger learned to race a sports car. Surfing was the skill Judy developed in Laklan's Surf With Me. Only two books revealed flirting as an act of parental defiance. Eleana, in Smith's Hold Yourself Dear, was a very beautiful, intelligent and sullen high school girl who had much contempt for parental authority. Until she learned a lesson the hard way Eleana consistently flirted with, and responded to, only those males whom her parents viewed as less than desirable. Fifteen year old Phyllisia in Guy's The Friends flirted to defy her overly protective father; she further hoped that her father would be so 125 angered by her flirtation that he would send her to their former home in the West Indies. In The Big Wheels by Huntsberry several boys used flirtations to get votes to put themselves into power positions in their high school. A college girl in Lawrence's No Slipper for Cinderella attempted to improve her chances for being a representative of her school in a series of "intelligence bowls" by using well her feminine wiles. Donald, a teenage hippie in Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag, flirted to gain money, goods for barter, room, board, whatever he needed at any given moment to exist. Todd, a high school senior in Just Dial a Number by Maxwell, flirted with the daughter of the dean of his school to enhance his chance for getting a very favorable recommendation from the dean. A high school boy in Sherburne's Lg§119_flirted to help cover his sale of drugs and a girl in Trivers"I Can Stop Any Time I Want used flirtations to obtain drugs for herself. A young man in Safly, Star Patient by Colver flirted with a spastic paralytic girl to reap the benefits of her higher social and financial status; in the same book a young and innocent boy from an upperclass family was somewhat preyed upon by an unscrupulous female who was several years older. In Sherburne's Lg§11g_and Maxwell's Just Dial a Number, two boys briefly attempted to use flirting to keep girls quiet about deaths for which they all were, in part, responsible--however unintentionally. 126 A Rage to Die by Mort Grossman depicted a beautiful young black woman who as an agent of the federal government used some of her feminine wiles to help expose the leader of a young fascist group in a big city school district. Though flirtatious behavior was very rarely rejected out- right or unnoticed, when it did happen serious overtones were cast. . In Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now, when Ponyboy Curtis innocently failed to recognize Angela's flirtations she literally had him attacked which resulted in injury to several people. Jealousy and competition occurred fairly often, especially among high school aged characters. Most frequently girls were pitted against each other for a boy's attention. However, boys were also depicted in this light. Further, boys were shown more often than girls as being jealous of the time and/or attention that their friends gave to the opposite sex. Gestures of Affection In sixty-five books one or more characters displayed gestures of affection for another. These behaviors were: kissing, in 43 books; being physically close or touching, 34; holding hands, 28; having an arm around, 23; embracing, 22; and other behaviors such as letter- writing and gift-giving, 18. Gestures of affection were shown by early adolescent through adult characters in premarital, marital, and extramarital situations; the focus, however, was generally on unmarried characters sixteen or more years of age. The identified gestures of affection seemed to fall into five patterns: (1) 127 demonstration of romantic or sexual interest; (2) demonstration of comfort, support, or understanding; (3) demonstration of appreciation; (4) traditional or habitual behavior; and (5) the pursuit of selfish individual interests other than of a romantic or sexual nature. Generally the affectionate gestures were sincere and reciprocated. Gestures of affection as demonstration of romantic or sexual interest were by far the most frequently occurring as well as the most varied. Usually these gestures were revealed through characters who knew each other well. Every type of behavior revealed as an affectionate gesture was found in this pattern. The gestures were often depicted as efforts to be near another as often as possible; this was revealed in a number of ways. Banny Mason, a boy of about twelve in Derleth's The Beast in Holger's Woods, was anxious to be close to Dora regardless of his male companion's reactions. In Sneakers by Shepard twelve year old Chuck regularly saved the bus seat beside him for thirteen year old Thelma. In Laurig_by Bradbury a high school boy saved a bus seat far his steady girlfriend. In lyeggy_by Jackson, the female protagonist was often walked home from school by a boy. In Runaway by Griffith a high school girl routinely stopped at a garage to see her boyfriend. Teenage and older characters often spent as much time as possible with the person in whom they were interested. The seventeen year old protagonist of Runaway by Griffith routinely spent three or four evenings a week with his girl, Cindy Lou. In The Secret Raft 128 by Krantz a college boy visited his fiancee every free weekend. In A Spark of Joy by Schoen when Jim courted Ellen with an eye toward marriage, he accepted an invitation to move into the house with Ellen and her parents for a while. In Bird on the Wing by Madison, Liz's stepfather made repeated efforts to be sexually close to her. Walk in a Tall Shadow by Walden revealed the protagonist's father as taking advantage of every opportunity to be close to his various lovers; sometimes it seemed that he spent more time with them than he did with his family. In §h§gj_by Embry the protagonist's father lived with his lover and only occasionally contacted his family. In Don't Look at Me That Way by Crane, the protagonist's mother seemed to receive gestures of affection from her lover only when she was not pregnant. Characters frequently held hands, embraced, or kissed as gestures of affection. Characters typically held hands when walking or talking with the person to whom their affections were directed. Numerous examples of this were found in such books as The Making of Joshua Cobb by Hodges, Runaway by Griffith, On1y1in Time by Bratton, and Hold Zero! by George. One interesting and far-fetched example of hand-holding was evidenced in The Country Cousin by Cavanna where two college age characters had known each other for some time. Dana had demonstrated more interest in Mindy than vice versa from the story's beginning; nevertheless, when both were visiting France and Dana took Mindy to a romantic spot they merely held hands. 129 A far more curious example of hand-holding was in Schoen's A Spark of Joy when Jim and his pregnant wife, Ellen, went to a familiar restaurant for dinner and held hands under the table. In several books couples held hands and embraced throughout courtships preceding marriage. Some of these books were: Just One Indian Boy_by Witheridge, Lg§11g_by Sherburne, (George) by Konigsburg, and Sticks and Stones by Hall. In Don't Look and It Won't Hurt by Peck, on a first date Jerry suggested to Carol that they drive into a secluded private park for conversational privacy. As with many of the highly personal conversations of young males and females, this one culminated with a single affectionate kiss. Laklan's Surf with Me contained a more unusual, and somewhat unrealistic, situation of young people kissing. Judy and Pete were steady dates during one summer vacation and met on the next. They developed a plan to meet late at night when Pete would chunk a pebble against Judy's house and she would sneak out to meet him at a designated point on the beach where they engaged in conversation as they lay together in the sand. Sometimes an affectionate kiss followed the conversation. Less typical examples of teenage kissing to show affection were in In the Country of Ourselves by Nat Hentoff and You Can't Make It By Bus by James L. Summers. In the Hentoff book, Jane kissed Michael on the cheek as they stood outside their high school library even before they had a date. In the Summers book, Paul and Lura who had dated steadily for some time, kissed more frequently and openly 130 than most couples showing affection. Typically, Paul walked Lura home after school and they kissed passionately before parting at her door. In each book where a married person made affectionate gestures toward an unmarried teenage character, the teenager was undemonstrative (at least) and (frequently) uncomfbrtable with the situation. Instances such as this were revealed in Garden's The Loners, Hall's Sticks and Stgggs, Madison's Bird on the Wing, Griffith's Runaway, and Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt. Romantic or sexual interests were depicted in eighteen books through such affectionate gestures as bestowing poems, letters, flowers, and other gifts on the person on whom one's affections were centered. In Jesus Song by Knudson, Joy (also known as Sister Alma) had been enlisted by her older brother to write love poems for his girl- friend. In The Rules of the Game by Mills poetry was shared more dramatically when John Warren, a somewhat rebellious college junior, waged a long and intense campaign to seduce Cindy, a somewhat naive college freshman. On a couple of occasions, much to Cindy's delight, John quoted love poetry. Finally, he sent her a poem of love that he had written in French: Le Réve Dans un arbre nu au village De petits oiseaux Parmi les rameaux M'ont paru comme du feuillage, Et puis, je m'en suis approché-- Mais vers les nuages Le trop beau feuillage ’ S'est tout tristement envole. Cindy read it over again. . . . She didn't care who read it--didn't care if everybody on campus knew that John Warren wrote poems to her in French and left them at the desk of her dorm. . . . (pp. 195-196) 131 Written correspondence was a gesture of affection in several other books. In Race the Wild Wind by Walden when Marty did not receive mail from Graham, she became a compulsive eater; when she did receive his letters she carried them with her, re-reading them frequently. In No Slipper for Cinderella by Lawrence a college boy made his romantic interest best known through his creation of a special and very complex Christmas card to his girl friend. In Bird on the Wing by Madison teenage Liz had written to Rick many times after moving from California to Nebraska; he had written only once to her. In spite of this, Liz continued to hold to her affections and dreams of Rick; in fact, she finally ran away from home with intentions of being with him. In the same book, David frequently sent notes to his extramarital lover. In Griffith's Runaway seventeen year old Phil regularly wrote to the girl he thought he loved--in spite of the fact that because he was a runaway and had no permanent address she could not direct letters to him. While this girl had earlier professed love for Phil, letters in his absence were not enough to keep her faithful to him. Several books depicted the traditional behavior of a male giving a corsage to his date. Less typical instances of a male sending flowers were exemplified in books such as In Search of Ophelia by Walden, Nagmj_ in the Middle by Klein, and Bird on the Wipg_by Madison. In the Walden book, Frank sent his estranged sweetheart a bouquet to let her know that he was back in New York. In Klein's Naomi in the Middle, Naomi's father brought a bouquet of pussy willows to his wife on the evening that they announced to Naomi 132 and her sister that their family was expanding. In Bird on the Wigg by Madison, a married man sometimes sent floral bouquets to his lover. Gifts were sometimes given to demonstrate affection. In The Country Cousin by Cavanna, a boy gave a girl a book before she took a trip. In Way to Go, Teddy_by Honig a girl gave a book to a boy before he moved to another town. In Walden's Race the Wild Wind a college boy gave a girl a small personal memento before he had to return to school. Runaway by Griffith depicted a more unusual example of gift-giving: The way I felt about Cindy Lou, I was likely to do some crazy thing like buying her a twenty-dollar bottle of perfume and then I'd be broke until the following payday. Like the time we went to the State Fair in Des Moines and I spent sixteen bucks tossing rings to win her a giant stuffed panda. It wasn't worth five but it sure thrilled Cindy Lou (pp. 13-14). Bird on the Wing by Madison depicted two females in a unique relationship: It was odd, Maija not being one who seemed to care about such things, that she exclaimed over a well-cut jacket and a creamy silk shirt, fluttering her eyes as she looked at the price. "Brrrrrr," she said and put it down. While Maija admired the boots, Elizabeth picked up the shirt, hoping it was the right size, found a red silk kerchief, gave it to the clerk, and paid for it with bills from Lorene's brown envelope. As they left the store, she gave the bag to Maija. "What's this?" Maija asked, looking inside. "You mean, you bought this beautiful, terribly, ridiculously expensive shirt for me? And this scarf too?" She was delighted as a schoolgirl, threw her arms around Elizabeth and kissed her. 133 "I don't know what to say. Is thank you enough? No, it isn't. . . . And I'll always treasure this, for itself, and because it's from you" (pp. 77-78). In Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War a high school boy gave his girlfriend gifts for reasons more sexual than romantic. Tubs was so desperate to give the girl presents that he stole from his father and planned to spend the money he was making for his school through the sale of chocolates. Though he planned to reimburse the money, he could not fOresee how this would be possible: . . He had already sold three boxes--six dollars--but that wasn't enough, of course. He was still desperate. . . . He had saved every cent he could from his allowance and had even sneaked a folded and greasy dollar bill from his father's pocket. . . . He hated doing that--stealing from his own father. He vowed to return the money to him as soon as possible. When would that be? Tubs didn't know. Money, money, money had become the constant need of his life, money and his love for Rita. . . . . . . And now her birthday was tomorrow and he had to buy her the present she wanted, . . . , that terrible and beautiful bracelet. . . . $18.95 plus tax. . . . which Tubs figured out would make a grand total of $19.52, . . . He knew that he didn't have to buy her the bracelet. . . She was only fourteen and he was barely fifteen but they were in love, . . . and it was only money that kept them apart, . . . . (pp. 87-91) In Grossman's A Rage to Die romantic and sexual gestures were uniquely depicted. Jim Barnes (a high school principal) and his wife (an elementary school teacher) were shown in a very human fashion: ". . . Let's go to bed." He slapped her on the rump as they rose, and she ducked out of reach. He went after her and covered her with his arms. She looked up at him. "I love you, Jim." "And I love you." He looked down and kissed her lightly on the tip of her nose. She wrinkled it up and shook her head from side to side. 134 “Don' t do that," she squealed. "I' 11 do that and more. " "Not here you won 't. " "O.K., let's go" (p. 106). Gestures of affection as indicative of comfort, support, or understanding were usually revealed through a couple that had been dating steadily for some time as in Nothing But a Stranger by Arlene Hale. After her high school graduation ceremony, Holly became aware that Bernie was thinking of his father who had been dead for nearly two years. She was aware of the serious note in his voice, . . . , see a tiny scowl on his forehead. She knew he was thinking about his father. She reached up and kissed his cheek, barely brushing it with her lips. "What was that for?" he wondered. "For being you," she sighed. "For being Bernie. Did I say thanks for the corsage?" (p. 6). Later in the same story, Holly rushed to Bernie's arms for comfort and support when she learned--much to her dismay and distress-- that she had been adopted as a baby. Susan Thaler's Rosaria at age fifteen had become very depressed due to her father's apparent desertion of his family and several other factors. Rosaria's steady boyfriend tried briefly to comfort her though he did not perceive the problems. Eduardo had noticed it. The other night he had scrutinized her, saying, "What is it with you, lately, baby? You never sitstill anymore." She had turned her hands palms up in an effort to express what she couldn't find the words to describe. "I don't know, Eduardo. I feel so . . . so empty. . . " He pulled her down on his lap and kissed her. "You're not getting tired of old Eduardo, are you?" She smiled, but did not answer. . .(pp. 54- 55) 135 The parents of seventeen year old Paul in Nancy Garden's Ihg_ Loners were well-to-do, snobbish, and undemonstrative with regard to affection for one another. However, Mr. Windsor did reach out to his wife when his own father suffered a heart attack. "What are his chances?" Mom asked in a small voice. Paul noticed that his father had taken his mother's hand and was stroking it gently. Paul couldn't remember ever having seen him do that before (p. 15). Sticks and Stones by Hall depicted two young men in a unique relationship. Ward, a self-professed bisexual who preferred men, (and Tom, a high school boy rumored to be a homosexual, were portrayed as having only an extremely close friendship. However, there were indications that Tom may have been a latent homosexual. Affectionate gestures as indicative of comfort, support, and under- standing occurred when Ward shared his disappointment over the rejection slip he received for his novel manuscript. "Damn," Tom said softly. He went back to the couch and sat beside Ward, giving his arm a quick hard squeeze of sympathy. "That's why you've been so touchy all night. Why didn't you say something about it instead of letting me blab on and on about my problems?" Ward shrugged. "I was going to tell you. I just hated to give you my thundercloud, I guess." "Don't be dumb. I give you all mine, and I want to be in on yours. I feel like I've got a part interest in Spaces, you know." For an instant Ward's hand closed over Tom's knee; then they separated, embarrassed at the emotion that charged between them (pp. 98-99). Gestures of affection as demonstrative of one's appreciation were evidenced in a few books. In Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't, Mrs. Miglione praised her husband for his new invention and gave him ". . . a juicy kiss. . . ." (p. 14) 136 In Way_to Go, Teddy_by Honig, Mike kissed the cheek of a girl he had never met in appreciation for a compliment. Later in the same book, Teddy kissed a girl who had given him a special present. Amelia Elizabeth Walden's In Search of Ophelia depicted a scene where two thesbians met at the close of a performance in which the female had excelled: Vince was waiting for her at the foot of the long flight of stairs. She was one of the last to come down. Three steps from the bottom, she paused, stopped, looking into his face, searching for the anger or the recrimination she might find there. He held out his hand and she went down to him. For a moment they said nothing, standing there like a schoolboy and a schoolgirl holding hands in the semi-darkness. Then he leaned down and kissed her, a soft, tender brotherly kiss on the mouth (p. 200). Eleven year old Robin in Bishop's Little League Stepson observed that every discussion his mother and new stepfather had concerning him ended with a kiss. Gestures of affection were demonstrated in a number of instances as traditional or habitual behavior such as unmarried young people kissing when departing for school, vacations, and the like. One example was found in John Ney's Ox Goes North when Ox was bidding farewell to Anne: Mrs. Lattimore and Anne came down to pick Lattimore up, and we all said good-bye. . . . She kissed me on the cheek. I'd gotten so tall I had to bend over so she could reach me. While I was leaning over like that she stepped back and Anne kissed me on the other cheek. "Au revoir," she said (p. 269). Very few books revealed unmarried young people kissing in greeting, even when separated for an extended period of time. One 137 example of this was in DeLeeuw's Miss Fix-It where the protagonist's younger sister invited a male to spend a weekend with her family at their summer home. In greeting the fellow at the train station, however, the girl displayed such dispassionate behavior that her older sister felt compelled to make efforts to engage in conversation with the young man so he would feel welcomed. In Race the Wild Wind by Amelia Elizabeth Walden, Marty, a high school senior, and Garth, a college junior, had been separated for several months and greeted each other with only a hug; interestingly, Garth proposed marriage several hours later. Only after the proposal did they kiss and then Garth ". . . kissed her good-night, a light kiss and a sweet one, . . . ." (p. 160) Even a young married couple who had been apart for several weeks only embraced upon being reunited in Colver's Sally, Star Patient. One of the few books in which unmarried young people kissed in greeting was Graystone College by Barness. The protagonist embraced and kissed his girlfriend hello and goodby each time she came with his parents to visit him in prison! Married couples kissed in greeting and/or departing in several books including: Sally, Star Patient by Alice Ross Colver; A Rage to Die by Mort Grossman; and The Drowning Bay by Susan Terris. The latter book contained one of the more explicit examples of this type of behavior. Sam Slavin moved over to the doorway. With absent-minded affection he kissed Roseanne right where the wet blond curls clung to her forehead (p. 47). 138 Several books revealed affectionate gestures as a sort of traditional behavior. Gestures of affection were given boyfriends and girlfriends after winning athletic events in Judy Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't; Bianca Bradbury's Laurie; and Walden's Race the Wild Wind. Another type of traditional behavior was depicted in Riptide by Ella Thorp Ellis where fifteen year old Mike had his first real date with Mary for a New Year's Eve dance. . . . The band played "Auld Lang Syne." Mike stood with his arms around Mary. He didn't want to kiss her now. Everyone was kissing. . . . Later. When they were alone at the dunes. This dance was like Grand Central Station. However, she seemed to be waiting, and if he didn't someone else would. Mike drew Mary gently to him and kissed her. Then he held her, feeling the soft velvet, smelling perfume. Dizzy (p. 94). Several books revealed affectionate gestures made in pursuit of selfish individual interests. Though in actuality such behaviors do occur, the situations found here were unusual in terms of frequency, severity, and the degree of success enjoyed by the perpetrators of such acts. In You Can't Make It ByyBus by Summers,Lura, a high school junior, used ". . . all the tricks a woman knows" to get her steady boyfriend to tell her the secret that was troubling him (p. 58). Judy, the fifteen year old protagonist of Surf With Me by Laklan, used only the minimal gestures of affection required to get Pete to teach her to surf. She also accepted gestures of affection from an older surfer just so she could surf more and be in the crowd. 139 In Canyon of Decision by Granger, Jo, a high school senior, was defiant toward her parents and so infatuated with her tall, dark, handsome, and daring boyfriend that a few gestures of affection from him could prompt her to do as he wished, even when she was uncomfortable with the situation. This was made especially clear when peer pressure and his gestures of affection, persuaded Jo-- in spite of her fear--to drag race another girl late at night. . . . "Why don't we have a girls' drag?" . . . "It' s all right with me," Clemmie said after a minute. "I' ve got my folks' car, it'll really go. " She looked narrowly at Jo. "What are you laughing at?" "Wait till you see the bomb I brought down here," she said, . . . . I've got my brother Craig's car, and I think it was the first one made after a Stanley Steamer. The only way I could drag with that would be to get a high-speed tugboat. " "You' re not afraid, are you?“ Clemmie asked suddenly, . . . . "There are such things as handicaps, you know. I could give you a head start." "Sure. Why not?" Sandy said, . . . . "Good idea, Clem." He looked back at Jo. "Okay?" "What's the matter, sweetie?" Sandy asked, and without looking at him she knew he was grinning at her lopsidedly, daring her, testing her. "You don't sound very enthusiastic." "I'm all right," she responded, . . . . There would be no way out, she knew. The only way to stay and be accepted by this group was to go their way. . . "Courage, my love," Sandy said lightly. He stood next to her and dropped his arm to her shoulders. "I'm with ygu," "Let's try the Fillmore Street hill," Sandy said. "There won't be anybody up there this time of night and a big hill like that will give our"--he squeezed Jo's shoulder--"our tortoise here a better break." . . . "See you on top of the hill," he said, dropping a brief kiss on her forehead. ° ° iokay'," and; an; an; axleigy'wg'n'da n: : : : ° ' ' Sandy laughed, put his arm around her and kissed her on the lips right in front of everybody (pp. 26- 28). 140 The drag race ended with tragedy: an innocent by-stander was nearly killed, one of Jo's arms was seriously injured, an all night newsstand and Craig's car were demolished, and when Jo was physically able to travel, her parents sent her to spend several months in the mountains. While Jo was in the mountains, Sandy turned his attention to Clemmie--the "winner" of the drag race. Fifteen year old Phyllisia in The Friends by Guy made insincere gestures of affection to maintain the interest of a boy for the sole reason of provoking her father to an action she wanted taken. In A Rage to Die by Grossman, a beautiful young black woman who worked as an agent of the federal government accepted and returned gestures of affection in order to help expose the leader of a young fascist group in a big city school district. Three teenage boys used gestures of affection to prey upon girls, each for different reasons. In Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag, Donald, a teenage hippie, preyed upon girls by making affectionate gestures and telling sad stories to gain their sympathy in order to get them to support him and the girl with whom he lived most of the time. Seventeen year old Wendy was warned about becoming one of Donald's victims: "Wendy, let me tell you a truth. You're better off without Donald. He is the helpless sort who triggers the mother in half the girls on Charles Street. . . . You're not the first and you won't be the last. . . . You've been had. All you can go is fgrget it and get over it. I'm sorry you got hurt" p. 197 . 141 Donald was later jailed for trespassing and then institutionalized for a mental disorder. Chip, a high school boy in Lgsljg_by Sherburne, used affectionate gestures to attract and maintain the interest of girls whom he used as a partial cover for his sale of illegal drugs. Chip also used affectionate gestures in a threatening way when he became afraid that Leslie was about to tell the police of their involvement in the death of a hit-and-run victim. Chip put his hand on the side of her neck, gently, as if he really liked her and was sorry. "If you go to the police, Leslie, you go alone. And I'll deny everything. . . . Your mother will have a fit, and you'll get in trouble at school. So you'd better think about it some more." I'I'd really hate to hurt her." Leslie's voice was trembling. . . . He reached out and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. "Look, you're all upset right now, but in the morning everything will look different. I'll stop by and pick you up for school. You'll tell me that you've thought it over, and you realize there's nothing to be gained but a lot to lose." His voice, so quiet and soft, had a strangely hypnotic quality. When she didn't reply, he smiled faintly and kissed her gently on the lips. "There," he said. "That' 5 my girl. (pp 73- 75) Ultimately, in an effort to discredit the testimony that Chip knew Leslie was about to make, he stealthily slipped her a drug overdose which sent her to the hospital and, finally, to judicial proceedings where Chip was apparently faced with several criminal charges. In Just Dial a Number by Maxwell, Todd used affectionate gestures to maintain the interest of Cathy, the daughter of the dean of Todd's high school. Todd's purpose was to obtain a favorable recommendation from the dean upon graduation. Todd tried, partly 142 with affectionate gestures, to get Cathy to forget about their involvement in an accident which caused the death of two people. Later, he simply asked her to be quiet about it. After they broke off their relationship, Todd was directly linked with a sex and drug scandal. And finally, Cathy made public their responsibilities regarding the two deaths. Several instances of rejection of affection were found and were very nearly split between male and female characters. Further, there was a fairly even split between non-destructive and destructive behavior as a result of perceived rejection of affection. Slightly over half the characters who thought they had experienced rejection of affection demonstrated non-destructive behavior. They were generally characterized as unhappy, listless, and (sometimes) angry. Eventually, they were shown to deal with their hurt and seemed to be forgiving in nature. Characters such as these were portrayed in: The Loners by Garden; Don't Look at Me That Way_by Crane; Go Away Ruthie by Baker; and Walk in a Tall Shadow by Walden. In Walden's In Search of Ophelia, a young professional photo- grapher left town when Miranda rejected his affections; however, they parted on friendly terms. In sharp contrast, in six books characters considered or actually demonstrated destructive behavidr when their affections were ignored or rejected. 143 In Runaway by Valeria Winkler Griffith, seventeen year old Phil threatened to get rough when he found that his girl had rejected him for Buck. Then, sometime later, Phil revealed more maturity: Sometimes, when I'd see Cindy Lou walking with Buck after school and getting into his car with him, I'd want to run after them and give it to him. Who did he think he was, anyway, I'd ask myself. But I knew it was just as much her fault as his. She wouldn't have gone with him if she didn't really want to, I knew. So I let it go. There was nothing I could do about it. Cindy Lou and Buck got married that summer. . . . I was invited to the wedding but I didn't go. I sent Cindy Lou one of those fancy little clocks she liked so much, for a wedding present (p. 127). When Jodelle, a college girl with a reputation for being very liberal, in Mills' The Rules of the Game, realized that her affection was being rejected, she reacted drastically: "And listen--as far as Jodelle's concerned--well, she's a little screwed up. She gets in these moods and then she's going to jump off the balcony of Kelley Dorm if I don't come down there right then, talk things out with her, fix things up. Nothing new--she was the same way last year with the Murr, when he was editor. She sort of goes with the job. Means about as much to me as the ruler and grid sheets. . . . p. 136 While John sounded very casual about Jodelle's threats, he did seem to rush to her in each crisis. Jill, a high school girl in Walden's Rage the Wild Wind, was enraged when Kirk rejected her for Karin. Karin did not date Kirk and even considered him a nuisance; nevertheless, Jill sought vengeance with Karin and even enlisted the help of friends to insult, ridicule, and embarrass Karin. Finally, Karin's nerves were adversely affected due to the dubious deeds of Jill and her followers. 144 In Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now two instances of violent behavior involved teenagers and stemmed from rejection of affection. In the first instance, Angela instigated an attack on Ponyboy who simply had not noticed her advances. The event was recounted by Bryon, the boyfriend most recently jilted by Angela. "What happened?" Curtis shook his head. "I don't know. Mark and me were out here sitting on the car, . . . when this guy shows up and starts in on me. I don't know why, I ain't never seen the guy before. Finally he takes a swing at me, so I have to swing back, and pretty soon we're going at it. Then this character picks up a beer bottle . . . and comes at me with it. About that time Mark steps in between us and says, "Hey, come on, man, fight fair." The kid just looks at him and, for no reason cracks him across the side of the head with it. Then the cop shows up. . . . When I took another look at the kid in handcuffs, Angela was talking to him. I got the picture. She had got this guy to pick a fight with Curtis--she was mad at him for ignoring her. I changed my mind. It would be her I'd get even with, not that poor dope she had used. "Do you know Angela Shepard?" I asked Curtis. He shook his head. "No. I know her brothers pretty well, but I've never been around her much." He was telling the truth. Curtis really didn't know that Angela had been after him. . . . (pp. 52-53) Later, Bryon and Mark encountered a very inebriated Angela, drove her to an isolated spot, and chopped off the long, beautiful hair of which she was so proud. The motives for this behavior were clearly revenge. In Branscum's Me and Jim Luke a less believable instance of violent behavior was precipitated by rejection of affection. A young, attractive novelist who lived alone in the Ozarks rejected the advances of a man. As the area leader of the Ku Klux Klan, he and his hooded men terrorized the woman with characteristic KKK tactics. 145 Use of Obscenities126 Forty-two of the 100 books contained content revealing the use of obscenities as defined in this study. The most frequent use of obscenities was through written and spoken communication. Pictures, film, and objects of an obscene nature were also evidenced. The uSe of obscenities seemed to fall into four major patterns: (1) as an escape from boredom; (2) as a means of satisfying interests or needs; (3) as an endeavor at humor; and (4) as a tool of malice. Generally, the characters who used obscenities were sixteen or more years of age. Males were revealed as engaging in this behavior more often than females. Apparent efforts to escape boredom through use of obscenities were evidenced in several books. Graffiti implied as having sexual overtones was scrawled over walls in Slake's Limbo by Holman and on train windows in A Wonderful, Terrible Time by Stolz. Children in a decaying part of town ran through the streets calling each other "dirty names" in Griffith's Runaway. When the teenage protagonist of Trivers' I Can Stop Any Time I Want was bored at school, he doodled ". . . a nude girl curled up on a teaspoon. . . ." (p. 32) Fifteen year old Mark in That Was Then, This Is Now by Hinton thumbed through a Playboy while talking to his friends. In Sneakers by Ray Shepard, twelve year old Chuck was similarly revealed: 126Due to the volatile nature of this subject, the researcher stresses that in this subsection (as in all others) there is absolutely no intent of censorship, denigration, or even question of the subjects dealt with or the literary merits of the works cited. 146 The only problem with free reading was that every class had the same magazine. The National Geographic with pictures of half-dressed women. Chuck thhmbed through the pages, wondering if that's how Thelma looked (p. 78). Several books depicted the use of obscenities as a means of satisfying interests or needs. In Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't seventh graders, Tony and Joel, had an informal system for maximizing their enjoyment of paperback books. Joel underlined certain passages, paperclipped the pertinent pages, then shared the books with Tony. Even when Tony was hospitalized, Joel saw to it that some books were sneaked into his room. At fourteen, Jerry was interested in "girlie magazines" but, as depicted in The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier, guilt ruled his behavior though not that of his peers. Why did he always feel so guilty whenever he looked at Playboy and the other magazines? A lot of guys bought them, passed them around at school, hid them in the covers of notebooks, even resold them. He sometimes saw copies scattered casually on coffee tables in the homes of his friends. He had once bought a girlie magazine, paying for it with trembling fingers--a dollar and a quarter, his finances shot down in flames until his next allowance. And he didn't know what to do with the damn thing once it was in his possession. Sneaking it home on the bus, hiding it in the bottom drawer of his room, he was terrified of discovery. Finally, tired of smuggling it into the bathroom for swift perusals, and weary of his deceit, and haunted by the fear that his mother would find the magazine, Jerry had sneaked it out of the house and dropped it into a catchbasin (pp. 17-18). Playboy magazine was also mentioned in I Can Stop Any Time I Want by Trivers. In Lynn Hall's Sticks and Stones Floyd, a sixteen year old social pariah with low intellect and an extremely coarse manner, 147 hid a packet of "dirty pictures" in his dresser drawer. When he began to suffer from the need for companionship, he decided to use the pictures in order to gain Tom as his friend. . I know what! I' 11 show him my dirty pictures, let him know I've never showed [sic] them to anyone else in my life. (Then he'll know he's my best friend. . .(p. 22) Beulah, the middle-aged, spinster, waitress at the local hotel, in Hall's Sticks and Stones shared dirty stories with any of her willing customers in an effort to gain attention and friends. Obscenities marketed to satisfy people's needs and interests were uniquely revealed in three books. In the Country of Ourselves by Nat Hentoff revealed that when a high school newspaper was provocative, the principal held the faculty advisor accountable: "All right, but whatever happens is on your head. Any more bathroom words, any more idiocies like putting Mao's goddam face where the caption says the football coach is, any more--" (p. 9). When the religious zealots of Jesus Sopg_by R. R. Knudson tried to get funds and conversions in the town nearest their commune, one of the choice stations for making numerous contacts was under the x-rated movie marquee: "ONE HUNDRED WILDLY SAVAGE WOMEN IN TECHNICOLOR" (p. 71). In You Can't Make It By Bus by James L. Summers, while on a school-sponsored trip to Mazatlan,Paul and two female companions took a stroll along the boulevard in frOnt of their motel: It was evening, and two of the swarm of men who sold curios on the street approached them. They were holding sailfish carved from cow's horn and cunningly fitted together. In the dusk, Paul saw that they were young. They waved their wares, and Paul shook his head emphatically no (p. 127). 148 A few books depicted the use of obscenities as an endeavor at humor. In Madison's Bird on the Wing a teenager recalled having seen a group of young foreigners raucously singing, laughing, and poking each other. By their manner, she thought the song was probably "off-color." In Robbie Branscum's Me and Jim Luke, a group of adult males sat in a barn and enjoyed jocular remarks about studs. TWo young boys in the same book frequently joked about such things as penis size, sexual intercourse, and pregnancy. On one occasion they enjoyed a big laugh at the expense of Mrs. Jackson as she pulled potatoes out of her garden while they were hidden nearby: . . She weighed as near four hundred pounds as she did to three hundred, and Jim Luke poked me, whispering, still pre- tending to be a warrior. "Heap big squaw, bigger'n hell," he said. I sniggered and said, "Iffen we just had the hide off'n her hind end, we could make tepee for whole Indian village." "Uhumm, Little Fox speak with true tongue. If pale face husband had cows with hind ends like squaw, white man make much wampum," he said. I burst out laughing and Jim Luke pushed my head down. . . . (p. 112). In That Was Then, This Is Now by Hinton sixteen year old Bryon had a talent for reciting dirty limericks that delighted his friends and caused some to blush. Bryon's young friend Mark had a similar talent with songs. Peter and Wendy in The Peter Pan Bag_by Lee Kingman shared a small laugh over a verse that Peter recalled one of his family's former cooks used to start but was never able to finish: Oh--the Antiseptic Baby and the Prophylactic Pup Were playing in the Garden when the Bunny gamboled up. 149 When Peter finished the recitation, Wendy remarked: "It's not naughty. It's just sterile" (p. 25). In a few cases a humorous response was evoked in a serious situation due to use of a double entendre. Such a situation was found in Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War when Archie, a school gang leader, and his followers began to terrorize Goober: 3. . 5 Know what they use screwdrivers for, Goober?" 4:2: am "To screw things . . . I mean, to put screws into things." Someone laughed. And Archie let it pass (pp. 33-34). Eleven of the books depicted characters using, or considering using, obscenities with malice toward another. Verbal abuse was employed most often, by a ratio of about two to one. In Branscum's Me and Jim Luke, an attractive young writer was terrorized by the Ku Klux Klan and had insults such as "Whore of Babylon" hurled at her because she had been unresponsive to the sexual advances of a man who happened to be the local KKK leader. When Liz was unresponsive to a group of men on a city street, they shouted obscenities at her as revealed in Madison's Bird on the Wing. Later, Liz refused to move into an apartment with her boyfriend who'd been trying for sometime to seduce her whereupon he called her a dyke in his burst of rage. In three books, characters used obscenities with malice toward inmediate members of their families. In The Loners by Nancy Garden when Paul, a junior in high school, was absolutely fed up with his parents comparing him to his older brother, Lloyd, he reacted dramatically: 150 Paul stood up again and very slowly pushed his chair back to the table. "Lloyd,'I he said calmly, "is a goddamn, stuck-up, hypocritical, screwed-up bastard." He kept his voice very quiet and steady the whole time he was speaking. Then he said, "Excuse me" politely and walked out of the room (p. 65). In Rosa Guy's The Friends fOurteen year old Phyllisia was so angry with her older sister that when she was asked to read to her, something she usually enjoyed doing, she hurled: I'I would quicker read to maggots making babies in filth." She had thought of a dirtier thing to say but was afraid that her sister would go to their mother (p. 81). In Plague of Frogs by Terris when a sixteen year old girl had a baby out-of-wedlock, her father called her a slut and made reference to the bastard baby; later, he threatened her bodily harm. Some characters used obscenities, other than verbal abuse, with malice toward others. In The Chocolate War by Cormier high school gang leader, Archie, told Emile that he had a photograph of him masturbating in a school bathroom. Emile believed Archie and performed, with relish, the tasks that Archie requested. In a second case, Archie tried to gain the cooperation of another of his peers by spreading rumors that the boy was a homosexual, having him verbally and physically assaulted, and dictating that the boy receive obscene phone calls at his home. The use of photographs for blackmail purposes was also reflected in Mills' The Rules of the Game at an unchaperoned college party where alcoholic beverages were served and a game of strip poker was played. 151 The use of obscene gestures was depicted, albeit fleetingly, in two books. In That Was Then, This Is Now by Hinton a street gang left the scene of a confrontation cursing in English and using sign language. Grossman's A Rage to Die revealed a riot at a high school where a student was shown making an obscene gesture toward the television camera. Several books depicted the use of obscenities which did not fit any of the above categories. In a few cases teen and college age boys were depicted as adorning their rooms with photographs of women oorrmonly referred to as "pin-ups"; these books included Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow and Laklan's Surf With Me. Many bOOkS used terms or expressions that would likely be considered obscene in some communities; for example: "You bet your sweet ass,“ "get off your ass," "dead ends," "the final moment-- almost like coming," "bitch," "bastard," "mother," "faggot," "diddle you," "whore," "bastard," "floozy," "sOn of a bitch," "fruity," "queer," "fairy," "dyke," "shove it," "screw," "slut," and "ass-kissing man." For the most part terms such as these were used almost incidentally, particularly in books published in the latter portion of the time period from which the sample was drawn. In all likelihood, the inclusion of such terms in the respective works in which they were used could be justified in terms of literary merit, redeeming value, or as a reflection of the contemporary society. One particularly interesting passage that relates to the use of verbal obscenities was found in Lynn Hall's Sticks and Stones. 152 After Ward stubbed his toe and blurted "Summer ditch!" (p. 79), he explained to his friend Tom his choice of words: . what this country needs is a whole new set of profane words. The ones we've got really don't have much meaning when you stop to think about them. For instance, what's the point of saying 'Son of a bitch' when you stub your toe in the dark? Now if you'd stubbed your toe on a male dog, it might be appropriate. Let's put our minds together and see what we can come up with" (p. 80). Sexual Activity Forty-two books contained content revealing sexual activity. Sexual activity was shown by teenagers through adults in premarital, marital, and extramarital situations. The purposes for the sexual activity generally seemed to be to fulfill desires fOr pleasure and/or deeper emotional involvement with another. However, instances of planned procreation and instances of rape were also found. Behaviors considered as sexual activity included: nocturnal orgasm, masturbation, other stimulation, heterosexual petting, heterosexual intercourse, homosexual relations, and variant sexual behaviors. Thirteen year old Tony in Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't was the only character definitively described as experiencing nocturnal orgasms. Tony was initially depicted as apparently anxious to have a "wet dream"; when his first one occurred he awakened confused, then frightened (What's wrong with me? questions went through his head), then embarrassed. Later, Tony revealed that sometimes he tried ggt_to think about beautiful sixteen year old Lisa before he went to sleep--in order to avoid the dreams. 153 "How many times a day do you jack off?" was a question posed to intimidate one of the high school boys portrayed in Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War (p. 162). In the same book other allusions to masturbatory practices of high school boys were made. Jerry was shown in bed, anxious to sleep but unable to do so. He was described as curling his hand between his legs while he con- centrated on a provocative visual image; but to no avail: ". for once, it was no good, no good" (p. 117). One of Jerry's peers, Ricky, was portrayed as an ardent girl-watcher. He was further characterized as irresistably and shamelessly grabbing his penis whenever he got excited about girls or anything. A third boy in the same book was clearly revealed as leaving class to masturbate in the toilet. Only two other books dealt, in any way with masturbation. Just as two of the characters described above experienced sexual stimulation through visual stimuli so did numerous other teenaged male characters in books such as: The Loners by Nancy Garden; A Rage to Die by Mort Grossman; I Need Some Time by Barbara Rinkoff; and, Hold Yourself Dear by Pauline Smith. Older male characters occasionally responded to visual stimuli as was revealed through Pat Scanlan, a somewhat radical high school social studies teacher, in Hentoff's In the Country of Ourselves; Scanlan ogled several females but he fought looking at the body of Jane, one of his junior year students. Visual stimuli were implied in a few books as sexually stimulating for females too. In Amy and Laura by Marilyn Sachs a 154 young girl was described as getting a nice feeling when she thought of a boy to whom she was attracted. In Laklan's Surf With Me just seeing Kip was enough to set fifteen year old Judy's heart aflutter. In Edith Maxwell's Just Dial a Number Cathy, a high school senior, displayed herself to sexually excite her steady boyfriend, Todd, and became excited herself at the reaction she saw in him: Cathy spread the cushions on the floor, flopped down on her stomach, and glanced sideways at Todd. She wiggled to a more comfortable position, aware that Todd was watching her. The knowledge gave her the weirdest feeling of hotness--her whole backside seemed burning, and the sensation must have shown itself in her face, for now Todd was staring at her as if he were bewitched. Displaying herself successfully in the pink outfit cheered Cathy;. . . .(p. 16) Sexual stimulation was revealed in other ways in some books. In Trivers' I Can Stop Any Time I Want, just talking to Claire on the telephone was enough to start teenaged Graham's heart pumping. In Canyon of Decision by Granger, as well as several other books, a teenage girl became weak-kneed and pleasantly excited at the touch of the male in whom she was interested. In The Friends by Rosa Guy, Phyllisia tingled with excitement when she felt the new boy's breath on her neck as they passed closely on the street. Huntsberry's The Big Hang-Up revealed Corey, a high school boy, as having his heart beat wildly at the mention of Jean's name; as being dizzy, staring, and forgetting well-known facts upon seeing her; as being numb, dumb, and uncoordinated when near her even in the midst of a group; and as being so "intensely happy" as to feel "intoxicated" when simply touching her arm. 155 Judy Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't singularly and explicitly delineated a male experiencing--without apparent stimulation--a penile erection: This morning in math class, I wasn't thinking about Lisa. I was concentrating on a problem in my book. When I got the answer I raised my hand and Miss Tobin called on me. She asked me to go up to the board and show the class how I worked it out. Just as I finished writing the figures on the board I started to get hard. Mind over matter . . . mind over matter, I told myself. But still it went up. I kept my back to the class and prayed for it to go down. Miss Tobin said, "That's an interesting way to solve the problem, Tony. " For a minute I thought she meant my real problem, but then I realized she was talking about the math problem. "Could you explain your reasoning to *the class, Tony?" I started talking but I didn't turn around. I could just picture facing the class. Everybody would laugh and point to my pants. I wished I was wearing my raincoat. "We'd hear better if you'd turn around," Miss Tobin said. What could I do? Pretend to be sick and run out of the room? Maybe. Or just refuse to turn around? No. Ask to go to the bathroom? No. . . "Tony . . ." Miss Tobin said. "We' re waiting for you to explain the problem." "Oh. Okay, Miss Tobin. " I was holding my math book in my left hand and a piece of chalk in my right. I turned sideways, keeping my book in front of my pants. I explained my answer as fast as I could and Miss Tobin didn't ask me any questions. She said, "Thank you, Tony. You can sit down now." I walked back to my seat still holding the math book close to me. But I didn't have to worry. By then it was down (pp. 83-85). Eighteen books explicitly revealed heterosexual petting. A11 instances of petting were revealed through unmarried teenage and young adult characters, usually sixteen or more years of age. Petting was sometimes treated less than explicitly. In Thomas Rockwell's Hiding Out when a young boy hurrying through a woods literally fell over a couple of teenagers he knew: They were lying on the grass, kissing. . . . They scrambled apart“ 156 (p. 72). Similar treatment of petting was found in such books as The Peter Pan Bag by Lee Kingman, Surf With Me by Carli Laklan, and Just Dial a Number by Edith Maxwell. More explicit scenes of petting were found frequently as with the college students in Donia Whiteley Mills' The Rules of the Game: She nestled under the curve of his arm and pressed a meek kiss on his chin, . . . He looked down at her, ran his fingertips lightly over her hair and her cheeks and her eyes. "Don' t what, oiseau? Don't do or don't don't?" Irresistibly she reached up to him and his lips brushed her neck and shoulders and then he was really kissing her, kissing her for real this time, telling her more about herself than she'd ever known before, drawing her down dizzily toward some delicate turning point where words like self-control and principles were just words, nothing at all but words, just words on paper and words in the air and words in the mouth of some housemother. . . . Excitement rose like bubbles from the pit of her stomach as she pressed herself to him, unable to get close enough, feeling him stir against her (pp. 212-213). In Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way_Rosa and Julio had dated steadily for a long time. They necked fairly regularly with Rosa defining the limits of their sexual behavior. When Julio's hands started to rove over Rosa, she extracted herself from the situation. Later when Rosa became friendly with Whit, similar behaviors were shown. Julio and Whit being the aggressors and Rosa defining the limits of petting in the relationships typified most other characters who were revealed to engage in this behavior. One notable exception was found in Amelia Elizabeth Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow when Judy, characterized as a high school "All-American" girl, was clearly the aggressor in one scene depicting petting: 157 he and Judy turned on the hi- fi set, low, and danced a little. It was she who pulled him down on the sofa and put her head in his lap and looked up at him. . . . . .He knew she wanted him to kiss her and he did. He felt her warm body snuggle against his, felt the strong appeal of this girl. She reached up and pulled his head down and held her lips against his in a long and eager kiss. He felt a strange intimacy toward Judy in this house, . . . Within him rose something compelling and urgent, a wanting of this girl, of more of Judy than he had ever had, than she had ever offered. He felt her reach out with the same longing, offering it now. He pulled her to him and fOund her lips and held her mouth with his own, long, urgently. Then he pulled away, pushing her up, getting up himself. He snapped off the one light and for a second she misunderstood him. . . . He had wanted Judy before, but not so much, not like this, with such a reaching out far completeness. He must not. He quieted his pulsing blood and tried to think... . . He felt her presence behind him, felt her press against him in the dark, clasp her hands around his neck. "All right." She started across the room and he reached over to turn on the light again. "Don't, Steve, not for a moment. I want to say something." She came back over to him and clasped her arms around his neck again. She kept her head snuggled against his chest, talking up to him. "Steve, I'm not the prettiest girl in the world. I guess maybe I'm homely. No, don't say anything. I know what I am. But Steve, I could love you. I could love you terriblyv not just on the surface. Deep, Steve, deep. Way down. The kind of love that would go where you wanted me to, wherever, whenever, whatever. I love your freedom and your wildness and your rebellion. I want to be part of it. Please let me." She kissed him then and he held her close but he did not say anything, did not answer those things she had just told him. . . . (pp. 43-45). Like Steve, a few other young males fought their sexual desires in petting situations. One example was a high school junior in Nancy Garden's The Loners. Paul fought--with mixed emotions--against fOndling Jenny's breast. A few books revealed situations where one person, much to the distress of another, attempted to engage in petting. In Crane's 158 Don't Look at Me That Way when Rosa was confronted with three drunken college boys who began to express their amorous intentions, she tried to evade and then resist their attentions. When the fellows persisted, she cut one of them with a broken bottle. In Madison's Bird on the Wing sixteen year old Liz accepted a ride home from a party with Reggie whom she had just met. When Reggie parked his car in a secluded spot and started to make passes at Liz, she left him and walked quite some distance to her home. Hold Yourself Dear by Pauline Smith depicted a similar incident. Merle had accepted a date with Ronny only to go to a special dance; they shared a ride with Harriet and Pete who had helped arrange their date. After the dance, Ronny's advances--even in the presence of the other couple--were repulsive to Merle and very difficult to control: . . I started to say I had to go right home when Ronny managed to slip his arm around me. I tried to squirm loose, but we were packed in that back seat like sardines. I started again with the home bit when I saw Ronny's big face looming in a fast descent toward mine. I ducked. Too late. His whole mouth slithered against mine, slipping and sliding. I pushed hard. . . . "What gives, Merle?" Ronny mumbled. "What'd I do wrong?" as his arm tightened around me and his head began to lower again. Hysterically, I tried to get his mind off the subject, chattering about the dance, shrieking about the orchestra. Ronny grabbed my face and turned it his way. "The way you dance--it's wonderful." I screamed wildly. He closed my lips with his wet ones. 159 Suddenly, Ronny's hands were all over me, scampering like hot spiders. I turned cold in panic and shoved. His wet lips smeared my face again. Breathing hard, I fought and struggled. . . . Ronny's free hand scrambled. A shudder of stark fear chilled my spine. I couldn't get my hands free. Suddenly, I bent over and clamped my teeth on Ronny's wrist. I bit down. He sucked in his breath and let go, leaping back on the seat. "Look," I gritted through my teeth. "I want to go home. Now" (pp. 78-80). Twenty-six books explicitly or implicitly revealed sexual intercourse in other than normative marital situations with characters sixteen or more years of age. In most cases, at least one of the characters felt an emotional tie to his/her partner. Premarital sexual intercourse was encountered in eighteen books; extramarital sexual intercourse was encountered in eight books. In two-thirds of the eighteen books where characters engaged in premarital sexual intercourse, no apparent negative side-effects occurred in relation to the act or acts. Indeed, such behavior often seemed casual, almost taken for granted. Seventeen year old Wendy in Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag was involved in communal type living in Boston where free love was not at all unusual. One of Wendy's friends at the commune suggested that she and Rolf had a "thing" only to keep each other warm. On another occasion, presumably to allow Oriana and her male friend to have sexual intercourse with privacy, some of Wendy's friends left their dwelling and sat on the stoop waiting to return. On a similar tack, You Can't Make It By Bus by James Summers revealed that high school youngsters were dropping out of school for lots of reasons including to become "love bunnies" 160 (p. 98). In Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now teenagers were aware of the "free love" concept among hippies. A forty-one year old spinster waitress in Hall's Sticks and Stones revealed that she hag_experienced affairs in her youth and apparently regretted only that she had lost youth, attractiveness, and appeal. S. E. Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now depicted Bryon, a sixteen year old, as a sort of youthful playboy. Bryon revealed that he had told girls he dated that he loved them simply to fulfill his desires. He further revealed that he got bored having "make- out" sessions with the free-wheeling Angela. A different situation was shown in James Trivers' I Can Stop Any Time I Want. Graham, a high school boy on drugs at first and later an alcholic, was also a sort of playboy. (When his hair was cut too short he was sure he would ". . . never get laid again, . . . [p. 70]). Graham and Janey had been friends for quite some time. Janey had seemed interested in more than just a friendship for a while when Grahan1went to visit her to get some Scotch that he badly needed. As they sat on her back lawn and drank,Janey became very emotional about her home life and turnedto Graham for comfort and affection: Her eyes were red and her lips quivered. Up close, Janey was O.K. I put my arm around her shoulder. Her whole body pumped like a heart. I wondered if she really would be going away. She looked up at me and our eyes played Ping-Pong. I kissed her. I kissed her again very strongly. It was right on the mark. It wasn't like with Claire when we would grope to be "boy friend and girl friend." It was easy and honest. We rolled over onto the leaves. They crunched loudly with every move until we heard no sounds except our own. At ‘ that moment everything was right. 161 When I rolled over, a twig was digging into my shoulder; it was just too uncomfortable to just lie there. The radio was playing "Tiny Dancer." The Scotch and the afternoon sun almost put me to sleep. "I should have brought a blanket," said Janey, lazily moving a hand across my chest. "That's all right." I kissed her. "There is always the next time." OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO "Oh, my God, I have to go. . . . Talk to you later," I yelled back to her, buttoning myself up (pp. 121-122). In Mills' The Rules of the Game, Jodelle, a morally and sexually loose college girl, was very casual about such behavior as spending a weekend with a male and even sharing the motel room with another couple. High school girls with a similar lack of inhibition were revealed in Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt and in Edith Maxwell's Just Dial a Number. In the latter book, wealthy Allyson regularly held unchaperoned parties where drug usage, "skinny- dipping," and "cabana sinning" were the rule rather than the exception. In I Need Some Time by Barbara Rinkoff. sixteen year old Scott was attracted to Kim who clearly led him on in a number of ways though she lived--out of wedlock--with another male. In several books premarital sex resulted in pregnancy, then marriage. Go Away Ruthie by Baker and Hold Yourself Dear by Smith showed high school seniors in these circumstances. Me and Jim Luke by Branscum depicted ten year old Sammie John's widowed mother in the same situation. In That Was Then, This Is Now by Hinton, teenage Angela married because she thought she was pregnant. In a few books, alternatives other than marriage were sought as solutions to pregnancy out of wedlock. However these were questions 162 that most characters engaging in premarital sexual intercourse never had to face and apparently gave little or no consideration. Quite a unique case of premarital sexual intercourse was implied in Plague of Frogs by Susan Terris when sixteen year old Marcella apparently had intercourse for the purposes of getting pregnant in order to have a baby--something she could call her own--and to show her father that she was not unattractive and uncared for by all people. Though specific actions were not shown, sexual intercourse was a topic of conversation among teenage males in Riptide by Ellis and I Need Some Time by Rinkoff, among others. In the latter book, Howie was characterized as consistently reporting to his friends that he was "making it" with some good-looking girl and asking them if they were "making it" with some particular female. Extramarital sexual intercourse, as identified in eight books was usually implied or revealed through a secondary source. In seven of the books, one of the protagonist's relatives--a parent except in one case--engaged in this behavior. Uncle Shall in Robbie Branscum's Me and Jim Luke spent a lot of time around women other than Aunt Imie and he was found to become vicious when women rejected his advances. Whether or not Aunt Imie was aware of Uncle Shall's extramarital activities was not made clear. In Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow, Steve's father, a big, handsome, imminently successful and wealthy man, had engaged in extramarital affairs for years because, he maintained, he was lonely 163 and bored at home. He and his beautiful wife had separate beds, baths, and dressing rooms though they shared three sons. Innumerable argu- ments about affairs occurred between Steve's parents; Steve even confronted his parents with his knowledge of the extramarital affairs of his father to virtually no avail. In Lg§11§_by Zoa Sherburne, Leslie's father--years before-- had left his wife and daughter for a lover whom he finally married. In Embry's Spégi, Emma's father left his family to take a job in another state; when he ceased to support his family Emma's mother blamed his Mexican lover (apparently, in reality, his commonlaw wife) and followed the Navajo custom which indicated a sort of divorce. In Madison's Bird on the Wing, Liz's father divorced his wife when he learned of her affair; later, Liz's new stepfather expressed his desire for more than a father-daughter relationship with her. In Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now, Mark's parents were revealed to have killed each other due to his mom's earlier infidelity which her husband believed resulted in the conception of Mark. A more complicated situation was depicted in Caroline Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way, Prior to Rosa's birth, her pregnant mother had been deserted by a commonlaw husband who revealed that he already had a wife and a child in Puerto Rico: Later Rosa's mother, Luz, married only to be deserted again--this time with five children. After Luz's husband left her, she refused to apply for a divorce because she didn't believe in it; however, she continued to have affairs and children. 164 In Bird on the Wing by Winifred Madison, Maija (a talented young weaver) was shown as having an affair with a married man who was helping her establish a name for herself professionally. The same book revealed a traveling salesman as having ". . . a certain little person waiting for him" in the city for which he was bound (p. 95). In Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now, Angela was an attractive teenager who sought to re-establish a sexual relation- ship with a former boyfriend when she found that she was not pregnant and was very unhappy in her marriage of only a few weeks. Later in the same book, a "young housewife type" lady handed her phone number to teenage Bryon who had taken her groceries to her car; Bryon was appalled and told her that she must be kidding! Sexual intercourse in wedlock was alluded to, in the context of desired procreation, in such books as: Bishop's Little League Stepson; Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't (with Ralph and Angie's second child); Colver's Sally, Star Patient; Schoen's A Spark of Joy; and, Witheridge's Just One Indian Bay, Other than in relation to procreation, sexual intercourse in marriage was dealt with in only a few books. In Grossman's A_Raga_ tp_Qja_a young black principal embraced his wife, teased, and invited her to bed--much to her pleasure. In contrast to the positive relationship shown in the Grossman book, in Branscum's Me and Jim Luke, Jim Luke's sisters discussed how to avoid having sexual intercourse with their husbands. People were depicted as engaging in sexual intercourse in several places in addition to homes and automobiles. Boys aged ten 165 and eleven saw lovers hiding in bushes in a park in The Watchers by Rinkoff. Carol, the sixteen year old protagonist of Peck's Opal; Look and It Won't Hurt, knew that teenagers sneaked into the woods and cabins of a private lake area for sexual activities. Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way revealed that in a Puerto Rican area of New York City rooftops were used as a meeting place for lovers. Only one book, Lynn Hall's Sticks and Stones, explicitly revealed a homosexual relationship. Ward, a young adult writer, had been discharged from the Air Force due to a homosexual relationship with another serviceman. When Ward discussed this and related matters with his young friend, Tom, he explained that he had also engaged in heterosexual intercourse though he found it difficult to find the real love--not just sex--that he needed with girls; however, he indicated that he realized the possibility that someday he might marry a woman. TWo books depicted relationships which readers might, with some justification, interpret as homosexual though neither explicitly revealed sexual activities. In Hall's Sticks and Stones Tom, a high school senior, was rumored to be a homosexual after he began to associate with Ward--who, unbeknownst to Tom, was widely rumored to be a homosexual and who finally revealed this sexual preference to Tom. The destructive nature of gossip was a major theme in this book with the agtgal_relationship of Tom and Ward being relatively unimportant to theme development. Nevertheless, the reader could readily interpret latent homosexuality in the character of Tom--not because of stereotypic male homoSexual tendencies such as beautiful 166 hands; doing chores commonly delegated to women; playing piano; working with antiques; appreciating flowers, good music, and books; and the like; but--because of his demonstrated wishes and needs to be close to Ward and their affectionate gestures. The relationship of Tom and Ward seemed to the researcher to be intellectual and spiritual more than anything else but it is recognized that some readers may read a homosexual relationship between the two into the text. Bird on the Wing_by Winifred Madison revealed an opposite relationship which some readers might interpret as homosexual. In the course of hitchhiking across the country, sixteen year old Liz met Maija, a young adult who was beautiful, wise, humane, and a master weaver. Taking to each other quickly, the young women traveled together and later shared an apartment--in the course of which they did such things as cuddle in one sleeping bag, observe each other closely in dressing and sleeping, make special gestures of affection each to the other. Both women, however, had other relationships. Liz had several relationships with males--in one case she considered having sexual intercourse with the young man in question, even considered moving to an apartment with him. Interestingly, when Liz rejected him, he accused her of being a dyke. Maija was shown to have a working--as well as a presumably sexual--relationship with a married man. The researcher interpreted 167 the relationship of Maija and Liz as caring master teacher and adoring young student but it is recognized that some readers may interpret these young women to be bisexuals with at least Liz preferring female companionship. Twelve books dealt with some aspect of rape. Six books depicted the act, the perpetrator, or the result of rape; the other six described the cautious behavior of females to avoid the possibility of rape. Attempted rape was depicted through settings in the city, the country, and at points in-between, via hitchhiking. [In both Graystone College by Barness and I Can Stop Anytime I_Wapt_by Trivers alleged rapists were jailed. The Trivers' protagonist, jailed on a drug charge, met a prisoner who seemed to giggle as he boastfully announced that he had made the news because of his alleged rape of a secretary in a nearby town. In Just One Indian Boy by Elizabeth Witheridge, the attempted rape of Tamara--an American Indian college student--by a total stranger on the streets of Minneapolis was thwarted by friends who were near; however, the girl did require brief hospitalization and extended care at home. Winifred Madison's Bird on the Wing revealed that a young black woman with a baby was ". . . attacked, probably raped and certainly stabbed, and looking half-dead already" on the streets of San Francisco. When this incident was related to sixteen year old Liz who could not accept the reality of it, Maija concurred that there was no sense to such behavior but stressed that it happens repeatedly and that women cannot be too cautious. 168 Branscum's Me and Jim Luke depicted a young girl who had allegedly been raped and impregnated by a neighbor in the Arkansas Ozarks. Area folks seemed to gossip as much or more about the girl's subsequent behavior as about the man involved; she had the baby and carried it for all to see. Rape was described as a very real hazard to female hitchhikers in six books. Advances toward female hitchhikers were alluded to in: Coles' Riding Free; Madison's Bird on the Wing; Mills' The Rules of the Game; Terris's Plague of Froga; and Witheridge's Just One Indian Bay, Jesus Soag_by R. R. Knudson, however, graphically depicted the attempted rape of fifteen year old Joy (aliases: Barbara and Sister Alma) who had hitched a ride in the back of a mover's van being driven by two quite inebriated French Canadian men: The van had stopped. . . . My flesh crawled. I hunkered down behind a couch as the tailgate rasped open. "Pretty girl, can I come in?" . . . . "No. And I'm not pretty. " "Barb, baby, don' t1you want your Uncle Vanie to ridie the rest of the tripie with you?" . , . , The tailgate banged shut. The lock clicked in place. . . . , and we were off again. I lay absolutely still . . Van reeled among the miner's furniture. . . . I clutched my toothbrush in one hand and my camp knife in the other. ."Am I getting any closer, sweetie?" . . . . Then. . a .he was lying down! I heard a great sigh and a falsetto, "Barb, you hidden minx, take a nap with Unc . . . Barb . . . zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz." I can tie him up, I thought. With lamp cords. . . . If he stirs,. .. , I'll have to smother him. . . . Then the truck . . . stopped. . . . I listened to Skinny jump out and start for my crowded haven. 169 "Van, turn'er loose. Get out of there. Drive on in while I. . . ." "You're hogging her, you sot." . . . . Now, too frightened even to hide, I stood watching my scrawny captor blunder toward the couch. "Van, she's mine now. Push her over here and get out." "ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. . . . where am I?" "You asleep? . . . . Where is she?" ”That Barb must be some babe," Skinny said, . . . . I weighed fifteen pounds more than he did. I was taller. I was sober. I wasn't sleepy. I could punch back. And kick. And bite. . . "So, ma cherie, I've f0und you at last. " . I shined my light directly in his eyes. He launched his puny body at me, . . . . I couldn' t wiggle aside . . . or over . . . or under. . . . I pushed. He pushed. He slugged. I slapped. He grabbed. I kicked. He cuffed. I cried. . . . I warded off several useless blows with a furniture pad, then managed to pull it over his head. I felt my lip bleeding, my eyes stinging. . . . “Grab her. Grab her." Skinny leapt toward me, . . . . In the confusion . . . I shambled toward the starlit opening, . . . and into the Canadian forest. . . . OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO . Skinny pulled abreast, caught my belt in a death grip, and towed me to his hip. . . "Back to the truck. " ". . . I give up.’ I waited by his side, too spent to resist again. . . . He's ruthless, I thought. And the sleeping blob's sober, ready for revenge. . . . I weighed my chances with those two. Zilch. Suddenly I jerked free (pp. 50-55). Females demonstrated their concerns for cautious behavior to avoid the possibility of rape usually by evading males who seemed too friendly (almost always strangers). In one case, however, an invitation from a classmate to a secluded area at night was refused due to mistrust of the boy's motives and behaviors. Books revealing behaviors such as these included, among others: Coles' Riding Free; Guy's The Friends; Hall's Sticks and Stones; Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt; and, Terris's Plague of Frogs. 170 Three books revealed voyeurism. Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't depicted thirteen year old Tony as almost nightly watching his attractive sixteen year old neighbor, Lisa, prepare for bed. Though Tony got binoculars to enhance his enjoyment, he finally discussed the behavior with his psychiatrist. When Dr. Fogel did not seem shocked and did not instruct Tony to stop the behavior, Tony was pleased and relieved because he was not sure that he could stop. Similar to Tony, (an older teenager) Buddy and one of his friends simply took advantage of the window views they encountered in Bonham's The Mysteny of the Fat Cat. Neither Tony nor Buddy was shown to make any special effort to engage in voyeuristic practices; they simply yielded in the face of temptation. In contrast, in Hall's Sticks and Stones sixteen year old Floyd--nearly a social isolate--fairly regularly went out of his way to pass Peggy's house with the hgpg_that she was being deliberately_careless about dressing with her bedroom shades up. Later, Floyd went out of his way to peer through the cabin windows of a man rumored to be a homosexual. In subsequently relating this adventure to classmates, Floyd-—who had seen no sexual activity--lied that he had. In Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War, Emile, a high school "tough" and something of a social pariah, had sadistic sexual tendencies: . . . he got a kick out of things. For instance, when he went to the john at school, he seldom flushed the toilet-~and got a kick out of picturing the next kid who'd go in and find the mess in the bowl. Crazy. And if you told anybody, it would be hard to explain. Like how he sometimes felt actually horny when he roughhoused a kid or tackled a guy viciously in football and gave him an extra jab when he had him on the ground (p. 49). 171 The sexually deviant behaviors of Emile were unique in the study sample. Procreation TWenty-seven books contained content dealing with some aspect of procreation: birth control; pregnancy; birth; adoption; abortion; preparation for, and care of, infants and new mothers. All aspects of procreation were revealed through characters about sixteen or more years of age. Procreational activities were shown through married characters by a ratio of two to one. Extramarital procreation was explicitly revealed only in Don't Look at Me That Way_by Crane. The use of some means of birth control was implied in twenty-one books, usually through statements about choosing to have a child. In Klein's Naomi in the Middle, Naomi's mother announced that their third child would be their last. Later Naomi's grand- mother made a statement about people nowadays having smaller families. Young married couples in such books as Sally, Star Patient by Alice Ross Colver and A Spark of Joy by Barbara Schoen specifically decided when to have a child. One of the few books clearly revealing the use of some means of birth control was Branscum's Me and Jim Luke in which women discussed whether breast feeding had contraceptive value when one woman told of her use of the idea. Seventeen books depicted pregnancy. Slightly more than half of the pregnancies were planned and within the bonds of wedlock. Couples usually delayed having children until they 172 perceived themselves as capable of providing well for them. In almost all cases, once the couples decided that the time was right and the woman was impregnated, life continued as normal except fOr the frequently encountered efforts to materially prepare for the infant. In Terris's The Drowningquy, Roseanne performed her usual chores, baked, kept a young mentally-retarded child (full-time), and helped her husband with small carpentry jobs, painting, and the like. In Witheridge's Just One Indian Boy, a young teacher took a few years off to have her baby and then be at home with it; otherwise, her life proceeded normally. In Klein's Naomi in the Maggie, Naomi's mother continued her usual activities throughout pregnancy, including her tennis lessons. In Embry's Shégi, a pregnant Navajo even tended her sheep flocks on the day when she delivered a child. Pregnancy was taken just as calmly and routinely by married women portrayed in, among others, Colver's Sally, Star Patient and Schoen's A Spark of Joy. In most cases women received regular medical attention during pregnancy. The only symptoms of illness or fatigue that any of these women experienced was occasional morning dizziness, revulsion of food, or occasional aches in the small of the back. Only one married person was revealed as frequently ill during pregnancy; in Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't, Angie--during her first pregnancy—-sometimes had to leave a single meal several times to vomit. One case of apparently planned pregnancy occurred out-of- wedlock in Susan Terris's Plague of Frogs. Throughout pregnancy, 173 sixteen year old Marcella gave every indication that she wanted her unborn child at whatever costs. She gave little indication that anything or anyone mattered except child. Marcella repeatedly denied that the child had a father, apparently to establish herself as the sole person to whom the child would belong. She was consistently, cooly detached from the baby's father, even when he married her younger sister. Clearly, Marcella had planned from the beginning to have a child of her own--who, when, where, and how were relatively unimportant questions to her. As with the married pregnant women, Marcella did household chores; she also--remarkably--walked quite some distance on the day her child was born. Marcella was a strong woman who usually did not shirk responsibilities during pregnancy; however, she believed numerous superstitions and heeded them to protect herself and, mainly, her baby. Nearly half of the pregnancies in the study sample were unplanned. Most unplanned pregnancies occurred out-of—wedlock though marriage sometimes followed. In Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag, Wendy and a younger sister told their mother about the high incidence of pregnancy, then marriage, among the local high school girls from whom they were socially removed. Go Away_Ruthie by Baker and Hold Yourself Dear by Smith depicted cases of high school girls who became pregnant as a result of their seeking love, approval, and appreciation; in each case, the young man involved grudgingly married the girl. In a similar situation in Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt, the prospective father left town before learning that seventeen year 174 old Ellen was pregnant. Little was revealed about the behaviors of these females during pregnancy except that they did engage in usual housekeeping chores and sometimes in baby-sitting. In Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now, teenage Angela married because she thought she was pregnant; several weeks later, she found that she was not pregnant and that she was very unhappy in marriage. One atypical case of pregnancy was found in Crane's QQQLE Look at Me That Way. Luz, a Puerto Rican-New Yorker, had an illegitimate child by her first lover who deserted her during pregnancy. Her only husband and the father of several of her children also deserted. Because Luz did not believe in divorce, she simply had affairs and children after her first husband left. During her last pregnancy, Luz was extremely ill due to an uncared fOr heart condition and the poverty-stricken environment in which she lived. She was incapcitated for much of her pregnancy and suffered miserably though she continued to look forward to the birth of the infant. When Luz died of a heart attack, doctors performed a Caesarian and saved the child. Worthy of note, the doctors revealed that had Luz had adequate medical attention during pregnancy, her life--in all likelihood--would have been spared. Childbirth occurred in fourteen books. About two-thirds of these books typically revealed that a pregnant woman went to the hospital, had a baby, then returned home. However, five of the books depicted childbirth more explicitly. In Klein's Naomi_ in the Middle, Naomi's mother had a natural childbirth though she 175 went to a hospital so doctors would be close if needed. In Embry's sgégi, teenage Emma assisted her mother in a natural childbirth where the baby seemed to slip out amongst her mother's skirts in their Navajo dwelling. Most graphically detailed--from initial labor pains to amniotic sac breakage to clearing afterbirth--was the natural childbirth depicted in Plague of Frog§_by Terris. Passages revealing this sequence of events are given on pages 70-73 of this study. In Schoen's A Spark of Joy, a young woman experienced loneli- ness and some pain when she had her baby in a hospital. She thought that childbirth was not at all as the books she'd read had led her to believe. As indicated earlier, in Crane's Don't Look at Me That .Wgy doctors performed an operation to save the unborn child of a woman who had just died of a heart attack. Five books depicted some aspect of adoption, a matter related to procreation. In Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt, an unwed teenage pregnant girl decided the best course of action for her and her baby was signing the baby over for adoption. A girl in Le§11g_ by Sherburne made a similar decision even though some adults around her disapproved of her actions. Characters in Neufeld's Edgar Allan and Hale's Nothing But a Stranger had been put up for adoption because, due to hardships, their natural parents were unable to care for them adequately. A different situation was revealed in Bradbury's Laurig_ when a high school girl, upon learning that she had been adopted, set out to find her real parents and the story of her early life. 176 Interestingly, when Laurie finally arrived at the adoption agency which housed the secrets that she wanted to know, she could not go in and so returned home to that which she had discovered was her real family. The incidence of abortion was not encountered in the study sample, although its availability to unwed, pregnant teenagers was noted in Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt and in Terris's Plague of Frogs. Indeed, in the former book, a woman from an agency for unwed mothers mentioned abortion as a possible alternative for her prospective clients. In the latter book, young teenagers mentioned the possibility of such a procedure to sixteen year old unwed, pregnant Marcella who was not even interested in their information. Preparation for, and care of, infants and new mothers was depicted in eleven books. Young married couples usually worked to make special arrangements in preparation for babies-~shopping, decorating a room, budgeting, and saving money. Books revealing such actions included, among others: Colver's Sally, Star Patient; Schoen's A Spark of Joy; and, Terris's The Drowning Boy. Family and friends usually helped young couples with preparations for babies. In A Spark of Joy by Schoen and Plague of Frogs by Terris, women who had just delivered their first child immediately inquired or checked over the infant to be sure that they were healthy and unblemished. Several books revealed the importance of cleanliness around, and considerable rest for, new mothers and their infants. In A Spark 177 of Joy by Schoen, a nurse demanded protection for the sterile hospital atmosphere and much rest for the young mother; in Terris's Plague of Frogs, a midwife insisted on similar considerations. In Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't, a proud set of grandparents gave the services of a nurse to their daughter—in-law and her new baby to be sure that they both got the care and rest that they needed-- and--as a status symbol. Breast-feeding was described in Branscum's Me and Jim Luke and Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way, In both books breast-feeding was apparently engaged in for the major reasons of convenience and cost factors. The Branscum book did portray one character who used breast-feeding for other purposes, as indicated earlier in this study. Two books revealed the death of mothers of infants: Dgglt_ Look at Me That Way by Crane and Shadi by Embry. In each case family members made arrangements for the infants to be kept within the family--actions which they believed to be in the best interests of all. Fantasies and Dreams TWenty-eight books contained content revealing fantasies, daydreams, or dreams relating to human sexuality. All instances of these behaviors were depicted through unmarried teenagers or young adults; males demonstrated these behaviors in slightly over half of the cases found. Whether these behaviors were voluntary or involuntary, all were revealed as curiosity about or desires for the present or the future. 178 Daydreaming about simply being with a person in whom one was interested was a behavior encountered in numerous books, including: That Was Then, This Is Now by S. E. Hinton; The Edge of Next Year by Mary Stolz; and I Can Stop Any Time I Want by James Trivers. Characters who daydreamed were, in general, revealed to do so often-- usually at home or at school. One notable exception was in Garden's The Loners when, during the funeral of his much loved grandfather, Paul found himself daydreaming about being with Jenny. The intensity of daydreams was indicated in a few books where characters were described as having to make concerted efforts to push daydreams from their minds; one such case was portrayed in Lg§11g_by Zoa Sherburne. While some characters had fantasies of simply being with the person in whom they were interested, several fantasized about making a life with them. In Laklan's Surf With Me, after only two kisses and one long philosophical discussion with Kip, fifteen year old Judy began to fantasize being married to him. In Just Dial a Numbgr_by Maxwell, a high school girl tried to visualize being married to her steady boyfriend though they had never discussed the possibility and it was, in fact, the farthest thing from his mind. Male characters also had fantasies about making a life with someone in whom they were interested. In The Big Hang-Up by Huntsberry a high school senior spent most of his time thinking of Jean. He fantasized about living with Jean even though he had never had a date with the girl and had hardly even been near her. 179 Similarly, in Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow, seventeen year old Steve (a photography buff) fantasized about an affectionate, adventurous, and competitive future with Maggie--a twenty-five to thirty year old professional photographer whom he barely knew. Steve's fantasy crumbled and his whole life was shaken when he learned that his father was having an extramarital affair with Maggie! Dreams of the person to whom one's attention was directed were evidenced in a few books. The characters revealed as dreaming were usually males as in Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't and Guy's The Friends. An atypical instance of dreaming was found in Hall's Sticks and Stones when Tom (whom the reader could--with some justification--interpret to be homosexual) dreamed almost every night of Ward (a self-professed bisexual with a preference for males). The sexual nature of fantasies and dreams was only implied in most books in the study sample. Further, the books with more sexually explicit fantasies and dreams often left much to reader interpretation. One example was Judy Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Wgnlt_where as much or as little as desired could be read into the various pleasurable dreams that thirteen year old Tony regularly experienced: .________ That night I dreamed about Lisa. My dream went on and on. It started out at the football game where Lisa put her arm around me. Only in my dream she didn't stop there. And Corky was in it too. She was sitting on the football field and Lisa kept saying, "You see, Corky . . . here's what to do . . . to do . . . to do. . . ." (pp. 92-93). . . . I dreamed about her and Ted and the things they probably do when they're alone. . . . (p. llS) I had a funny dream last night. . . . It was about Corky, . . And I wasn't just looking at her either (p. 164). Among the more graphic fantasies were those experienced by Michael Schwartz, a high school boy depicted in Nat Hentoff's In the Country of Ourselves. In a class one day: Schwartz was in the process of undressing Jane as she undressed him. It was all happening so flowingly, so tenderly in the late afternoon light by the sea. The interruption [by his teacher] was most disconcerting. ”Problem? Oh yeah. Uh, how can words, how can ideas" (Damn, she was about to say she always wanted a big_man), . . . (p. 22). Later in the same class period, Schwartz fantasized that he was at home masturbating. Three books depicted males and females jointly fantasizing about a future life together. Barbara Rinkoff's I Need Some Time revealed sixteen year old Scott and Samantha engaging in this behavior on the second occasion that they were together: We walked along the street, stopping now and then at shop windows. . . . We stopped in front of a small dress shop and settled on a party dress that would be just right for Sam. At an automobile showroom we decided on a car for me. And we picked over the fancy appliances in the hardware store window. It was as if we had known each other for a long time. We were a couple out shopping for things for us and for our home, although we didn't say so. It got to be sort of a game. We argued about whether it should be a red dress or a blue, and if the car should be an imported sports model or American. It was fun and we had a lot of laughs (pp. 27-28). A similar incident was portrayed in Lawrence's Inside the Gate. Piper and Mitch had known each other only a short time and had never kissed or even held hands; however, their fantasy was 181 laden with the word "we' as they discussed their future money, travel, house, and the like. In Runaway by Valeria Winkler Griffith a couple who had dated steadily for over a year, frequently fantasized about their future life: "We'll have that little clock," Cindy Lou said, pointing at one in the jewelry store window. "It can sit on the mantel." I stared at the clock. "Don't you think it's a little junky looking?" I asked. "It's cute," she said. "I like cute things like that on a mantel. It was a little game Cindy Lou and I played. We never talked about getting married--we skipped over all that. We just talked about what we'd put in a house and how she'd make me a banana cream pie every Sunday and what kind of vacations would be fun--and even about good names for children. She liked Cynthia Elizabeth which I couldn't stand. But Phillip, Jr. was okay with both of us, of course (p. l8). A related incident was portrayed in Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow when sixteen year old Nancy told Steve that she was in love with him and often fantasized about how things would be when they were older. One unique example of fantasizing was found in Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt. Sixteen year old Carol was warned that her older sister, Ellen, would probably experience a wild flight into fantasy late in her pregnancy--as unwed teenage mothers conmonly do, according to Dr. Courtney. When Ellen made her fantasy known, Carol was shocked to learn that Ellen had completely unrealistic notions of keeping her baby, trying to support the baby and herself, and waiting for the baby's father to reappear though he had deserted long before and had written only to say goodby. 182 Another unique example of fantasizing appeared in The Rules of the Game by Donia Whiteley Mills. Cindy, a college girl suffering from an unsatisfying physical and emotional involvement with John, cuddled with Pete (who was very fond of her) on a deserted strip of beach: Good old Pete, she mused--until it occurred to her suddenly that maybe it wasn't all right, that maybe good old Pete really did care about her. But the warmth of the moment was irresistible. She pushed aside the little qualm of guilt and sank into the deep comfort of his arms, threatless and peaceful, relaxing at last into the moonlit froth of the waves and the lingering odor of suntan lotion and the quiet, even rhythm of his breathing. Time seemed suspended as they sat looking wordlessly out over the water. The moments washed by in a calm, splashing beat, one by one, and they could almost see the moon rising, growing smaller and paler as it climbed slowly into the vast starry sky. Johnny, she thought, closing her eyes, trying desperately to slip once more into the old fantasy. With her eyes closed it could have been Johnny--his arms around her, and his cheek soft against her hair-- "Cindy?" he whispered, stirring to turn her around in his arms--but it was still just good old Pete holding her after all. The moon hadn't changed that any. He smoothed back her hair and she)let him kiss her-(Why not? she thought listlessly, . . p. 298 . Three books depicted characters who associated their fantasies with literary experiences. In all three books the characters who demonstrated this behavior had, for some time, weak self-concepts regarding their sexual roles. At age seventeen Mindy, in Cavanna's The Country Cousin, revealed that she had spent her previous summers reading romantic novels and dreaming of an impossible future. Inside the Gate by Mildred Lawrence portrayed Piper, a high school senior, in a similar way: In the library, with its high vaulted ceilings and its hushed atmosphere, I could sit with a book in front of my face and let my thoughts wander over every detail of my date with 183 Mitch. Better still, I could pretend that he was a genuine college boy like the one in Freshman at State and that he had taken me out in a low-slung sports car to some smart restaurant to eat a seven-dollar steak. While I was at it, I might as well make believe that I was a college girl myself, with an air of total assurance and a date every night (p. 70). Carol, in Richard Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt, related a fantasy of herself and her first boyfriend to Sleeping Beauty. However, indicative of her self-concept, Carol thought hg[_story should be entitled "Wide-awake Ugly" (p. 74). Human Anatomy/Body Exposure Twenty-one books contained content revealing behaviors related to human anatomy and/or body exposure. Whether occurring voluntarily or involuntarily, the identified behaviors almost always depicted strong sexual concerns relating to the human body. In Klein's Naomi in the Middle, seven year old Naomi was allowed to help her (eight months) pregnant mother bathe. Naomi took special note of her mother's ipubic hair. In Madison's Big on the Wing, Penny, who seemed to be about five or six years old, was very anxious to help her sixteen year old sister, Liz, bathe. Liz apparently understood because she allowed Penny to dry her following a bath and promised that at some future time they would bathe together. In contrast, in Plague of Frogs by Terris, fourteen year old Jo sat in the bathroom and talked to her mother as she bathed behind frosted glass. A different contrast to the curiosity displayed by Naomi and Penny was found in Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now when young children in one family romped through their 184 house partially clad or nude, guests or not. Everyone was revealed as casual, guests included. Several characters were modest or cautious when dressing. In Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't, thirteen year old Tony was careful to pull the shades before he dressed for bed. Roger, a thirteen year old friend of Jo and Marcella in Plague of Frogs by Terris, was made to leave the room while the girls changed clothes though he wanted to sta --especially since it was cold outside. In the communal setting with a free-love atmosphere depicted in Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag, seventeen year old Wendy was careful to lock the door to her room before she changed from jeans to sleepwear. In contrast, characters were revealed in an opposite light in several books. Sixteen year old Lisa who lived next door to thirteen year old Tony left her shades up almost every night in Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't. Tony took full advantage; he even got binoculars to maximize his benefits. The Mystery of the Fat Cat by Bonham and Sticks and Stones by Hall also revealed girls who failed to pull shades to their bedrooms and boys who, at least periodically, enjoyed the views. Total nudity was revealed in other ways in four books. In The Peter Pan Bag by Kingman, the girls in Wendy's family swam nude gply_when they beat the boys to their private swimming area--"The Wallow"--and, hence, claimed it fOr their own. Jim Luke and Sammie John, in Branscum's Me and Jim Luke, also swam nude and sun-bathed along a remote area of the Buffalo River. In Don't Look at Me That Way_by Crane, it was revealed that young Yippies stripped at some 185 public rallies--presumably as a means of gaining the attention of others through shock. Quite a different scene was depicted in Mills' The Rules of the Game when a group of college coeds indulged in a quantity of alcohol and a game of strip poker. At the onset of the game one male removed his trousers to the apparent delight of all but Cindy. Some time after the game the fellow still wandered around sans pants. Dressing so that parts of the human anatomy would be accentuated or exposed was depicted in a few books. In Hall's Sticks and Stones, Amber--a high school girl--clad herself as scantily as she dared and paraded the street on which Tom lived, hoping to gain his attention. Jodelle, a college girl in Mills' The Rules of the Game, wore clothes (tight and low-cut) to attract male attention, as did Lisa in Bradbury's ngpig, One scene in Bird on the Wing by Winifred Madison depicted the negative reaction of many high school students to a girl whose dress was so short they were surprised; interestingly, the girl had worn the dress as an act of parental defiance-~not to attract male attention. In Jesus Song by R. R. Knudson, Ruth explained some of the benefits available for working in a bar as a topless dancer, an occupation she had thoroughly enjoyed. Quite a different situation revealing the importance of human anatomy was depicted in The Friends by Rosa Guy. Ramona, the cancer stricken mother of two attractive teenage girls, related to her daughters and her husband, Calvin, her philosophy of physical beauty and made a startling exhibition to stress her ideas: 186 "Learn, children, learn. Or by the time you learn that beauty is just a shell to hide behind, he reaches out and destroys even that shell leaving you with nothing. Do you hear? Do you see? Nothing!" She grabbed the top of her dress and at the word "see" she had pulled at it. "See what life does to you when it is done tricking you [sic.] and plans to push you aside." Ripping the dress down to the waist with one pull, a fullness of cloth that had been the fullness of her bosom fell to the floor at her feet, leaving in its place a map of scars where her left breast had been. "Ramona, oh God, Ramona!" Calvin reached for her, pulled her into his arms, tried to restore the torn fabric over her bosom, and in that way to keep their secret hidden from us. But Mother wrenched herself out of his grasp, ran down the hall to her sewing room, slammed the door, leaving us securely on the outside (pp. 97-98). Ramona was stressing verbally the importance of focusing attention on inner-beauty, she was also damning the transitory nature of outer beauty and revealing her bitterness at its loss. Summary of Findings_ _The question which provided the basis for the category "Sexual Behaviors" was: What is revealed, explicitly or implicitly, to be the nature of human sexual behavior? Eighty- four of the lOO books in the study sample were found to contain content revealing human sexual behaviors. Seven sub-categories were found: flirting; gestures of affection; use of obscenities; sexual activity; procreation; fantasies and dreams; and, human anatomy/body exposure. These sub-categories are presented here, as in Table ll(p. l87), proceeding from the most to least frequently occurring. An average of six sub-categories per year were dealt with in the first half of the period analyzed (l965-l969), as compared to an average of seven sub-categories per year in the more recent 187 TABLE ll.--Number of Books in which Sexual Behaviors were Revealed, l965-1974. LO 0 N m C” O l—' N m V '0‘; to to £0 £0 to l\ l\ N N N H :2 s: 2 2 2 2 2 22 2 2 .9 Flirting 6 7 7 7 6 8 7 6 9 6 69 Gestures of Affection 6 7 7 5 6 6 7 7 8 6 65 Uses of Obscenities l 3 3 4 7 5 4 8 7 42 Sexual Activity 1 3 3 3 5 6 4 5 6 6 42 Procreation 3 3 l 3 2 3 6 3 l 3 28 Fantasies and Dreams 2 3 3 l 3 5 4 3 4 28 Human Anatomy and Body . Exposure 2 l 5 4 4 3 2 21 TABLE l2. Number of Sexual Behavior Subjects as Revealed in Books per Year. LO to l\ m 0‘ O l'- N m d‘ 3 £0 £0 to £0 \D l\ l\ N N N +4 91 S 2 .‘1‘ 93 9‘. .‘2 92 92 9.‘ .9 Subjects Revealed 5 6 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 65 Books Containing Data 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 lo 84 half of the period (l970-l974). Numerous trends of sexual behaviors were discernable in the ten year period (see Table l2). Flirting Sixty-nine books contained content depicting flirtatious behaviors of early adolescent through adult characters in premarital, marital, and extramarital situations. In most of the sixty-nine books, characters of all ages flirted to attract attention or to show interest in, or affection for, another. In about twenty books each, characters (usually single 188 teenagers and young adults) flirted as a promise of sexual activity or for selfish reasons other than romantic or sexual interests such as enhancing self-esteem, escaping boredom, and acquiring new skills. Flirtatious behaviors were commensurate with the develop- mental levels of those involved. Characters twelve and younger usually flirted by means of language and physically aggressive actions such as pushing someone into a swimming pool; most of these behaviors were rather innocent and noncommital. Older characters flirted less innocently, more blatantly, and more seriously by means of voice, language, body, and special skills and interests. Jealousy and competition regarding flirtatious behavior occurred fairly often, especially among high school females. Though males were also shown in this light, they were more often jealous of the time or attention that friends gave the opposite sex. Flirtatious behavior was usually accepted as complimentary, if not returned. However, in the few cases where flirting was unnoticed or rejected, offended characters often became vindictive. During the ten year period, increases were evidenced in characters flirting as a promise of sexual activity and in older (usually married) characters flirting with teenagers. Gestures of Affection Sixty-five books contained content depicting gestures of affection among early adolescent through adult characters in premarital, marital, and extramarital situations; emphasis, however, was on unmarried teenagers and young adults. Affectionate gestures 189 included: kissing, in 43 books; being physically close or touching, 34; holding hands, 28; having an arm around, 23; embracing, 22; and other behaviors such as letter-writing and gift-giving, 18. In most of the sixty-five books, characters made sincere, frequent, and varied gestures of affection of all types to demon- strate romantic or sexual interests. Sincere affectionate gestures were made in fewer books to demonstrate comfort, support, or under- standing; to show appreciation; and, as traditional or habitual behavior. Generally, gestures of affection were made with sincerity and were reciprocated. However, in about ten percent of the books analyzed, gestures of affection were made in selfish pursuits other than of romantic or sexual interests. Though such behaviors do occur in reality, the fictional behaviors seemed unusual in terms of frequency, severity, and the degree of success enjoyed by the perpetrators. Approximately another ten percent of the books depicted rejection of affection, with a fairly even split between males and females and between non-destructive and destructive behavior as a result of perceived rejection of affection. Behaviors demonstrating gestures of affection were commensu- rate with developmental levels of those involved. Younger characters sat together on buses, walked home from school together, held hands, and the like. Affectionate gestures among older characters more typically involved kissing, embracing, and gift-giving. 190 Two trends were apparent in gestures of affection as demonstration of romantic or sexual interests in books published from 1965-l974. Books more recently published depicted teenagers and young adults as more frequently, more openly, and more casually making affectionate gestures in contrast to earlier books where even characters who had dated steadily over a long period of time often shared only one kiss during an evening. Most cases of characters making affectionate gestures toward unmarried characters were depicted in more recent publications. A trend appears to be; developing where younger characters go to greater extremes to make more extravagant affectionate gestures, particularly in terms of being close to someone special and gift-giving. Use of Obscenities The use of obscenities was revealed in the content of forty- two books. Obscenities were most frequently used by (usually male) characters sixteen years or older in written and spoken communication; however, use of pictures, films, and objects of an obscene nature were also evidenced. Obscenities were used in about ten percent of the study sample for one or more of these reasons: (1) to escape boredom; (2) to satisfy interests or needs; (3) as endeavors at humor; and (4) as a tool of malice. Much use of magazines (such as Playboy), pictures of women, jokes, and coarse language was noted. Further, most characters were very casual in their use of obscenities apparently demonstrating the notion put forth in one book that pro— fanity is so overused in this country that it has lost its meaning. 191 During the ten year period, use of obscenities increased significantly. Obscenities were used three times more often in the more recent half of the sample than in 1965-l969; not only did use increase, so did graphicness, variety, and intensity. Sexual Activity Sexual activity was revealed in forty-two books by teenagers through adults in premarital, marital, and extramarital situations. Generally, the purposes of sexual activity seemed to be to fulfill desires for pleasure or deeper emotional involvement with another. Instances of planned procreation and rape were also found. In one book, a thirteen year old boy experienced nocturnal orgasm. Only one book Specifically depicted (teenage) males masturbating though two other books alluded to the behavior. There was no hint of orgasm or masturbation among females. 1 Numerous (usually teenage) males and a few females were depicted as becoming sexually aroused by visual stimuli. Auditory and tactile stimuli were revealed as sexually arousing for some characters. In only one book did a teenage male experience a penal erection without apparent stimulation. Unmarried teenagers (usually at least sixteen) and young adults were explicitly depicted in eighteen books as engaging in heterosexual petting. Several additional books implied the behavior. Typically, characters who engaged in petting did so regularly-~almost routinely--with mutual interest and enjoyment. In the few cases where characters persisted in attempts to pet against the wishes of 192 their partners, the aggressors were revealed as males seeking sexual pleasure without romantic interests; in each case, the unconsenting female used the strongest tactic available to elude the antagonist. Females set the limits for petting behaviors except in one instance in one book. In a few books (primarily younger) teenage males fought their desires to pet, especiallyto fondle the breast of a female. Sexual intercourse in other than normative marital situations was explicitly or implicitly revealed in twenty-six books with characters sixteen or more years of age. Premarital sexual inter- course was encountered more than twice as often as extramarital sexual intercourse. Usually at least one of the characters felt an emotional tie to the partner. In twelve of the eighteen books where characters engaged in premarital sexual intercourse, no apparent negative side-effects occurred and the behavior was relatively casual. Characters in more recently published books were far less inhibited and more. tolerant of sexual intercourse preceding marriage as evidenced, particularly, in the incidence of communal living, free love, sexually oriented parties, and the casual nature of young people engaging in sexual intercourse. In the relatively few books where premarital pregnancy occurred, characters chose different options as solutions to their problems--most frequently marriage, though in the more recently published books there was less incidence of this behavior; it seems significant that while premarital sexual activity increased in 1965-1974, (twelve of the eighteen books were published 193 in the more recent half of the sample) there was no equivalent increase in pregnancy or related concerns. One book depicted a sixteen year old girl as choosing to become pregnant, with no inten- tion of marriage. Males, in general, were shown as more demanding for sexual intercourse and more casual about it; the latter point was, however, less evident in the more recently published books. Seven of the eight books revealing extramarital sexual inter- course depicted the behavior through a relative of the young protagonist--a parent in all cases but one, apparently demon- strating that such behaviors can happen in anyone's family. Generally, extramarital relationships were of a rather indiscriminate, transitory nature. TWo books, however, depicted men who, over long periods of time, divided attention between wives and lovers. In only three instances did extramarital lovers eventually establish a life together, in two cases via legal marriage and in one via common law. While in three books persons demanded divorces due to spouses' extramarital activities; other behaviors were also evidenced: in one book, a husband and wife killed each other due to the woman's infidelity; in another, a wife tolerated her husband's affairs as meeting some of his needs that she was apparently unable to fulfill; in other cases, presumably due to unknowing spouses, infidelity was not resolved. In the eight books depicting extramarital behaviors, six males attempted promiscuity as compared to four females. Except for one in 1968, the books revealing extramarital behaviors were published in l970-l974. Interestingly, the only book clearly We- 194 depicting a person as tolerant of a spouse's extramarital affairs was the one published in 1968. Sexual intercourse in wedlock was scarcely alluded to and then usually in terms of planned procreation. In the few books revealing sexual intercourse for other than procreational purposes, only one showed spouses as having mutual pleasure; typically, husbands were anxious while wives were stubbornly opposed to participation. Only one book explicitly revealed a homosexual relationship; the participants were young adult military men--one of whom professed to be bisexual with a preference for males. However, this same book and one other depicted relationships which readers might justifiably interpret as homosexual though neither explicitly revealed sexual activities beyond gestures of affection. The relationships were between males in one book and females in the other; in both cases, a teenager and a young adult were involved. The books were published in 1972 and in 1974. Twelve books dealt with some aspect of rape. Six books depicted the act, the perpetrator, or the result of rape; the other six described the cautious behavior of females to avoid the possibility of rape. It was made clear that rape can happen anywhere in this society but that most vulnerable are those females alone, particularly hitchhiking. Rape was shown as a violent act and implications were made that the perpetrator might succeed in commiting the act without reprisal; only two books depicted alleged rapists going to jail and only two others alluded to rape being a criminal act. One of the 195 books referring to rape was published in 1969 but all others were published in the 19705; eight of the twelve were published in 1973 and 1974. In three books, published in l968, 1971, and 1972, teenage males displayed voyeuristic behavior. Only one character in one book made special efforts to engage in the practice; in all other instances, boys simply took advantage of window views they encountered. The only character in the study sample revealed to have sadistic sexual tendencies was portrayed in a 1974 publication. No other sexually deviant behavior was evidenced. During the ten year period, sexual activity increased lsignificantly. In 1965 only one book revealed sexual activity. In 1965-1969, an average of three books per year depicted sexual activity compared to an average of 5.5 books per year during 1970- 1974. Two-thirds of the books revealing premarital sexual inter- course were published in the more recent half of the sample; however, there was no equivalent increase in pregnancy or related concerns. All but one of the books depicting extramarital sexual activity were published in the same period, as were eleven of the twelve books depicting rape. As increases in sexual activity were evidenced during the ten year period, more variance was also apparent; the only books depicting nocturnal orgasm, masturbation, and homosexual relationships were published in the more recent half of the sample. Other trends were also discernible. Overall, males were almost exclusively the aggressors and were revealed as more nonchalant and less commital regarding sexual encounters; however, females are 196 increasingly depicted as nonchalant and less commital. In the more recently published books, characters who engaged in sexual activity did so more frequently, more routinely, and with fewer inhibitions. More recently published books also revealed far less emphasis on "double standards," more tolerance regarding sexual activity, and more graphic portrayals of sexual activities. Procreation TWenty-seven books contained content relating some aspect of procreation: birth control; pregnancy; birth; adoption; abortion; preparation for, and care of, infants and new mothers. All aspects of procreation were revealed through characters about sixteen or more years of age and through married characters by a ratio of two to one. Extramarital procreation was explicitly revealed in only one book. The use of some means of birth control was implied in twenty- one books, usually through statements about choosing to have a child. Few books explicitly revealed the use of birth control methods and then it was in the context of the desirability or the effectiveness of such practices. In the seventeen books where pregnancy were depicted, slightly more than half of the cases were planned and within matrimonial bonds. Couples usually delayed conception until they felt capable of providing well for children. In almost all cases, people lived routinely through pregnancy except for their frequently encountered efforts to materially prepare for infants. In most cases women 197 received regular medical attention. The only symptoms of illness or fatigue experienced by any of the women were morning dizziness, revulsion of food, or aches in the small of the back; only one woman was shown as experiencing any of these ailments more than just occasionally. One book depicted an apparently planned pregnancy where the unwed teenage mother had no intention of marriage. Throughout pregnancy and delivery, this young woman's behavior was remarkably like that of married women; the major difference was in plans and preparation for care of the infant and new mother pursuant to birth. Nearly half of the pregnancies in the study sample were unplanned and occurred out-of—wedlock, though marriage sometimes followed. Little was revealed about the behaviors of these females during pregnancy except that they usually engaged in routine housekeeping chores and sometimes in baby-sitting. Only one of these females was even implied to experience any physical dis- comfort with pregnancy. The only extreme illness depicted during pregnancy was attributed to a woman's uncared for heart condition and the poverty- stricken environment in which she lived. When the woman died before childbirth, doctors indicated that adequate medical attention during pregnancy would probably have spared the woman's life. In nine of the fourteen books where childbirth occurred, it was revealed simply as a pregnant woman going to a hospital, having a baby, and returning home. Four of the five books more explicitly revealing childbirth were published in the 19705 and 198 three portrayed natural childbirths-—with none of the women experi- encing difficulties of any sort. Only one woman was explicitly shown to experience pain and mental anguish in childbirth. In one book doctors saved an infant when they performed immediate surgery on a woman who had suffered a fatal heart attack. No book explicitly described complications in childbirth or less than normal, healthy infants--even though a couple were born in the eighth month of development and in dire circumstances. In the eleven books where preparation for, and care of, infants and new mothers were depicted (usually), young married couples worked to make special arrangements for babies; typically, family and friends assisted in the preparations. Several books revealed the importance of cleanliness around, and considerable rest for, new mothers and their infants. Breast-feeding was depicted in only two books. No difficulty was shown in preparing for infants or in new mothers' recuperation; only one book depicted a new mother as experiencing any difficulty whatever in caring for an infant--and that was due to lack of maternal self-confidence. In the two books where infants were orphaned, family members arranged to keep the children within the family. Five books depicted some aspect of adoption. In two cases unwed pregnant teenagers signed their infants over for adoption. In two other cases, parents put children up for adoption when they were unable to adequately care for their youngsters. TWo of the books portrayed teenagers who experienced mental anguish about questions of true identity; in both cases the teenagers searched 199 for answers to their questions though only one persevered until all information was obtained. In almost every case, all matters of adoption were portrayed as acts of love. The incidence of abortion was not encountered. However, the availability of abortion for unwed pregnant teenagers was revealed in two books though neither girl expressed interest in the procedure. There were two apparent trends in 1965-1974 regarding procreation. First, there was a significant increase in pregnancy out-of-wedlock; six of the eight books containing relevant data were published in the more recent half of the period. Secondly, more recent books were generally more graphic in matters of 'procreation. Indicative of trends that may be developing were portrayals in several of the more recently published books of such considerations as: natural childbirth; breast-feeding; adoption and abortion as viable options for resolutions to the problem of pregnancy out-of—wedlock; and, unmarried characters choosing to have, and keep, children. Fantasies and Dreams Twenty-eight books contained content revealing the fantasies, daydreams, or dreams relating to human sexuality of unmarried teenagers or young adults. Males demonstrated these behaviors in slightly-over half of the cases found. All of the behaviors revealed curiosity about or desires for the present or the future, whether they were experienced voluntarily or involuntarily. Usually 200 characters experienced fantasies (of all types) about merely being with a person in whom they were interested; however, in several cases, characters fantasized about a future life with some signifi- cant other. While most characters fantasized to improve their present or to foresee the future, a few books depicted characters who fantasized to escape reality such as pregnancy out-of—wedlock or unreciprocated affection. In the three books where female characters compared their fantasies to literary experiences, fiction seemed more exciting but less possible. The sexual nature of fantasies was only implied in most books; however, a few books rather explicitly portrayed fantasies of such matters as petting and masturbation. In 1965 no books depicted characters who fantasized compared to four such books in 1974. Characters fantasized in an average of 1.80 books per year during 1965-1969 as compared to an average of 3.80 books per year in l970-l974; clearly, fantasies of all sorts occurred more than twice as often in the more recent half of the study sample. More recently published books also revealed increases in younger characters fantasizing, more sexually oriented fantasies, and more graphic revelations of fantasies. Human Anatomy/BodygExposure In the twenty-one books containing content revealing behaviors relating to human anatomy or body exposure, strong sexual concerns were almost always evidenced. In general, most characters demon- strated casual behavior regarding nudity and body exposure in familial 201 settings, especially among younger people. Typically, within familial settings, the older the characters, the more modesty shown regarding nudity and body exposure though there were exceptions-- particularly among the more recently published books. Nude, segre- gated swimming was acceptable within families in two of the more recently published books. In general, however, nudity within the family was revealed as when persons were bathing or dressing and through younger children (perhaps partially clad) playing within their homes. In a few books females were revealed as dressing to accentuates or expose body parts in order to (usually) attract males, to defy parents, and (in one case) for a job as a topless dancer in a bar; though incidence of this behavior was evidenced throughout the study sample, it was more apparent in the more recently published books. More diverse examples of nudity were portrayed in two books: in one coeds played strip poker and in the second Yippies stripped in public, presumably as a means of shocking people and thereby getting their attention. In one book, a mother bared her cancer- ridden body to the waist in an effort to stress the importance of inner beauty and to damn the transitory nature of outer beauty. In 1965-1969 only three books portrayed characters who exposed their bodies compared to eighteen books in the more recent half of the sample. Clearly, there has been an increase in behaviors relating to anatomy and body exposure. Though most of this behavior has been portrayed in the familial context, more recently published books have portrayed the behaviors in broader contexts such as friends, communal dwellings, and public places. 202 Chapter Summary Human sexual behaviors ranging from flirting to deviant sexual behaviors to human anatomy and body exposure were evidenced in eighty- four books. Generally younger characters were less inhibited than older characters; and males were typically more aggressive than females. Most cases of flirting and affectionate gestures were demonstration of sincere affection or interest. Rejection of flirting or affectionate gestures sometimes offended characters and prompted some to vindictive behaviors. The use of obscenities was taken, more or less, for granted. One book described them as so over-used as to have little or no meaning. Though sexual activity was generally shown to be an effort to fulfill desires for pleasure or deeper emotional involvement with another, this was not always so. Characters were increasingly shown to engage in, and accept, sexual activity outside of normative behaviors. Numerous trends relating to human sexual behaviors were discernible in 1965-1974. Increases were evidenced in: characters flirting as a promise of sexual activity and in older (usually married) characters flirting with teenagers; affectionate gestures being made more openly and more casually and affectionate gestures of married characters toward unmarried characters (frequently f teenagers); the use of more obscenities; more diverse sexual activity on a more routine basis; pregnancy out-of—wedlock; fantasies and dreams of a sexual nature; human anatomy and body exposure. Behaviors were increasingly more graphically portrayed; further, they were increasingly diverse, liberal, and tolerant from 1965-1974. CHAPTER VI SEXUAL ATTITUDES Eighty-five of the 100 books in the study sample were found to contain content revealing human sexual attitudes. In order to indicate and analyze those attitudes found, this chapter is divided into three parts: (1) Discussion of Findings; (2) Summary of Findings; and (3) Chapter Summary. Discussion of Findings Twelve sub-categories of "Sexual Attitudes" were identified: (1) Appearance; (2) Romance; (3) Flirting; (4) Gestures of Affection; (5) Sexual Activity; (6) Marriage; (7) Adult Supervision; (8) Obsceni- ties; (9) Human Anatomy/Body Exposure; (10) Procreation; (ll) Fanta- sies and Dreams; and, (12) Body Functions. These sub-categories are presented here, as in Table'k3 (p. 326), proceeding from the most to least frequently occurring. Though most sexual attitudes were revealed through teenage characters in premarital states, other instances were f6und and are indicated in each applicable sub- category. Appearance Seventy-five books contained content revealing attitudes relating to such matters of appearance as physical attractiveness 203 204 and attire. Attitudes more particularly relating to human anatomy and/or body exposure are sometimes alluded to in this subsection; they are, however, specifically treated in subsection nine of this chapter (see page 300). The importance of physical attractiveness was evidenced in three-fourths of the books analyzed through attitudes held by characters of a variety of ages and stations in life. A young adult male in Butterworth's Stock-Car Racer believed that beauty deserves attention. Adolescent girls in Stolz's A Wonderful, Terrible Time believed that men look for wives who are beautiful. Teenage West Indian girls living in New York City in Guy's The Friends recognized that they were invited to the parties of professional people and, hence, enabled to rise socially mainly due to their physical attrac- tiveness. High school bdys in Huntsberry's The Big Wheels realized that candidates for school offices get more votes if they are attractive. In Branscum's Me and Jim Luke, a young boy observed that hill women almost drive their men to city women, mainly due to their appearances. The importance of physical attractiveness was typically revealed through teenagers' concerns about their social lives. Buddy knew that when his sister spruced up for a boy, in Frank Bonham's The Mystery of the Fat Cat, it was a sure sign that she was "gone on him" (p. 28). Indeed, most males and females wanted to have their best appearance most of the time, but especially when with datesror prospective dates. 205 Both males and females were often shown as finding extreme delight in even the prospect of dating people perceived by many as unusually attractive. In Edith Maxwell's Just Dial a Number Cathy relished the thought that Todd, her steady date, was a "fantastic hunk" noticed by all (p. 3). Cindy, a college freshman in Mills' The Rules of the Game, had similar feelings about a couple of boys that she dated. Among the books attributing attitudes such as this to boys were: Ellis's Riptide; Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now; Huntsberry's The Bingang-Up; and Summers' You Can't Make It By Bus. The importance of the physical appearance of one's date was made clear in other ways in a few books. In Baker's Go Away Ruthie, Lynn kept her blind-date away from the teen hangouts because she didn't want to be seen with anyone who only reached her nose--even though the fellow was quite nice and reasonably attractive. In Sherburne's nglig, the protagonist thought she would "die" if any- one thought she had a date with Darb, upon whom she could not bear to look. In I Can Stop Any Time I Want by James Trivers, when Graham's hair was cut too short he was disgusted with his appearance and was certain that it would keep him from getting "laid again, . . ." (p. 70). ‘ In several books characters recognized and admired, if not envied, members of their own sex who would be attractive to the opposite sex. Though these characters were usually girls, boys were also evidenced. In Barbara Rinkoff's I Need Some Time, sixteen year old Scott saw Hutt as the sort of male girls "go for" (p. 38). "Doc" Hartwell, a high school senior in Huntsberry's The Big Wheels, 206 knew that "Skeet" was the best looking guy in the school. Bryon, in Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now, thought he resembled a St. Bernard but that was fine with him because most girls couldn't resist them. In Smith's Hold Yourself Dear most characters recognized "Krajek the Tragic" as the most beautiful girl in school. Similar depictions were foundin: Walden's Race the Wind; Bradbury's gaggle; Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now; Summers' You Can't Make It By Bus; and, Maxwell's Just Dial a Number. Physical attractiveness was so important to some female characters that they endured the likes of cosmetics, diets, and contact lenses. These beautifications were sometimes painful but, nevertheless, often encouraged by family and/or friends. Marcella in Terris's Plague of Frogs, and Lyle in Bratton's Only in Time, both had horrible facial scars which well-meaning friends tried to obscure with cosmetics and special coiffures; these endeavors had no ill effects on Marcella but Lyle was hospitalized due to infected scar tissue. Marcella's father thought she was so unattractive that he had subjected her to all sorts of treatments to render her beauti- ful; one of these was having her, as a youngster, touch a corpse. A divorcee in Konigsburg's (George) dieted, as did teenagers in Walden's Race the Wild Wind and Lawrence's No Slipper for Cinderella. In the latter book, the protagonist also suffered with adjusting to contact lenses which were an unrequested gift. In Jackson's Ie§§1g_a young black girl endured painful hair treatments to achieve the look she desired. 207 Teenage girls seemed to value their images as being more mature, worldly-wise women as revealed in several books, including: Bradbury's Laurie; Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way; Laklan's Surf With Me; Mills' The Rules of the Game, and Summers' You Can't Make It By Bus. Females with this attitude experienced only limited success in attracting and maintaining the interest of those males whom they sought. Two of the few books which described characters as too good- looking to be true were Cavanna's The Country Cousin and Huntsberry's The Big Wheels. In both books, it was a male who had this distinction in the eyes of some of his peers. Generally, characters freely complimented the physical appear- ance of one another; however, a few books showed teenage boys as shy about verbalizing their appreciation of female beauty. In Ella Thorp Ellis's Riptide, Mike (nearly sixteen) thought that Mary looked great at the big dance and he was pleased that the whole stag line noticed her. Nevertheless, Mike was embarrassed to tell Mary how good he thought she looked, ". . . all bright and shiny and beautiful. . . ." (p. 85). When Mike finally mustered up his courage, his comment revealed as much uneasiness in bestowing a compliment as Mary's did in accepting it: "Did anyone ever tell you that you look like a Christmas tree ornament?" "Santa Claus or Rudolph?" (p. 95). Boys were similarly revealed in Hodges' The Making of Joshua Cobb and Ney's Ox Goes North. 208 A different attitude was depicted in Grossman's A Rage to Die with high school age Kenny who wasn't shy about telling a girl that she was beautiful, he simply considered it a cardinal rule of youth not to do so. When, in an unguarded moment, Kenny first broke the rule--he experienced regret and wished for rescue from his private conversation with Lynnell. In spite of Kenny's concerns, his remark did not seem to cause any repercussions. Characters in numerous books revealed their attitudes about some personal qualities in relation to physical appearance. Into the Groove by Montgomery depicted eighteen year old Harley as con- sidering "Jigger" very pretty but concerned about developing further interest in her because she was so spoiled. A teenager in S. E. Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now revealed his attitude that good manners are more important than good looks: ". . . I always had this soft spot for chicks. I was always making like Sir Galahad, opening doors for them and compli- menting even the homely ones, and I beat out a lot of guys better looking than me and they never could figure out why. . . ." (p. 28) Characters in several books recognized that members of the 'opposite sex in whom they were interested were not necessarily hand- some or beautiful--in fact, they were sometimes even considered homely looking. However, these recognitions mattered little or none because the person was valued for some other personal asset(s). In Walden's Race the Wild Wind, Garth was bright, talented, and humanistic. Freddy, in Lawrence's No Slipper for Cinderella, was intellectual and loyal. In Cavanna's The CountryyCousin, Dana was a scholar and a gentleman; so was Austin in Bradbury's Laurie. Bernie, in Hale's 209 Nothing But a Stragger, was reliable and worked hard to support his fatherless family. In contrast to these situations and attitudes, in Lawrence's Inside the Gate, Piper was so desperate for a boyfriend that she initially dated Mitch in spite of being unimpressed with his physical appearance and being unaware of his personal positive attributes; her attitude was clearly that any boy is better than no boy! The attitudes most frequently revealed regarding some personal asset in relation to physical appearance involved intelligence. A teenage girl in Hale's Nothing But a Stranger was told by a college boy that she would not get the career she sought because she was too pretty--that some guy would run away with her. In Grossman's A_Bage_ $2.912; a militant black adult was interested in a woman he considered beautiful but perhaps a little too intelligent. In Miss Fix-It by DeLeeuw, A Girl Called Al by Greene, Ng_ Slipper for Cinderella by Lawrence, and Race the Wild Wind by Walden teenage girls were, in general, far more concerned with sharpening their intelligence or skills than in improving their appearance. In each case, the girl's family (and sometimes friends) assumed the responsibility of working to improve the girl's appearance by such means as imposed diets, bribes, flattery, and cleverly induced exercises. Teenage girls in Cavanna's The Country Cousin and Lawrence's No Slipper for Cinderella knew very intelligent boys--neither of whom was characterized as handsome--that they had long considered friends but too intellectually active to be of much interest romantically. 210 By the conclusion of the Lawrence story, the girl was at least beginning to see the fallacy of her earlier thinking. The con- clusion of the Cavanna book clearly showed Mindy's attitudinal change regarding Dana and his intelligence. Females were sometimes depicted as having the attitude that intelligence was at least as important as the physical appearance of the males whom they dated. Books with portrayals such as this included: Bradbury's gaggle; DeLeeuw's Miss Fix-It; Hale's Nothing But a Stranger; Schoen's A Spark of Joy; and Smith's Hold Yourself Dear. Two atypical situations were revealed in which attitudes regarding attractiveness were related to other personal assets. In Schoen's A Spark of Joy, Ellen, a young housewife, was somewhat intimidated and threatened by a gifted research scientist whom she considered glamourous and with whom her husband worked. However, when Jim told Ellen that neither he nor a colleague considered Nora sexy, she felt better--in fact, superior. Hentoff's In the Country of Ourselves depicted a sarcastic high school principal, Rothblatt, who jokingly implied that his unmarried, middle-aged, repressed, efficient, and dependable secretary (Miss Fitzgerald) was supportive of a male faculty member, whose worth he questioned, more on the basis of appearance and charm than professional considerations. When Miss Fitzgerald finally asserted herself and revealed more intelligence than she'd previously displayed, the principal was surprised and wondered: 211 Do you suppose . . . that she'll suddenly take off her glasses, let her hair down, and become Ginger Rogers? Irene Dunne? Or, best of all, Katherine Hepburn? He looked closely at her. No (p. 88). As implied in some of the cases mentioned above, characters in several books revealed that getting to know someone may alter one's attitude regarding that person's physical appearance. In Sachs' Amy and Laura, an adolescent girl found pleasurable the attention given her by Jack, ". . . such a nice, intelligent boy, even if his ears did stick out on either side of his bony face." She observed that "You didn't even notice his ears once you got to know him" (p. 30). A teenage girl in Walden's Race the Wild Wind discovered that the better she got to know Garth the less she noticed his angular features and the limp which she had initially fOund dis- tracting, if not disturbing-—in that these features evoked her pity for him. In contrast to these situations, teenage Mark-~as most boys--in S. E. Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now had long con— Sidered Angela as beautiful. But, he warned Bryon to stay away from Angela and observed that it was too bad that a girl could ". . . look so good and be so rotten" (p. 40). Bryon ignored Mark's cautionary remarks but later when he knew Angela well wondered why he'd ever ". . . given a damn about her . . ." and even took pleasure in being able to ". . . ignore the way she looked“ (p. 49). In Cavanna's The Country Cousin, as eighteen year old Mindy began to know Peter, a dashing young socialite with whom she had instantly been enchanted, she realized that all she appreciated about him was his physical handsomeness. 212 Uncle Comer, an older and happily married man in S3925: Car Racer by W. E. Butterworth, revealed that maturity nay change one's attitudes about beauty when, With six sizable checks in his hand, he said: "The older I get . . . the more I agree that these are prettier than a female" (p. 176). A less financially able grandfather depicted in Beatty's Bryg_seemed to have a different attitude though because he took great pleasure in his wife buying new clothes and in boasting of her beauty. The attitude that similarity of appearance is valued was implicitly conveyed in most books by characters desiring to have their appearance be in accord with the established norm. The atti- tude was explicitly conveyed in a few books including Colver's Sally, Star Patient and Walden's In Search of Ophelia. In the Colver book the adults closest to Sally, a young adult spastic paralytic, discussed their concerns about Sally finding the romantic happiness she so anxiously sought. Chief among their concerns was their belief ‘ that boys want their girls perfect, not different in any way, "Never standing out from the crowd as odd, so that explanations and apologies have to be made" (p. 46). Walden's In Search of Ophelia depicted three separate instances of young adult characters becoming inter- ested in others at least partly because of their physical resemblance to someone else: Mark was fascinated with Miranda's remarkable resemblance to his mother in her younger years; Vince found it odd that Miranda resembled a figure of enchantment from his boyhood dreams; Dale became almost immediately romantically interested in a man who bore a strong likeness to a fellow whom she had earlier loved. 213 Other books revealed the importance of one's having an appear- ance in accord with established norms in different ways. In Hall's Sticks and Stones when Tom realized that rumor had it that he was a homosexual, he noticed that his hands were long and graceful and, hence, did not meet the masculine status guo; this was one of several variables causing Tom to experience self-doubt regarding his own masculinity. Near social isolates portrayed in a few books had unattrac- tiveness among their problems. In Hall's Sticks and Stones teenage Floyd was characterized as being of low standing intellectually, socially, and financially. He was obese, sloppy, sweatty, and crude. Floyd was held in low esteem in his own mind and in that of others. In Zoa Sherburne's Leglje, the teenage protagonist wondered how anyone could even befriend Darb: Darb sat on the floor near Chip, his legs folded Yoga fashion, wearing huge, round dark glasses that gave him a spooky outer-space look. He always wore them, . . . . Darb was really ugly, all skin and bones, and his complexion was so bad that you hated to look at him. Why an attractive boy like Chip should spend so much time with someone so repulsive looking was a mystery to Leslie. Of course, Darb couldn't do much about his appearance but he didn't even try to make up for it by being pleasant. Half the time he wouldn't answer when you spoke to him, and he never bothered to smile. None of the girls could stand him, not even the quiet, gentle ones like Nancy Graham, who made a point of defending the underdog and loving everyone. Darb wasn't dull-witted and surely knew he was unpopular, which was probably the reason he rarely showed up at school functions and never at parties like last night's. The only possible reason for their friendship that Leslie could think of was that Chip was sorry for Darb. . . . The thought was endearing, though Leslie couldn't quite believe it herself (pp. 20-21). 214 In Terris's Plague of Frogs, fourteen year old Jo could hardly tolerate being around Marcella whom she considered unattractive, odiferous, and slovenly, as well as intellectually and socially backward. That anyone could bear being near Marcella was a puzzlement to Jo, who was fascinated by Marcella's pregnancy. The importance of attire was repeatedly stressed, particularly from feminine points of view, in three-fourths of the books analyzed. Usually the attitude was conveyed through such behaviors as choosing what to wear for such occasions as a date, shopping, or some special event. Girls were often shown as feeling the need for a new dress for a special event and/or their first date with a boy in whom they were interested. Characters displaying this attitude were found in such books as: Baker's Go Away Ruthie; Embry's §p§dj5 Smith's leg_ Yourself Dear; Walden's Race the Wild Wind; and, Lawrence's Inside the Gate. Expensive clothing was clearly valued, but of prime concern was that the clothes be new and as fashionable and flattering as possible. Teenage Bryon in Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now was one of the few boys who was revealed as having this attitude. He was grateful when Mark supplied him with a new blue shirt--that complimented his eyes--for his first date with Cathy. Characters in a few books reasonably accepted the facts that new clothing of the latest style exceeded their means and that they simply had to do the best that they could with that which was availa- ble. In Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt teenage Carol resigned herself to the fact that the best dress she had available to wear on 215 her first date with Jerry was one of Ellen's hand-me-downs that had been fashionable when new. Teenagers in Terris's Plague of Frogs found themselves in a situation where they needed to dress up for a wedding but the only clothes approaching suitability were old ones belonging to other people. In each book, the young people cleaned the clothing, made adjustments where possible, and wore the apparel--almost with a sense of pride. Teenage females in a few books believed it important to dress in a revealing manner to attract and maintain the interest of males; findings revealing this attitude are presented on page 185 of Chapter V. Worthy of note is that in books where girls had this attitude, it was given only partial credence by male behaviors; furthermore, the girls having these attitudes were frowned upon by many female peers, and by some males. Parental attitudes about appropriate teenage attire were clearly revealed in a few books; more often than not, these atti- ltudes were rejected by young people. In Madison's Bird on the Wing, when the parents of sixteen year old Liz insisted that the hem of her new dress be lowered for decency's sake, she retaliated by hemming it gp_two inches and wearing it with tights to school-- though even she considered it too short after her actions. Riding Free by Robert Coles depicted fourteen year old Sallie and her father having several arguments about her clothes, anong other things. Her father didn't like her jeans but found them less distasteful than some of the dresses she wore. Sallie's father took her manner of dress as one indication that she was "headed for no 216 good" (p. 13). He told her that when she bought her own clothes she could dress as she pleased. Such arguments as these finally prompted Sallie to run away from home. In Laura Nelson Baker's Go Awanyuthie, when teenage Lynn's grandmother suggested that Lynn's new dress ". . . fit a little tighter than it should across the hips. . . ," Lynn laughed and responded: . , “Ho. I've seen some pictures of you, when you weren't much older than I am, and I wouldn't say that your clothes were exactly loose on you. " "That was the style in my day." "It's the style now, too, only not in quite the same way," . . . . (p. 122) DeUeeuw's Miss Fix-It depicted a contrasting situation to those described above. The mechanical genius of teenage Annis was appreciated by her mother each time an appliance needed repair. However, Mrs. Reeve was exceedingly anxious for Annis to adopt what she considered more feminine interests and to develop a more feminine appearance. Annis preferred her own style and resented her mother's dictates to some extent. Attitudes about the importance of attire were revealed in more diverse ways in a few books. In Bratton's Only in Time when girls had dates, at a music camp where uniforms were worn, they concentrated on distinctive coiffures and jewelry to set them apart from other members of their sex. In Granger's Canyon of Decision a teenage girl vowed that she would not attend a special function in Brick's company if he wore his familiar plaid shirt, in spite of the fact that she was very fond of him. 217 Attitudes about the importance of appearance and attire remained consistent through the ten year period. However, changes in appropriateness of appearance and attire were certainly reflected in numerous books. S. E. Hinton's That Was Then, This Is pr_most clearly indicated this when teenage Bryon observed: I went to a big high school. It graduated about seven hundred kids, and the senior class was the smallest class, . Its district included a real crummy part of town-- ours--and a pretty ritzy part of town. This can make for problems. It used to anyway, with the Socs beating up the greasers, but in these days, with all that love, peace, and groove stuff, the fights had slacked off. Besides, it was hard now to tell a Soc from a greaser. Now the greasers wore their hair down on their foreheads instead of combed back . . . and the Socs were trying to look poor. They wore old jeans and shirts with the shirttails out, just like the greasers always had because they couldn't afford anything else. I'll tell you one thing though: what with fringed leather vests and Levi's with classy-store labels in them, those kids were spending as much money to look poor as they used to to look rich. It was crazy (pp. 63-64). Romance Content revealing attitudes toward romance was found in sixty- nine books. Attitudes of teenagers were most frequently depicted; however, those of adults and a few children were also presented. Twenty books depicted some males as having doubts about, or little to no interest in, romance. Seven year old Lonnie in Granger's Canyon of Decision could not understand why any nele would prefer the private company of a female over being with him. In Iggie's House by Blume eleven year old Winnie knew lots of boys who were "girl- haters." In Miss Fix-It by DeLeeuw, a young boy had no plans for dating in his future; his thought was that having sisters was enough! 218 Thirteen year old Tony in Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't refused movies when they were about "love." Teenage boys were more typically interested in cars than in girls in Riptide by Ellis, Nothing But a Stranger by Hale, The Big Hang-Up by Huntsberry, The Peter Pan Bag by Kingman, and Into the gypgye_by Montgomery. The preference was made especially clear in the Ellis book when Mike, nearly sixteen, decided that if he had to choose between a car and a girl, the car would win. A few books revealed that athletically inclined boys prioritized sports before girls. In Blume's Then Again, Maybe I ngit, thirteen year old Tony liked playing basketball because then he didn't think of girls at all. In Huntsberry's The Big Hang-Up high school age Corey was interested in girls, but nothing was really important to him except basketball. In Way to Go, Teddy by Honig, a seventeen year old minor league baseball player thought of baseball first and foremost; girls were a weak second. Bongo Bradley by Glasser and Blustein and Jazz Country by Hentoff depicted males who, though pursued by females, cared far more about their musical instruments and making music than anything else. The Hentoff book further characterized teenage Tom as being unable to sustain a relationship with a girl unless she truly appreciated jazz. In George's Hold Zerol, teenage boys were shocked when one of their friends divided his attention between a girl and the rocketry project which they took so seriously. 219 In three books some males had the attitude that there was not time for girls and romance due to other demands. In Cormier's Ibe_ Chocolate War, the demands on a high school gang leader left him no time fOr girls; while Archie resented this state of affairs, he failed even to attempt to alter the situation. In Summers' You Can't Make It By Bus, adult male Mexican-American militants tried to persuade a high school boy to "cool his romance" while working on their projects as involvement with a female was too time-consuming and potentially destructive to their cause. In Grossman's A Rage to Die an adult 3 black militant believed that he should not get romantically involved while going about the business of instigating youth riots against authorities. No Slipper fOr Cinderella by Lawrence made clear that some- times males are only assumed to be too busy with special interests for romance, as in the case of college age Freddy. In The Country Cousin by Cavanna, a young socialite male was much more interested in establishing relationships for monetary gain than for romantic reasons. Bonham's The Mystery of the Fat Cat revealed the attitude that high school boys only "trifle" with girls when bored. In Mills' The Rules of the Game, a college junior was cynical about romance. He laughed about his peers, interests in love and planned to exploit some of their writings in a magazine he edited. Only four books explicitly depicted females as having little or no interest in romance. In The Real Me by Miles, sixth grade 1 Barbara was far more interested in being able to play tennis and have 220 a paper route than in boys and romance. Two seventh grade girls in Greene's A Girl Called Al had no interests in boys or romance; the girls decided they preferred careers and independence over marriage. In Terris's Plague of Froga, fourteen year old Jo was exceedingly pleased that she attended a girls' school-~she thought a good edu- cation to be of supreme importance and rather "thumbed her nose" at boys and romance. Annis, a high school senior in DeLeeuw's Mj§§_ [15:15, tried to repress her warm feelings toward Luke; she wanted to hold on to the independence she relished. Ten books revealed males as being, at least, interested in romance. In Race the Wild Wind by Walden, Garth's young skiing students questioned the presence of a young woman at their skiing lesson: "Is she your girlfriend?“ Ten year old Sammie John, in Branscum's Me and Jim Luke, decided upon meeting Raven (a young, attractive writer) that he loved her and that she had twelve year old Jim Luke "in heat." When a college boy was quiet, in Krantz's The Secret Raft, twelve year old Tom decided that he must be thinking of his fiancee. In Bryp_by Beatty, an adolescent revealed that he had not thought much about girls until he got to know Sally. Teenage boys were similarly revealed in, among others: Garden's The Loners; Hodges' The Making of Joshua Cobb; and Huntsberry's The Big Hang-Up. Kingman's The Year of the Raccoon depicted a high school boy intrigued with what it would be like to have girls fling themselves at you, as they did his older brother. In Sticks and Stones by Lynn Hall, when a high school senior told his mother of plans for finding a girlfriend when school started, 221 he wryly commented: "Girls are a lot easier to find than friends are" (p. 28). Thirty books explicitly revealed females as interested in romance; numerous additional books made the implication. The situ— ations in which female interests in romance were revealed ranged from an adolescent dramatically reciting poetry of love for informal audiences in Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't to teenage girls in Bonham's The Mystery_of the Fat Cat anxious for boys to frequent their community social club to a senior citizen in Shirley Rosseau Murphy's The Sand Ponies who, upon being proposed to (almost simultaneously) by two men, demanded that she be courted ". . . with all the trim- mings!" (p. l72). The pervading attitude seemed to be that many females are ". . . in love with love." In fact, in Amelia Elizabeth Walden's Race the Wild Wind, Marty's uncle confronted her with his observation of her in precisely those words (p. 18). Marty initially denied the truth of the remark then agreed that perhaps it was so. She then explained that her peers were always talking about love but that she'd never been close to it, didn't like being left out, and didn't want to miss anything. In Hall's Sticks and Stones, teenage Amber was desperate for romance; she believed if someone didn't love her soon it would be too late. Madison's Bird on the Wing described teenage Liz as desperate for love. Numerous other books conveyed -similar attitudes. Females were frequently revealed as very interested in the romantic life of older females with whom they had close relationships. 222 In Crane's Don't Look at Me that Way, twelve year old Teresa questioned her older sister about boys and dating. A sixteen year old, in Hale's Nothing But a Stranger, questioned Holly (an older sister) about dating and spied to determine if she kissed her dates goodnight. Sixteen year old Carol in Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt schemed to elicit from her seventeen year old sister as much information as possible about dating and love; Carol was especially curious because since Ellen had fallen in love she seemed to "float" and her disposition was more pleasant. Later, a younger sister expressed interest in Carol's dating. In Baker's Go Away Ruthie, fourteen year old Lynn asked her grandmother about falling in love. In The Mulberry Music by Orgel a younger girl delighted to hear her grandmother tell of the romantic attraction that many females had found in her husband years earlier. Females frequently perceived reality as more romantic than did their male companions. In Go Away_Ruthie by Baker, teenage Lynn found beauty in such things as shadows while her date was all but lost thinking about cars. Smith's Hold Yourself Dear depicted a teenage girl who, on the eve of moving to a new town, attempted-~almost to no avail--to get a romantic, movie-type goodby from her boyfriend. In Cavanna's The Country Cousin, teenage Mindy decided she needed to get Peter alone on a country walk to turn his thoughts to romance but, even there, he thought primarily of money and social climbing. Teenage Lura, in Summers' You Can't Make It By Bus, played guitar and sang folk songs of unrequited love; she fbund pleasure in the romance of these songs while her boyfriend sometimes asked for them to be explained 223 and, then, considered the men portrayed therein as stupid. More dramatically, in Helen Bratton's Only in Tine, when sixteen year old violinist Lyle got her first kiss, she excitedly wondered if she was in love as she heard "The allegro molto appasionato of the first movement of Mendelssohn's violin concerto . . ."--if Derek felt anything, it was not revealed or even hinted at (p. 59). A unique female attitude toward romance was portrayed in Edith Maxwell's Just Dial a Number where Cathy, an intelligent high school senior, never dreamed of marrying Todd because she believed that being in love was enough. Further, Cathy considered "love" a "hearts and flowers word" but decided that she was, nevertheless, in love with Todd (p. 29). Colver's Sally,_Star Patient depicted another unique example of a female attitude regarding romance. Sally, a young adult spastic paralytic, was just as concerned with finding romance as with becoming totally independent of help of any kind. Cautious attitudes toward romance were explicitly revealed in twenty-six books. The eleven year old protagonist of Lady Ellen .Grae_by Bill and Vera Cleaver was certain that she loved Grover but knew that if she told him, ". . . he would run like a preyed rabbit" (p. 21). In The Loners by Garden, a high school junior was hesitant to tell his girlfriend that he loved her because he was afraid it wasn't true; he didn't trust his emotions. In Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now, sixteen year old Bryon was cautious in telling Cathy that he loved her though he had often previously expressed love to some 224 "nitwit chick" that he “. . . couldn't care less about" (p. 85). In Bratton's Onlyyin Time, a high school girl recognized her need to be near, and supportive of, J. P. in their mutual musical pursuits, but: "If there was another reason, she was not yet ready to face it" (p. 180). In Walden's In Search of Ophelia, only after several years was a young actor able to reveal his infatuation with an actress a few years his senior. In Granger's Canyon of Decision, when Brick found a new girl- friend (while they both were away from home) he waited until the last moment to inform the girl that he attended college in her hometown. Jo sUrmised Brick's reason for being cautious about this disclosure-- after all, she was only a high school girl who might be impressed with the status of dating a college man. In several books characters had the desire to avoid emotional relationships with the opposite sex when those relationships seemed to have potential for threatening future plans for scholarly endeavors and/or careers. Among these books were: Baker's Go Away Ruthie, Kingman's The Year of the Raccoon, and Terris's Plague of Frogg, Parents and guardians in eight books held the attitude that they should caution their charges about some romantic involvements. Usually the cautionary attitudes were based on concerns about maturity and moral standards as in Cormier's The Chocolate War, Laklan's Surf With Me, Smith's Hold Yourself Dear, and Walden's Race the Wild Wind. Sometimes, however, adult concerns were based on the possibility of their young being preyed upon for financial, social, or scholarly gain as in Colver's Sally, Star Patient and Maxwell's 225 Just Dial a Number. Sometimes adult attitudes about romance were based on racial concerns, as presented on pages 231-233. Peers had cautionary attitudes for basically the same reasons as parents and guardians, in such books as: Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag, Maxwell's Just Dial a Number, Mills' The Rules of the Game, and Rinkoff's I Need Some Time. Siblings, too, had the attitude that they were obligated to caution younger brothers/sisters about romantic interests and involvements in such books as: Colver's Sally, Star Patient, Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way, and Hale's Nothing But a Stranger. Young people often resented attempts people made to enter their romantic lives. Most of the resentment was directed to parents, guardians, siblings, and friends. Girls were doubtful if not resentful of dates "fixed-up" by peers or adults in such books as Baker's Ga. Away Ruthie and DeLeeuw's Miss Fix-It. In contrast, in Cavanna's The Country Cousin, a teenage girl was appreciative that an older cousin arranged a date fbr her while visiting Paris. In Montgomery's Into the Groove, young adult Dave resented his racing manager for presumptuously calling a girl to say that Dave would be late for a date; further, Dave advised him not to repeat his indiscretion. In Hall's Sticks and Stones sixteen year old Tom even resented a peer's interrupting his thinking about a girl he wished to date. Possessive attitudes were frequently apparent in one or both persons in dating relationships. These attitudes were viewed with mixed emotions by those for whom they were held. In Walden's In Search 226 of Ophelia, Miranda, a young adult actress, was alarmed that her date was so possessive that he seemed to convey that any man approaching her was invading bj§_property rights. Miranda also noted that Mark's proprietary tone strengthened as they spent more time together. In Butterworth's Stock-Car Racer and Bratton's Only in Time, young men were so possessive of their girlfriends that they resorted to violent behavior in effort to maintain the control they wanted over the girls. In the Butterworth book, a young adult male provoked a fight with, and damaged the property of, a male whom he perceived as a threat to his relationship with a girl. In the Bratton book, a young black man's possessiveness and strong religious convictions prompted him to actually kidnap his girlfriend from a music camp. More young females revealed possessive attitudes than did males. Some females tended to demonstrate possessiveness through assuming almost maternal roles--as did Nell in Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag. More often, females showed possessive attitudes through efforts to be aware of, and to manipulate as much as possible, their boyfriends' daily lives as did Jodelle in Mills' The Rules of the Game; Jigger in Montgomery's Into the Groove; Harriet in Smith's Hg_g_ Yourself Dear; and, Lura in Summers' You Can't Make It By Bus. Numerous characters had no scruples about using romance as a means to accomplish their own selfish goals. Examples of this relative lack of conscience are presented in Chapter V, on pages 125-126 and 138-142. An additional and atypical depiction of this attitude was reflected in Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't through Aunt Rose, a social-climbing, middle-class woman who had her adolescent daughter 227 memorize and dramatically recite romantic poetry. In addition to providing for her daughter's "cultural development," Aunt Rose planned to use her noveau riche relatives' financial and social contacts so that Ginger could establish relationships with "really rich boys" (p. 80). The attitude that a romantic inclination toward someone is different than other emotional and physical responses was presented through discussions by parents, children, siblings, and peers as in Smith's Hold Yourself Dear and Baker's Go Away Ruthie. However, the attitude was more vividly presented through the thinking of indi- viduals of varying experiential backgrounds and maturation levels. Thirteen year old Tbny in Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't decided that he had thought he loved Lisa based on his voyeuristic pleasures involving her. In Branscum's Me and Jim Luke, ten year old Sammie John perceived a difference in the manner in which he and Jim Luke responded to Raven; Sammie was sure that he loved her while Jim Luke seemed to be more "in heat" (p. 40). In Thaler's Rosaria, a fifteen year old Puerto Rican girl, shortly after having been deserted by her father, entered into a relationship with an older boy whom she had earlier disliked. Within a short time, however, Rosaria found that she felt restless and empty. The implication was clearly that having a steady boy- friend and indulging in sexual activities were ineffectual in meeting Rosaria's emotional needs for love. Finally, she broke off the relationship with Eduardo and began to seek more fulfilling people and experiences. 228 Eighteen year old Rosa in Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way considered the difference in feelings that she experienced when Julio and Whitney even squeezed her arm. She concluded that love was the variable. More dramatically but just as realistically, when sixteen year old Bryon in Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now became romantically involved for the first time, he was surprised to realize that he hadn't even liked some of the females with whom he had previously been involved and, sometimes, sexually active. Only a few books revealed young people with rather satirical attitudes toward so-called romantic relationships, especially those of their peers. In Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt, at nearly sixteen Carol thought sarcastically of the frequency and ease with which her older sister entered into romantic relationships and how she would immediately decide that her previous boyfriends had been "creeps." In Mills' The Rules of the Game when Cindy told John, age twenty, of her concern about the feelings and loneliness of her roommate who had just broken up with a male she had once intended to marry, John--sarcastically and seriously--remarked: "Ah, parting is such sweet sorrow! The trials and tribu- -lations of young love in Powamsa Falls! By the time she gets back she'll probably be wearing somebody else's fraternity pin" (p. 110). Wryly, Cindy recalled a boy with whom her roommate had only recently become friendly. Attitudes toward romance among adults were varied. In Wojciechowska's "Hey, What's Wrong With This One?", three young boys in a motherless home determined to help their father find a new wife, 229 unbeknownst to him. When the boys found a woman they really liked and in whom their father seemed interested, they did all they could to help a romance blossom. In contrast, an adolescent boy in Rockwell's Hiding Out was so unhappy about his widowed mother's romantic relationship with Mr. Wilson and their plans for marriage that he ran away from home for a few days. In Konigsburg's (George), Ben, an extremely intelligent adolescent, was annoyed when he realized that his mother (a divorcee) might soon enter into a romantic relationship--to make matters worse, the prospective suitor was Ben's science teacher, Mr. Berkowitz. After a romance had blossomed Ben realized that he liked Mr. Berkowitz's romantic interest in his mother--as long as he didn't have to see it! In Madison's Bird on the Wing teenage Liz had encouraged her father to date soon after his divorce. She regretted her encourage- ment, however, when she found that she detested the woman whom he married. Teenagers in be§11e_by Sherburne and Sticks and Stones by Hall weretanxious for their mothers to find men in whom they could be romantically interested. In each case, after the mother became romantically involved, the teenager's worries increased due to fear that her/his personal traumas would have a destructive effect on the mother's newly established romantic relationship. A college boy in Witheridge's Just One Indian Boy was very pleased when his widowed mother entered into a romantic relationship and married. 230 In Constance C. Greene's A Girl Called Al, an outspoken, non- conformist of about thirteen indicated she didn't mind that her parents were divorced because she got more presents. Al stated she didn't "love her mother that much" but liked her because she was her mother. Though she tried to appear nonchalant, Al was embarrassed about her mother's strong need fOr masculine companionship. Children, teenagers, and adults were generally interested in, and pleased about, adult romances that they observed developing in such books as: Cavanna's The Country Cousin; Hall's Sticks and Stones; Konigsburg's (George); Murphy's The Sand Ponies; and, Witheridge's Just One Indian Boy. In five books, females revealed attitudes regarding the romantic relationships encountered in their reading. Girls aged sixteen and eighteen in Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt and Cavanna's The Country Cousin thought book romances were too glamorized and impossible to experience. In Miles' The Real Me, eleven year old Barbara revealed that she shared this view when in an essay she wrote: The worst kind of untrue ''real life" book is the kind where everything comes out neat in the end, the way things do not in real life. For example, a story where a girl wants a horse, but her family is very poor, so she enters a contest that has a horse fbr a prize, and naturally she wins the contest. . . . Another thing happens to that girl who won the horse. All through the book she is not very pretty, but suddenly one day she is out riding and she falls off the horse and meets some boy who picks her up, and her heart starts thumping. So she goes home and brushes her hair a new way and the boy calls her up for a date and she turns out to be beautiful. To tell you the truth, sometimes I think it would be nice to turn out to be beautiful so easily in real life. But I have enough sense to know that it only happens that way in books (pp. 10-12). 231 In Bill and Vera Cleaver's Lady Ellen Grae, another precocious eleven year old was dubious about book romances: . . . " I read a story about a girl with satin hair and a man with tragic eyes who fell in love in an elevator. Riding up and down in it every chance they got, both of them were feverish and wretched for a month but neither of them did anything about their plight until the last paragraph and then all they did was say hello“ (p. 96). Seventeen year old Piper in Mildred Lawrence's Inside the Gate_was the only character found who read romantic novels and did not express doubt about their reality. To the contrary, Piper seemed to try to live the books. She swooned because Mitch protected her as a knight would (p. 40); she felt "like Cinderella going to the ball" (p. 179); and, the prom was like "a heavenly composite of the most romantic scenes from . . . favorite novels" (p. 179). Attitudes regarding romance and racial or ethnic diversity were evidenced in eight books. In Witheridge's Just One Indian Boy, Andrew Thunder didn't date in college until he found an indian girl. Andy and his family were very pleased that Tamara, too, was a Chippewa. Despite being of the same tribe, the couple had some differences of opinion primarily due to Andy's being reared on a reservation and Tamara in a city. A teenage Puerto Rican girl in Rosaria by Susan Thaler, could hardly believe that a "WASP" would find her attractive and interesting enough to date. In Don't Look at Me That Way_by Caroline Crane, Rosa (another Puerto Rican) experienced disbelief when Whit, a wealthy "WASP," tried to date her—~his neighbor's "Girl Friday." Whit denied Rosa's accusation that he was interested in her because he thought 232 Puerto Rican girls were less sexually inhibited than his usual dates. ' While Rosa's young socialite employer professed lack of racial bias and freedom from prejudice, she strongly urged Rosa not to date Whit on the grounds that his racially biased mother could cause con- siderable trouble. In Summers' You Can't Make It By Bus, a high school couple who thought they were in love frequently discussed the difficulties they might experience in marriage due to different ethnic back- grounds; Paul was a chicano and Lura was a "patty Jew" of Russian descent. A black woman in Jackson's Ie§§je_was extremely concerned about her fourteen year old daughter accepting a scholarship to a private and very exclusive school for gifted students. While Mrs. Downs worried about her daughter's adjustment to a totally new present life, she was most anxious about her prospects for a future happy romantic life. Mrs. Downs pointed out that she and her husband had fallen in love when they weren't much older than fourteen and she asked Tessie to consider her own prospects—-only one other black was present at Hobbe and he worked in the kitchen. In Neufeld's Edgar Allan when the Reverend and Mrs. Fickett brought home a young black child whom they wanted to adopt, they met strong resistance to their plan among friends and neighbors and, more significantly, from their fifteen year old daughter, M. N. Among M. N.'s concerns was what people who didn't know her family would think about her mother. The implication was that some would think her mother had an illicit romance with a black man and had kept the child. 233 Two of the more explicitly revealed attitudes regarding inter- racial romances were found in Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now and Summers' You Can't Make It By Bus. In the Hinton book a teenage boy explained that it didn't bother him to see a black male and a white female together but that the majority of white males couldn't stand it. In the Summers book when a male chicano who was a high school junior told friends that school desegregation was to get them to ". . . walk home with either a honkie or a black," he implied his belief that a purpose of integration was to help foster interracial romances (p. 69). In Elizabeth Witheridge's Just One Indian Boy a Chippewa woman talked to her college-age son about a distinction between their way and the white man's way of expressing love: "Indians don't speak their love much, with special words and actions; and I think it is a good way, our way. We know that we care for each other without speaking the words, but sometimes I think we lose a little because we are so--" she hesitated, fumbling for the right word Andy supplied it, "So austere, or maybe reserved?" "That's it," his mother nodded. . . . (p. 108) Time as a variable with potential for influencing romantic attitudes was indicated in a large number of books in a variety of ways. A director of theatrical drama in Walden's In Search of Ophelia made clear his belief that though centuries change, people and love affairs remain much the same (p. 118). A contrasting and more typical attitude was conveyed through omniscient narration in Amelia Elizabeth Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow (published in 1968): Bradford High was the older of the two high schools in town. It had been built way back, befbre World War II. . . . 234 Its cornerstone had been laid in an era when teen-agers were more inclined to talk in terms of love instead of sex, when "nice" girls "didn't," when no one had heard of LSD and few were acquainted with "the weed" or "pot," when girls wore pants only for active sports, and when boys preferred to cut their hair quite short, and especially when parents seemed to know how to handle their offspring (p. 22). The attitude that time may contribute to changing the quality of love was expressed in Just One Indian Boy by Elizabeth Witheridge when college seniors discussed their experience: Finally he spoke carefully, "I don't believe I love you any better than I did before; I've loved you as much as it's possible for me to love since we were sophomores, at least. But I feel a little different about it, I guess. Maybe we've been exploring deeper into our feelings. Probably we used to take each other too much for granted, do you see what I mean? It was more on the surface of our lives." "Yes!" she exclaimed eagerly. "That's a better way to put it. I think you mean that we met, fell in love, you proposed, I accepted, and we just expected everything to go along smoothly. . . . We didn't believe anything could happen to damage our being together" (p. 195). In Laura Nelson Baker's Go Away Ruthie, a grandmother was apologetic when she implicitly revealed to her fourteen year old granddaughter that time and age alter one's perspective on love: "When did you fall in love with my grandfather?" I asked . . "It' s a strange thing, but you know, I can 't remember! I guess old people get fbrgetful. It seems to me it was about the time I was sixteen-~or was I fifteen? Or was it that Charley Grant I fell in love with first?" She brushed a stray lock of hair away from her face. "You're going to think I'm terrible, Lynn, not to remember such an important thing as that" (pp. 45-46). Lynn, who thought herself in love, appreciated her grandmother's forthrightness in the foregoing discussion. 235 An atypical attitude toward love was evidenced in Lynn Hall's Sticks and Stones when a young adult male who preferred homosexual relationships told a friend: . . . I believe very firmly that any genuine love is a good and necessary thing, whether it comes from a man, woman, child, pet, or whatever. I believe every individual should try to find the kind of love that fills his needs, no matter what society says (p. 158). This attitude, though clearly in keeping with Ward's behavior and philosophy of life, was rejected by most other characters. F1irting Sixty-six books contained content revealing attitudes about flirting. Attitudes of a positive nature far out-numbered those which were less than positive. . Most characters revealed positive attitudes about flirting to attract attention and to show interest in, or affection for, another. These positive attitudes are reflected in most of the flirtatious behaviors described within subsection one of Chapter V. The fact that most characters felt positively about flirting--for the purposes specified--was exemplified in their behaviors, the frequency and intensity thereof, as well as the lack of regret for flirtatious behaviors. Because positive attitudes were reflected in most of the flirtatious behaviors presented on pages 112-126 of Chapter V, emphasis here is given those attitudes of other than a positive nature. Cautionary, even contemptuous, attitudes toward older males and females flirting with younger members of the opposite sex were 236 depicted in several books. These attitudes were made particularly clear when adult males flirted with teenage hitchhikers as in Coles' Riding Free, Knudson's Jesus Song, Madison's Bird on the Wing, and Terris's Plague of Frogg, Behaviors of middleaged women portrayed in Bonham's Viva Chicano, Hall's Sticks and Stones, and Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt also evoked attitudes such as these from some teenage characters. The cautionary to contemptuous attitudes toward older males and females flirting with younger members of the opposite sex were compounded when those older characters were revealed to be married. Among the books conveying these attitudes were: Me and Jim Luke by Branscum; The Loners by Garden; Runaway by Griffith; and, Bird on the bfipg_by Witheridge. While these behaviors were frowned upon, in no case was the spouse apprised of his or her mate's indiscretions. In comparison, when young females flirted with older, married men, the men seemed tolerant--if not indulgent-~and though their wives had negative attitudes about these behaviors, the attitudes were typically less negative than those cited in the preceding paragraph. In Bonham's Viva Chicano when a fifteen year old girl repeatedly phoned for Keeny Duran's father, Mrs. Duran seemed primarily resent- ful of the annoyance. When a college girl in Schoen's A Spark of Joy drunkenly flirted with one of her professors, the man's wife was more irritated with his response--albeit innocent-~than with the girl's behavior; a similar attitude was revealed in Colver's Sally, Star Patient, among others. 237 Cautionary and/or contemptuous attitudes were revealed by several teenagers and young adults--usually females--who experienced hurt, jealousy, and/or a spirit of competitiveness when flirting occurred between someone in whom they were interested and others. In Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow Judy became very cautious in her rela- tionship with Steve when she observed that he responded positively to Nancy's flirtatious behavior. Similar attitudes were revealed through, among others: Lyle in Bratton's Only in Time; Mindy in Cavanna's The Country,Cousin; Jo and Brick in Granger's Canyon of Decision; Josh in Hodges' The Making of Joshua Cobb; Leslie (alias "Sam") in Rinkoff's I Need Some Time; Lura in Summers' You Can't Make It By Bus; and Graham in Trivers' I Can Stop Anytime I Want. A vindictive attitude was depicted in That Was Then, This Is Np! by Hinton when teenage Angela's efforts to flirt with Ponyboy Curtis went innocently and completely unnoticed by him. She became so hostile about her perceived rejection that she had Ponyboy attacked which resulted in police involvement and hospitalization for one of Ponyboy's friends. Angela's attitude and behavior were condemned by most of her peers. Flirting as a promise of sexual activity without benefit of marriage was usually viewed with concern and often with condemnation. Characters who engaged in this type of flirting were generally regarded by their peers as the stereotypic "playboy" or "loose woman." Family and good friends attempted to caution "decent" teenagers about this type of flirting and those who practiced it; the general concensus was that no good could come from relationships such as 238 these. Books conveying these attitudes were, among others: Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way; Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag; Laklan's Sari With Me; Maxwell's Just Dial a Number; Mills' The Rules of the Game; Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt; Smith's Hold Yourself Dear; Summers' You Can't Make It By Bus; and, Trivers' I Can Stop_Anytime I Wart. In contrast, a few books portrayed almost consistently posi- tive attitudes regarding married couples flirting as apparent promise of sexual activity; they included: Sally, Star Patient by Colver; A Rage to Die by Grossman; and A Spark of Joy by Schoen. The Schoen book, however, revealed that marital flirting with sexual overtones may be somewhat embarrassing for those who witness it, as with Ellen when she was only becoming acquainted with an extremely demonstrative couple. Several attitudes were revealed in relation to flirting for reasons other than personal romantic or sexual interests, a behavior which was depicted in twenty-one books analyzed. Flirting, with whomever, as a good way to pass time and escape boredom was an attitude clearly conveyed as generally accepted by male and female teenagers in several books including Bonham's Mystery of the Fat Cat, Clymer's How I Went Shopping_and What I Got, and Hinton's That Was Then,yThis Is Now. Typically those who engaged in flirting for reasons other than personal romantic or sexual interests had no reservations or qualms about their behaviors. They seemed to believe that the ends justified the means and, further, to have little or no regard for the 239 possible effects of their attitudes and behaviors on the person with whom they flirted. In Huntsberry's The Big Wheels boys used flirting to sway high school elections. A teenage girl in Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way flirted with Whit only to persuade him to teach her to drive a car; moreover, she even explained her behavior to him though he never quite accepted the reality of it. Teenage girls flirted to improve their self-images in such books as DeLeeuw's Miss Fix-It, Lawrence's Inside the Gate, and Stolz's The Edge of Next Year. In about three out of four cases, at least one person--and usually more--suspected or recognized when someone was flirting for reasons other than personal romantic or sexual interests. Usually the observer(s) had negative attitudes about the behaviors and genuine concern for the welfare of the person being unknowingly manipulated and/or preyed upon. Numerous examples of these attitudes were evidenced. In Maxwell's Just Dial a Number a high school dean cautioned his daughter, to no avail, about her acceptance of the flirtations of some male students from his school. In Laklan's Sari. With Me a mother shamed her daughter for using Pete in learning to surf. A father, in Montgomery's Into the Groove, cautioned his son about the flirtatious attention given him by a wealthy and spoiled young girl. In Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag and Rinkoff's I Need Some Time, a teenage girl and boy (respectively) were admonished by friends to avoid flirtations with people recognized as at least partially parasitic for their livelihoods. In almost every case where a young person was cautioned that another might be attempting to take advantage 240 of them through flirtatious behavior, the advice was ignored or long unheeded. In Guy's The Friends and Smith's Hold Yourself Dear, family and some friends were appalled to learn that teenage Phyllisia and Eleana (respectively) had engaged in flirting with boys whom they knew their parents would find undesirable, simply as acts of defiance. Younger and relatively inexperienced males--even those inter- ested in girls--were usually embarrassed and rather shy about flirting as depicted in several books, including: Cormier's The Chocolate War; Garden's The Loners; Huntsberry's The Big Hang-Up; and, Mann's Ibe_ Clubhouse. Finally, the prevailing attitude (that flirting is a good way to get and keep the attention of the opposite sex) was refuted by characters in five books: Bratton's Only_in Time; Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now; Thaler's Rosaria; and Walden's In Search of Ophelia and Race the Wild Wind. Both males and females were revealed as having the attitude that to be successful with the opposite sex, one must not appear too flirtatious or too eager--that an aura of aloofness is far more effective. In Race the Wild Wind, teenage Marty's attitude was evidenced to be even further removed from the norm when she explained to a European friend that American boys are actually attracted to girls who try to discourage their flirtations. Gestures of Affection Content revealing attitudes toward gestures of affection was found in sixty-three books. The attitudes represented the thinking 241 of young children through adults in premarital, marital, and extra- marital situations; however, attitudes of unmarried teenagers were the most frequently encountered. Attitudes of a positive nature were by far most frequently evidenced. Most characters revealed positive attitudes regarding gestures of affection as demonstration of romantic or sexual interests; comfort, support, or understanding; appreciation; and traditional or habitual behavior. These positive attitudes are reflected in most of the behaviors depicting gestures of affection described within subsection two of Chapter V of this study. Positive atti- tudes about affectionate gestures--for the purposes specified-~were exemplified in the behaviors, the frequency and intensity thereof, as well as the lack of regret for demonstrating gestures of affection. Because positive attitudes regarding gestures of affection were reflected in most of the behaviors presented on pages 126-144 of Chapter V, emphasis here is given those attitudes of other than a particularly positive nature. Relatively few negative attitudes regarding gestures of affection were evidenced and most related to illicit relationships. Teenage protagonists in Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow and Embry's §b§gi_resented the fact that their fathers spent more time with lovers than with their families; and, in the Embry book, also more money--especially disconcerting when the family was in need of so much help. The teenage protagonist in Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way_resented the fact that her mother was shown affection by her lover only when she was not pregnant. Adolescent boys in Branscum's 242 Me and Jim Luke were shocked and disheartened that their Uncle Shall made gestures of affection toward other women, especially since they realized how hurt Aunt Imie would be if she ever found out. In Madison's Bird on the Wing teenage Liz virtually hated her step- father for his sexually oriented gestures of affection toward her. In every book where married persons made affectionate gestures with romantic or sexual overtones toward unmarried others, they and their behaviors evoked resentment from many others. Other books with portrayals such as these included: Garden's The Loners; Hall's Sticks and Stones; Griffith's Runaway; Ney's Ox Goes North; and Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt. Most of the other truly negative attitudes toward gestures of affection were those of parents and older siblings who were con- cerned about the sexual seduction of teenage females. In Bonham's Viva Chicano a mother worried because a boy walked her thirteen year old daughter home; similar concerns were revealed in Hale's Nothing But a Stranger and Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way, In Guy's Ibe_ Friends a father imposed totally unrealistic restrictions on his teenage daughters to protect their virginity; this man even socked a boy for kissing his oldest daughter goodnight--an action that scared away most prospective suitors for both ofhis daughters! In Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt, when teenage Carol revealed that she had "parked" with a boy (for lots of conversation and one kiss), her irrate and suspicious mother grilled her about further sexual activity and imposed unrealistic restrictions on Carol's activities. 243 Several books revealed affectionate gestures made in pursuit of selfish individual interests other than of a romantic or sexual nature. Characters ku> engaged in these behaviors clearly held the attitude that the ends justified the means; they apparently had no qualms or reservations about their behaviors, though--in several cases--others did. Attitudes of these characters are revealed through their behaviors as presented on pages 138-142 of Chapter V. Numerous instances of what was considered rejection of affection were found. There was a fairly even split between those characters who had vindictive attitudes regarding their perceived rejection and those who did not. These behaviors and attitudes are described on pages 142-144 of Chapter V. Vindictive attitudes and behaviors were largely condemned by those who surrounded the perpe- trators. Interest in, or curiosity about, gestures of affection was revealed through some characters in twenty books. Primarily by efforts to watch older people in private moments and by questioning, young children through early teenage characters revealed interest in affectionate gestures--especially kissing. Among the books with portrayals such as these were: Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way; Hale's Nothing But a Stranger; Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now; Laklan's Surf With Me; Murphy's The Sand Ponies; Rinkoff's Ibe_ Watchers; and Wojciechowska's "Hey, What's Wrong With This One?." George's Hold Zero!, Granger's Canyon of Decision, Montgomery's Into the Groove, and Walden's Race the Wild Wind revealed young people 244 who expressed curiosity about some couples spending time together and sometimes wanting to be alone. In a few books, young people were interested in such gestures of affection as letters and notes sent, or received by, older siblings. Books with portrayals such as these included The Year of the Raccoon by Kingman, Jesus Song by Knudson, and Don't Look and It Won't Hurt by Peck. Older teenagers and adults demonstrating particular interest in, or curiosity about, gestures of affection were revealed in only a few books including Cavanna's The Country Cousin, Hall's Sticks and gtgpea, and Konigsburg's (George). This attitude was typified in Hall's book when, upon seeing middle-aged Charlotte Naylor and Dr. Werle publicly holding hands,two women discussed the couple and wondered if a serious relationship might develop. Several attitudes were revealed regarding the public display of affection. Younger characters like Tbny in Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't were surprised (at least) to see unmarried characters kiss in public--as after winning a ballgame. In contrast, young boys in Rinkoff's The Watchers expressed no surprise in watching people display affection in public parks. A high school boy in Hentoff's In The Country of Ourselves was surprised, and pleased, when a girl kissed him in front of the high school library; however, the principal who was walking by seemed to take little or no notice of this behavior. The action would have been in violation of a school code though in Summers' You Can't Make It ByrBus where hand-holding was the only gesture of affection permitted on campus. 245 In Nothing But a Stranger by Hale, two young adult males had misgivings about the display of affection in public. Bernie wouldn't engage in it even in celebrating the graduation of a girl whom he had dated steadily fer two years. A college man thought he shouldn't kiss Holly in public though he had just "pinned" her. In contrast, Holly didn't care who saw the man she loved kiss her deeply in broad daylight. In Schoen's A Spark of Joy Jim and his very pregnant wife went to a familiar restaurant for dinner and held hands under the table. Teenagers and young adults in more recently published books were portrayed, mainly through their behaviors, as being far more tolerant regarding the public display of affection. However, parental attitudes remained fairly constant and were typified by the matriarch who, as in Lee Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag, ". . . frequently expressed horror of the displays of affection or even ardor so casually carried on by young people in public, . . ." (p. 49) Attitudes revealing teenagers' personal limits for indulging in demonstrating gestures of affection were implied in numerous books, many of which have previously been alluded to in this subsection. Of the several books which more explicitly revealed teenage attitudes in this regard, three are cited here as indicative of the range evidenced. Kissing was the limit for Merle who, in Smith's book, embraced her mother's advice: Hold Yourself Dear. In Garden's The Loners, a high school junior told Jenny that he would do anything for her except "drop acid"--a vow he broke when Jenny pleaded with him. Trivers' I Can Stgp Anytime I Want depicted a high school girl so desirous of 246 affection that she promised Graham she would do anything for him; this ultimately involved robbing her father's liquor cabinet, getting drunk, and having sexual intercourse on the twigs and leaves in her backyard. Relatively inexperienced high school boys were hesitant to make gestures of affection due to shyness and/or fear of embarrassment. One clear portrayal of this attitude was in Grossman's A Rage to Die. when Kenny was reticent to even touch the hand of a girl he liked. Similar attitudes were evidenced in a few other books, including: Ellis's Riptide; Hentoff's In the Country of Ourselves; Hodges' Ibe_ Making_of Joshua Cobb; and Huntsberry's The Big Hang-Up. An interesting contrast of attitudes was apparent in the Hentoff book. Michael Schwartz was afraid for a long time to ask Jane for a date. Later he was hesitant to touch her hair or to put his arm around her (even in very cold weather) though he longed to do so. Jane finally asked Michael if he was shy. When he admitted the truth, albeit in a joking manner, he was surprised and delighted that Jane kissed him lightly on the lips--right in front of the school library! Hall's Sticks and Stones depicted some unique attitudes regarding gestures of affection. Tom (a rumored teenage homosexual who was quite possibly a latent homosexual) and his friend, Ward (a young adult, self-professed bisexual with a preference for males) experienced some embarrassment and concern in such shared affectionate gestures as touching, seeing--and needing to see--each other often, and giving each other special gifts; this concern was particularly true of Tom as he began to question his masculinity. Further, people 247 in Tom's school and community were, almost all, hesitant to associate with him and were suspicious of his every move. The most prevalent attitude was that caution (at lea§t) is desirable toward people showing affectionate gestures toward members of their own sex. In contrast, the pervading theme of the book was that rumor and suspicion may impose unnecessary and undeserved hardships on innocent people. Almost singularly occurring and more diverse attitudes re- garding gestures of affection were revealed in about ten percent of the study sample. In Baker's Go Away Ruthie, Lynn (nearly sixteen) enjoyed kissing Smash, whom she thought she loved, but was very self- satisfied with being able to control affectionate gestures and sexual activity. A teenage boy in William E. Huntsberry's The BigyWheels recognized a gross difference between being close to someone truly cared about and others dated for ulterior motives; he observed that putting his arm around Charlene was ". . . like holding a tree trunk. . . ." (p. 45) Nevertheless, he felt obligated to show her a good time. In Carlson's Marchers for the Dream, an adolescent girl was distressed when she wanted to kiss an older male friend goodby but felt that she needed to be younger or older to do so without provoking questions and concerns in those surrounding her. Fifteen year old Mary, in Ellis's Riptide, was explicitly revealed as resenting even the casual touch of males whom she didn't like. In Helen Bratton's Only In Time, a teenage girl, concerned about whether Derek would kiss her a second time, remembered a television conmercial that she considered unpleasant: "If he kisses you once, will he kiss you again?" (p. 64). In Mills' The Rules of the Game, a college boy 248 totally rejected the idea that distance makes the heart grow fonder. In Runaway by Griffith, a teenage boy felt guilty about embracing his girlfriend in the seclusion of her house when her parents had sent her to a neighbor, locked the house, and gone on vacation. In Knudson's Jesus Sopg_fifteen year old Joy (alias Sister Alma) manipulated her older brother with the fact that she had written love poems for him to give his girlfriends. In Ellis's Riptide, Mike (nearly sixteen) considered kissing at midnight on New Year's Eve the same as shaking hands. A young adult convict, in Graystone College by Barness, found that kissing at the end of a visit by his girlfriend produced grief and heartbreak. In Walden's Race the Wild Wind teenage Marty revealed her attitude that sometimes a kiss can spoil a mood of love--that sometimes sharing thoughts and being embraced by the one loved are more meaningful (p. 124). Sexual Activity Attitudes about sexual activity were found in fifty-one books. through content regarding premarital, marital, extramarital, and! other sexual behaviors. Teenagers' attitudes were most frequently depicted; however, those of adults and a few children were also revealed. The attitudes related to nocturnal orgasm, masturbation and other sexual stimulation, heterosexual petting, heterosexual intercourse, homosexual relations, and variant sexual behaviors. More variance was evidenced in attitudes relating to sexual activity than any other attitudinal aspect of this study. In Judy Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't thirteen year old Tony was anxious to experience "wet dreams." However, when his first 249 one occurred Tony was confused, frightened, and, finally, embarrassed. He worried about what his mother and Maxine (the housekeeper) thought when they found his soiled bed linens; in fact, he tried to avoid Maxine. Further, Tony wanted to discuss the dreams with his psy- chiatrist but was unable to bring himself to do so. Masturbation was dealt with only in Cormier's The Chocolate (War. Though two high school boys were characterized as frequently and shamelessly engaging in masturbation, an aura of guilt regarding the practice was conveyed when a high school gang used a question about "jacking off" to intimidate a peer and when Jerry considered his own masturbatory practices. Sexual stimulation through visual stimuli was evidenced in several books in the study sample, as reported on pages 153-154 of Chapter V. Most characters felt very positively about their experiences in this regard. One of the few more negative attitudes found was in Hentoff's In The Country of Ourselves where a high school teacher consciously fought looking at the body of Jane, a student. The most negative attitude found was in Hall's Sticks and Stage§_with teenage Tom who was repulsed at the thought of examining Floyd's prized and lurid pictures of women. Other forms of sexual stimulation that characters regarded positively were described in some books; these are presented on pages 154-155 of Chapter V. Less than positive attitudes were evidenced in Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't where Tony (a seventh grader) worried about his lack of control over penal erections; he 250 feared having one in public and becoming the subject of laughter and ridicule. One-fifth of the books revealed attitudes regarding hetero- sexual petting. These attitudes varied considerably and were evidenced as more permissive during the more recent half of the period sampled. Adolescents in Rockwell's Hiding Out and Rinkoff's The Watchers seemed to be only curious--not shocked--about couples they encountered petting in woodland and parks; they seemed to accept such behavior as a fact of life. More positive teenage and young adult attitudes were evidenced in such books as Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag, Hinton's Ibat Was Then, This Is Now, and Maxwell's Just Dial a Number. In the Kingman book teenage and young adult characters thought little or nothing of petting in relatively public places; they did, however, try to provide privacy when a couple apparently wished to engage in more sexual activity than merely petting. Teenage and young adult males in a few books felt more desperate about the need to engage in petting than did girls. In Cormier's The Chocolate War two high school boys were exceedingly anxious--nearly desperate--to hold the breasts of a girl (in one case, a specific girl; in the second case, the experience was desired--not a particular girl). In Laklan's Surf With Me, a college man, with the mistaken thought that he was earning some privileges of sexual freedom, helped fifteen year old Judy learn to surf. Paul, a high school junior in Garden's The Loners, was uniquely portrayed as having mixed emotions about petting. He felt 251 he had to touch Jenny or burst. However, when lying embraced and trying to kiss Jenny more deeply, Paul's anger was evoked when she ran away; simultaneously, he was glad she ran because his hands had started to move and he wasn't sure he wanted that! Later Paul wanted to fondle Jenny's breast but wondered how she would feel about him if he did. Typically, in most instances of heterosexual petting, the female defined the limits; most characters apparently had the atti- tude that this was appropriately the female's perogative. In Smith's Hold Yourself Dear, the teenage protagonist quaked to think of necking; she thought a girl was lucky to find a boy who was satisfied with only kissing. In Cavanna's The Country Cousin eighteen year old Mindy was relieved that Dana, an older male, was an undemanding companion. In The Edge of Next Year by Stolz, sixteen year old Jeannie looked for a younger boyfriend because boys her age were too sexually demanding; she was afraid of them. Interestingly, the fourteen year old male (Orin) whom Jeannie sought considered her to be all mixed up about sex and dating; further, Jeannie made Orin feel awful. A contrasting attitude was clearly evidenced in Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow where teenage Judy was the aggressor in petting with Steve. Steve, in spite of sexually wanting Judy, considered his future and put an end to their petting which in this instance was truly foreplay preceding sexual intercourse. A few books revealed situations where males, much to the distress of females attempted to engage in petting. These males apparently had the attitude that mutual fondness was not necessary 252 for petting behaviors. Such was the case in, among others, Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way, Madison's Bird on the Wing, and Smith's Hold Yourself Dear; attitudes and behaviors are exemplified on pages 157-159 of Chapter V. Furthermore, when girls tried to avoid or reject the sexual advances of these boys, the boys expressed disbelief and tried to tell the girls that they too really enjoyed the behavior. This attitude was clearly revealed in Madison's Bird on the Wing when Rick tried to get Elizabeth to return to his car after she had rejected his advances: “Come on, you like it. You know you like it. We can have lots of fun together. We're just right together. . . ." (p. 1201—" Forty-one books contained content revealing attitudes about heterosexual intercourse in premarital, marital, and extramarital situations. About three-fourths of the attitudes evidenced were regarding premarital sexual intercourse; most frequently the atti- tudes were conveyed by teenagers and young adults. TWelve year old Tony in Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't thought that he shouldn't even think about sexual intercourse; a unique attitude in the sample. Attitudes of permissiveness were, by far, the most frequently occurring with regard to premarital sexual intercourse. Of the 100 books in the study sample, (some) characters with permissive attitudes were portrayed in twenty--all of them published in 1968 through 1974. These attitudes were revealed, primarily, by teenagers and young adults. 253 Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow clearly conveyed the notion that attitudes and behaviors have changed since before World War II when teenagers talked more of love than sex and when "nice" girls "didn't" (p. 22). In Maxwell's Just Dial a Number when teenagers from some of the leading families in town experienced a police raid and involvement in a serious sex-drug scandal, a schoolmate wondered who could criticize the "hippies" when they were "tame" compared to the "so-called nice people" (p. 131). The casual observation was made, in Summers' You Can't Make It By Bus, that teenagers were dropping out of school for lots of reasons, including being "love bunnies" (p. 98). The incidence of communal living and interest in the concept of "free love" were portrayed in That Was Then, This Is Now by Hinton and The Peter Pan Bag by Kingman. Teenage and young adult characters lived with members of the opposite sex with little or no static or harassment from anyone in a few books, including: Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag; Madison's Bird on the Wing; and, Rinkoff's I Need Some Time. Typifying the casual attitudes of numerous young people toward premarital sexual intercourse were Jez in Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag and Claire in Trivers' I Can Stop Anytime I Want: Jez revealed that she and Rolf had previously had a "thing" to "keep each other warm at night" (p. 160); Claire, in giving Graham the "brush- off," indifferently revealed that she always had to love "somebody" and that she had to have more than him (p. 108). Permissive attitudes regarding premarital sexual intercourse were also revealed through the relative nonchalance displayed by characters in regard to locales frequented by lovers. Music festivals 254 were good places to "party" according to teenagers revealed in James Trivers' I Can Stop Any Time I Want; a backyard was also used in this book. In Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way, lovers in a Puerto Rican neighborhood of a city used rooftops. Parks and woodland preserves were utilized in Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now, Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt, and Rinkoff's The Watchers, among others. Very few adult characters had permissive attitudes regarding premarital sexual activity and those who did seemed somewhat un- realistic. In Bonham's Viva Chicano a parolee house manager, a heavy-drinking woman called Rosie, disregarded her young clients as they all but had sexual intercourse in the living room, even though girls from her house were always getting pregnant. In Garden's The Loners when Paul (a high school junior) telephoned his parents to announce that he was on the way home after having been out all 'night, his father was relieved to learn that he had spent the night with a girl. More interesting was the fact and way that Paul's dad's attitude changed in the conversation they had immediately upon his arrival at home: . . . "We've got the house to ourselves." . . . "I've got some coffee," he said. "You look as if you could use some. If it wasn't so early in the day, I'd offer you a drink. Have you ever had a drink, son? You know, I don't even know!" Paul shook his head wearily. He's called me son, he thought bitterly. Now that he thinks I've spent the night with a girl, he's finally called me son. "You know," he said, . . . . "I managed to have a talk with your brother before this happened to him. But I never got around to it with you, and I want to apologize." . . . "It's okay, Dad," Paul said woodenly. You poor slob, he was thinking, if you only knew. 255 l'Well," . . . "I guess you don't need that talk now. Or at least not the same one." He leaned forward. "But listen, son," he said, "before we go any further I've got to say you did a hell of a thing last night. I don't mind the girl--that's bound to happen and we'll talk about it later. I mean not letting us know where you were. . . , “what about the girl? I assume you got her home all right?“ ". . . Listen, what kind of a girl is this Jenny anyhow?" "It's none of your business," . . . , "I don't want to talk about her with you. But fer your information, she's not the kind of girl you seem to think she is. And--though it's none of your goddamn business--I didn't sleep with her." ”Well then why in hell were you out with her all night?" Paul's eyes were blazing. "Don't you think there's any other reason for being out all night? Suppose I just wanted to talk with her?" "Oh, sure," said his father sarcastically. "If that's all, then there's something wrong with you. . . ." (pp. 132-134). (Worthy of note are two facts: Paul did not sleep with the girl; and, Paul was less resentful of his father's interest in his sex life than he was of the fact that his father had previously shown so little interest in him.) Several books revealed adults as having very negative atti- tudes toward premarital sexual intercourse. In Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag, Wendy's mother was shocked and distressed to hear that one of her daughter's classmates was spending the summer traveling Europe with her boyfriend and to learn how many of the local high school girls got pregnant and married--in that order. Mothers in Sherburne's Leglje, Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt, and Smith's Hold Yourself Dear encouraged their daughters not to befriend girls who got pregnant, then married. Parents in Peck's book and in Terris's Plague of Frogs were appalled and enraged that their daughters had engaged in premarital sex and gotten pregnant; the emphasis was on displeasure with the pregnancies. In the Terris 256 book, Marcella's father cursed her and her baby and threatened to kill her. A probation officer in Bonham's Viva Chicano used the term "snake den" to refer to a parolee house that had a reputation fbr sex, drugs, and alcohol. (In contrast to several of the cases just described, some characters sympathetic toward girls who got pregnant out-of—wedlock were evidenced in several books, including: Baker's Go Away Ruthie; Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt; Smith's Hold Yourseld Dear; and Terris's Plague of Frogs.) Older characters who felt at least partially responsible for teenagers were revealed in several books as easily-~and in almost all cases, unnecessarily--becoming suspicious that their charges were engaging in premarital sexual intercourse. Sixteen year old Marcella warned and shamed younger teenagers, Jo and Roger, about the "nasty" behavior she was certain they were involved in when she found them alone in the bathroom in Terris's Plague of Frogs. In Lawrence's Inside the Gate, a high school girl's mother required a detailed account of how the girl spent her days and with whom; a similar maternal attitude was found in Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt. The Peck book revealed the same mother as panic-stricken when Carol revealed she had "parked" with a boy to talk. When teenagers dis- appeared from school or camp in Embry's Shagi_and Bratton's Only in Ijme_(respectively), officials had sexual considerations among their earliest concerns. The most remarkable case of a suspicious adult was revealed in John Ney's Ox Goes North when fifteen year old Ox telephoned his exceedingly wealthy grandmother for a financial loan: 257 "Granma," [sic] I said, "I need a lot of money." "How much?" "Plenty. Let's say five thousand.’l "That is a lot of money. Is it for a girl?" "No, it's to do something for a boy who's in real trouble." i 1:At that price he must be in real trouble. Is it for his gr." "No, he's in trouble on his own" (p. 209). Teenage and young adult males were very interested in the sexual activities of their peers in several books, including: Ellis's Riptide; Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now; Mills' The Rules of the game; Rinkoff's I Need Some Time; and Thaler's Rosaria. Typically, males did not seem to mind either asking questions or sharing experi- ences; however, some variations were found. In the Rinkoff book sixteen year old Scott was obstinate in not sharing information about his relationship with Kimberly--she was too special. In the Ellis book, a high school boy who apparently enjoyed the football team's stories of wild rides and wilder dates nevertheless seemed to take them with a grain of salt. Some teenage and young adult males were unscrupulous in their quests for sexual intercourse. Sixteen year old Bryan in Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now thought it had been easy to say "I love you" to girls he really could not have cared less about. In Guy's The Friends when eighteen year old Jose and fifteen year old Phyllisia met for the third time, Jose made abundantly clear that merely holding hands was not enough to keep him; he had to have something for which to look forward. When they kissed a short while later, Phyll immediately knew that the next day "it" would happen. A more extreme and relentless example of this attitude was found in Mills' The Rules of the Game. 258 John (a college man) flattered, teased, tempted, and dramatically preyed upon the sympathies of Cindy in effort to sexually conquer her. Further, John accused Cindy of playing "bait the devil" by being so affectionate but not allowing intercourse. He made clear his atti- tude that their relationship had to be all or nothing. John even went so far as to jokingly call to Cindy's attention the fact that he ggplg_rape her at any time. The attitude that virginity is valued was conveyed almost exclusively through female characters and in only six books. In Donia Whiteley Mills' The Rules of the Game, three college girls discussed their shared belief in "waiting until you're married" (p. 27). Mothers and daughters discussed the importance of main- taining personal standards to help insure future happiness in Laklan's Surf With Me and Smith's Hold Yourself Dear. In Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag when Wendy regained consciousness after a forty- eight hour trip on drugs, she became very concerned about precisely what she had done while "freaked"; the realization that she might have done anything distressed her considerably. In Guy's The Friends, teenage Phyll's conscience hurt for planning to have sexual inter- course. In Just Dial a Number by Maxwell, Cathy was a bit frightened about the intense pleasure she experienced in kissing and embracing Paul. Two atypical attitudes regarding premarital sexual intercourse were found. In Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow, when Steve's girlfriend aggressively revealed her yearning to have sexual intercourse with him, the seventeen year old boy fought to supress their desires due 259 to knowledge of his parents' serious marital problems and his fear of initiating a kind of permanency between him and Judy. In Hall's Sticks and Stones, with recollections refined by the passage of time, Beulah remembered the affairs of her youth as tender and beautiful. Nevertheless, as a forty-one year old spinster, she found that memories were not enough. Attitudes about sexual intercourse in wedlock were infrequently evidenced. The attitude most often found was that of married characters who believed in the importance of carefully planning procreation. Such was the case in: Bishop's Little League Stepson, Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't, Colver's Sally, Star Patient, Schoen's A Spark of Joy, and Witheridge's Just One Indian Boy. Other more diverse attitudes about sexual intercourse in marriage were found. In Bishop's Little League Stepson, eleven year old Robin could understand why his mother did not want much ado about her second marriage. He recalled how just after a cousin's wedding, some people cried and his cousin's friends had acted silly--". . . laughing and snickering as if it were a big joke” (p. 2). The implication was that some people at the wedding reception were joking about activities of the wedding night. Robin revealed that he found nothing to cry or laugh about. An adolescent boy in Rockwell's Hiding Out was upset when he learned that his mother planned to remarry. Billy's jealousy was revealed in his early concern that his mom and Mr. Wilson would share a bedroom when they married (p. 13) and his interest in whether or not they already kissed a lot (p. 28). 260 In contrast to Billy, in Wojciechowska's "Hey, What's Wrong With This 0ne?," Mr. Elliott's young sons decided they wanted him to remarry. Further, the three boys realized that a woman who might be a good mother for them might not necessarily be a good wife for their dad--that he'd have to ". . . kiss her and junk like that, . ." (p. 47) Mr. Elliott's own attitude connoted his sexual needs: He felt like crying. Sometimes the job of bringing up his sons seemed too much for him. And sometimes his need for a wife was greater than the boys' for a mother. The need was like a big emptiness in all four of them, . . . (p. 32) Grossman's A Rage to Die depicted Jim Barnes, a young black principal, and his wife, an elementary school teacher, as having a high degree of compatibility and sharing a very positive attitude about their sex life. In Guy's The Friends another couple's mutual pleasure in sex was implied when Calvin bragged that his wife had always found his flesh great. Branscum's Me and Jim Luke depicted several characters whose attitudes regarding their marriage beds were in direct contrast to those evidenced in the books by Grossman and Guy, as described above. In the Arkansas backwoods setting of the Branscum book, sisters revealed their interest in the marital sex life of each other. In general, they wished to avoid sexual intercourse as much as possible-- they even discussed methods for achieving their desire. (A neighbor, Mabel Jackson, apparently shared this attitude because she angrily made excuses in flatly refusing her husband's plea§_for sexual inter- course. Interestingly, Sam reminded Mabel that she hadn't refused 261 or complained befgre they were married.) One sister with self- satisfaction or perhaps rationalization, made clear her attitude that it was fortunate that she did not have a strong sex drive because that would result in the death of her (considerably older) husband. In Barbara Schoen's A Spark of Joy twenty-two year old Ellen was concerned, after only six months, about her marriage and its sexual aspects: . . . Oh, we were compatible. . . . For what that's worth. . . And it was becoming more impersonal. Like eating beside a stranger at a lunch counter. . . . All you get out of it is you're not hungry anymore. It doesn't make the whole next day better. The way it used to (pp. 17-18). Much later, Ellen realized that sex had been the basic bond between her and Jim when they married. The same book also revealed one of Jim's colleagues as having no qualms whatsoever about asking how long it took Jim to get Ellen pregnant; Jim was revealed as embarrassed, somewhat irritated by the question, and thankful for an interruption that he thought saved him from being asked for a ". . . blow-by-blow description" (p. 92). An atypical attitude regarding sexual intercourse was depicted in Colver's Sally, Star Patient. Sally, a young adult spastic paralytic, was anxious for marriage but realized that any man for her would have to be unconcerned about her incapability for perfection in anything physical. Eight books contained content indicating attitudes regarding extramarital behaviors. With two exceptions, attitudes regarding extramarital activities were more related to the breaking of marital vows than to specific sexual activity. Hence, most attitudes regarding 262 extramarital behaviors are presented in the subsection of this chapter which deals with marriage; see pages 341-342. One of the attitudes more specifically concerned with the sexual aspects of extramarital affairs was evidenced in Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow. Mrs. Brennan, whose husband had many affairs, made clear that though she resented the affairs she did not condemn her husband. She held the notion that apparently her husband's lovers met some of his needs that she could not, whereas she had met some that they could not. . The second attitude relating to extramarital sexual activity was found in Bonham's Viva Chicano. When a teenage girl began to mystically--almost religiously-~relate to 'Miliano, a macho Mexican movie figure, Keeny (who hero-worshipped 'Miliano) considered the girl's attitude and behavior ridiculous because: . 'Miliano was a revolutionary. Women, in his life, were soldaderas who traveled with his army and cooked for his soldiers, and slept with them, too (p. 101). Clearly, Keeny's notion was that a figure such as 'Miliano wduld not be of a particular religious persuasion or influence. In the twelve books dealing with some aspect of rape, negative attitudes were revealed toward the act and the perpetrator. Only Branscum's Me and Jim Luke implied that some people may have negative attitudes about rape victims; this was evidenced in the revelation that some folks in the Arkansas Ozarks gossiped as much or more about a young girl who kept a child that was the result of her alleged rape and impregnation by a neighbor as they did about the accused man. 263 Characters in numerous books revealed the attitude that females must demonstrate cautious behavior to avoid the possibility of rape. In Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag a young social researcher made clear that young girls can easily and unknowingly become victimized by rapists in large cities. Similar attitudes were at least implied in: Cavanna's The Country Cousin; Guy's The Friends; Madison's Bird on the Wing; Walden's In Search of Ophelia; and, Witheridge's Just One Indian Bay. The attitude that females need to guard against rape in smaller towns and in rural areas was conveyed in a few books including Lawrence's No Slipper for Cinderella and Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt. Numerous characters considered rape a very real hazard for female hitchhikers. In Robert Coles' Ridinngree a thirty-six year old man gave fourteen year old Sallie a ride and some advice: " . . I guess you' re not a hippie, are you?" "No, sir, I don' t believe I am. " "Well, you're hitchhiking, aren't you? I wouldn't want my daughter to do that. You know what kind of women hitchhike? You know what a man like me, driving along, is bound to think, when he sees a pretty, young girl standing there, all alone, asking for a ride?" (p. 11). Similar attitudes were also revealed in: Knudson's Jesus Song; Madison's Bird on the Wing; Mills' The Rules of the Game; Terris's Plague of Frogs; and, Witheridge's Just One Indian Boy. More diverse attitudes about rape and rapists were also depicted. In Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag teenage Wendy thought that "dumb girls"-- referring to naiveté and lack of caution-—were those raped or murdered in cities. Fifteen year old Phyllisia, in Guy's The Friends, made light of her father's concern for the physical safety of his daughters 264 in their daily existence in Harlem; Phyll, like Wendy, generally considered herself able to handle any situation. In Richard Barness's Graystone College the protagonist, imprisoned for larceny, was sur- prised to note how many of his fellow in-mates (murderers and rapists included) ". . . looked like choir boys just out of church practice" (p. 31). In I Can Stgp Any Time I Want by Trivers, an in-mate was very self-satisfied, even boastful, about making the news when charged with rape. Knudson's Jesus Song was unique in its portrayal of the responses of people--who happened to be "Jesus freaks"-—upon hearing Joy (alias: Sister Alma) tell of her narrow escape from rape: one young indian, after nonchalantly listening, simply com- mented that Joy should fbrgive the men; none of the others in the religious commune expressed sympathy either. Numerous, diverse, and almost totally negative attitudes about homosexuality were revealed through four books: Cormier's Ibe_ Chocolate War; Hall's Sticks and Stones; Madison's Bird on the Wing; and, Mills' The Rules of the Game. In the Mills book, when John (a college man) told his girlfriend about the nightmares he experienced as a child and how he would awaken frightened and needing to touch or hold someone-~he hastened to stress that he was not a "queer" (p. 254). John's apparent need to reaffirm his masculinity was especially interesting since he had long been trying to seduce the girlfriend; and, further, the girl was aware of John's sexual activity with other females. In the books by Cormier, Hall, and Madison at least one character was fully aware of the personal and social damage that could be inflicted on a person who was--directly or 265 indirectly--accused of being, or implied to be, homosexual; in each book this knowledge was used, without regret, to hurt and/or manipu- late another. In Madison's Bird on the Wing, teenage Liz experienced anger, mental anguish, and, ultimately, fear of being frigid--all as a result of Eric's emotional outburst and accusation of her being a "dyke" when she refused to live with him as a wife but without benefit of marriage. Though Liz suffered over Eric's charges, her anguish was little compared to that endured by teenage boys who experienced persecution, ostracism, and self-doubt as a result of being rumored as homosexual in the books by Cormier and Hall. Hall's Sticks and Stones portrayed the largest number and the widest range of attitudes regarding homosexuality. The only positive attitude in the study sample was found in young adult Ward's revelation that having experienced heterosexual intercourse and a homosexual relationship, he had determined that the real love (not just sex) he needed was difficult to find with females; he preferred males. Only two truly tolerant attitudes toward homosexuality were evidenced. One was portrayed in teenage Tom as he came to grips with his knowledge and emotional responses to Ward's self-professed preference for males and to his own rumored homosexuality. A high school music teacher's tolerance was revealed when he realized that: . it made no difference to him whether Tom's private life was normal or not. It doesn't matter to me, he affirmed, and it shouldn't matter to anyone else, either (p. 131). In direct contrast to the music teacher's attitude were those of most other characters in Hall's book as they reacted, primarily, 266 to Tom's rumored homosexuality. Almost all students and teachers treated Tom as a near social pariah. The basketball coach watched closely (especially in the dressing room) and discouraged any physical contact between Tom and other players. One mother was irate when one of her young sons rode in an automobile with Tom. Another mother was incensed at even the thought of her teenage boy being on a school sponsored trip with Tom; this resulted in the principal denying Tom his earned privilege of making the trip. Women in the community discussed whether Dr. Werle would marry Tom's mother if aware of ". . . what kind of a stepson he'd be getting. Not that it should make any difference, but still . . ." (p. 109) The attitude clearly and almost consistently conveyed was that homosexuals are socially undesirable and are to be avoided as much as possible. A few additional attitudes regarding homosexuality were revealed in Hall's Sticks and Stones. In discussing homosexuality with Tom, the high school principal indicated his notions that it is not at all unusual for teenage boys to experience temporary phases without too much seriousness and that, at any rate, in this "enlightened age" a homosexual can ". . . lead a creative, productive life. . . ." (p. 121) As a result of his talk with the principal and other factors, Tom began to have selfodoubts and developed a compelling attitude to learn all that he could about homosexuality. Finally, Ward had the attitude that he must not allow his homosexual tendencies to affect the life of Tom, whose friendship was valued. Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't, Bonham's The Mystery of the Fat Cat, and Hall's Sticks and Stones were the three books analyzed 267 in which characters engaged in voyeurism. In the Blume book, thirteen year old Tony considered confessing this behavior to Father Pissaro the Second but decided that it wasn't a sin and that there was nothing wrong with it as long as it didn't hurt anyone. Tony was revealed, however, to have some continued guilt about his behavior; this was made clear when he later was relieved to discuss the matter with his psychiatrist who neither appeared shocked nor instructed Tony to stop. Tony was the only character evidenced to experience any negative attitude regarding voyeurism and even his was resolved. The most sexually deviant behavior found in the books analyzed was in Cormier's The Chocolate War. Emile, a high school boy, found being brutal sexually exciting and often wanted to tell others of his pleasure. However, Emile's negative attitude regarding his behavior was implied when he wondered how he could tell others about it; he could think of only one person who might understand. Marriage Fifty books contained content revealing attitudes relating to marriage. Typically, these attitudes were revealed through teenage and adult characters. Positive attitudes were most prevalent. Very few attitudes about marriage were explicitly revealed by characters who were married. The attitude that marriage requires lots of adjusting was the most prevalent one, though it was explicitly revealed in only three books: Lawrence's No Slipper for Cinderella; Madison's Bird on the Wing; and, Schoen's A Spark of Joy. 268 Singularly occurring and diverse attitudes about marriage were revealed by married characters in several books. A young woman, in Schoen's A Spark of Joy, made several observations in the first year of her marriage, including: marriage made one's world smaller; being single was easier; it is difficult to face the faults of your spouse because you chose him; the most important thing in a man's life is his work; support (not just financial) was one of the advantages of marriage; and, at the time of marriage, sex was the only bond the couple had but time and effort yielded a Spiritual bond. In Mort Grossman's A Rage to Die, Jim Barnes considered himself very fortunate to have Yvonne because ". . . she's more than a wife, she's a friend" (p. 129). A man in Madison's Bird on the Wing revealed his conviction that trust is a key to marital success and happiness. Attitudes of married characters toward matrimony were implied far more often than explicitly revealed. Implied attitudes were evident through the thoughts and actions of married couples in numerous books; most frequently, they were of a positive nature. A singularly occurring attitude was evidenced in Schoen's ASpark of ggy_when Alison (who was characterized as a good wife and mother) wondered aloud why one of her children couldn't have been stricken with the disabling disease rather than her husband; she believed that she could not live without him. In eight books, some characters explicitly revealed negative attitudes about, and--hence--no interest in, getting married. Teenage Jenny, in Garden's The Loners, maintained that she never wanted to marry; so did nine year old Bobo in Klein's Naomi in the Middle. Two 269 seventh grade girls in Greene's A Girl Called Al were adamant about not planning marriage in their futures; they were opting for careers and independence. Seventeen year old Steve, in Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow, thought "Marriage was for the birds. It killed people" (p. 60); Steve's attitude was based on observations of how his father's infidelity was destroying his mother. In Mills' The Rules of the Game, twenty year old John (a college man) was completely cynical about marriage; further, he was consistently and exceedingly sarcastic about those who even expressed interest in, or appreciation of, the state of matrimony, as well as those who were married. Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way depicted a woman who, as a teenager trying to escape a squalid life she detested, determined--from observation of those around her-~that marriage was no way to improve life. In Rinkoff's I Need Some Time a young woman who lived with a lover and simultaneously enticed other males made clear that she rejected normative notions about marriage; she questioned why she should fellow the rules of others when she liked her own. In Lee Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag Oriana, a young woman who led a "hippie-like" existence, explained that she and her lover had a very compatible relationship that they thought would be spoiled by marriage--an "artificial and arbitrary? relationship in Oriana's judgment (p. 111). Young people had negative attitudes about second marriages of their parents in a few books including Branscum's Me and Jim Luke, Madison's Bird on the Wing, and Thomas Rockwell's Hiding Out. Thirty-three books contained content revealing characters' positive attitudes toward marriage; over half were explicitly 270 revealed. At age seven the protagonist of Klein's Naomi in the Middle had plans for marriage and children in her future. A thirteen year old boy, in S. E. Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now, had plans for marriage and ". . . at least nine or ten kids" (p. 10). Ten year old Sammie John in Branscum's Me and Jim Luke and "Purple Bubble Gum" in Vera and Bill Cleaver's Delpha Green 8 Company were also interested in marriage. Hall's Sticks and Stones revealed that as a teenager Beulah had been hopeful for marriage, and the end of her worries, shortly after high school graduation. In Madison's Bird on the Wing sixteen year old Liz briefly held a similar attitude. Teenage and young adult male and female characters explicitly and positively revealed that marriage was in their plans for the future in such books as: Baker's Go Away Ruthie; Colver's Sally, Star Patient; Griffith's Runaway; Lynn Hall's Sticks and Stones; Mills' The Rules of the Game; Summers' You Can't Make It By Bus; and Witheridge's Just One Indian Bay. Adult characters urged teenagers to seriously consider getting married and having children in A Girl Called Al by Greene, Bird on the flipg_by Madison, and Just One Indian Boy by Witheridge. Children and teenagers typically had positive attitudes about their parents marrying for a second time. Adolescent Mady, in Stolz's A Wonderful, Terrible Time, was anxious for her mother to remarry so she wouldn't have to work and they could, perhaps, move to the suburbs. It took the young boys in Wojciechowska's "Hey, What's Wronngith This One?" quite a while to decide that they wanted their father to remarry 271 but once they did, they even tried to help him find choice prospects. Seventeen year old Piper, in Lawrence's Inside the Gate, was hopeful that her mother would remarry though she regarded the prospects as slim. Sherburne's Le§11e_for years had wanted her mother to meet someone special and consider a second marriage. Interestingly, when this happened Leslie was initially a bit sad. In Hall's Sticks and Stones teenage Tom had attitudes similar to Leslie's. Young people were also very interested in their adult friends marrying. In Branscum's Me and Jim Luke ten year old Sammie John stated that he wished the local doctor would marry Raven since his grandmother wouldn't let him. In Delpha Green 8 Company by Vera and Bill Cleaver, thirteen year old Delpha was ecstatic that friends of hers married at ages eighty-two and eighty; Delpha was particularly pleased with herself for having urged the groom to propose. Adult characters, with children, who seemed to be interested in second marriages usually had the attitude that it was important for their off-spring to accept and like their prospective spouses. Attitudes such as this were conveyed in: Winifred Madison's Bird on the Wing; Shirley Rousseau Murphy's The Sand Ponies; Thomas Rockwell's Hiding Out; Zoa Sherburne's Leslie; and Maia Wojciechowska's "_ey, What's Wropngith This One?" Adults in the books by Madison, Rockwell, and Sherburne did, however, make clear their lack of inclination to reject a prospective spouse as a result of their children having objections. In the Sherburne book, when Leslie's mother told her that she wanted to accept Tem's proposal, she quickly added: ". . . I hope you like 272 the idea, Leslie, but I'm not going to say that if you disapprove it will change anything" (p. 155). In contrast, in Hall's Sticks and Stones, a high school senior's mother announced her plans to marry, if the boy approved! This was a singularly occurring parental attitude toward marriage. Characters in about one-fifth of the books believed that there are appropriate times for considering marriage, in addition to or regardless of considerations of love. In Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way, eighteen year old Rosa was advised by her employer to have a boyfriend and to have fun while she was young, but not to get ". . . tied down too soon" (p. 18). Rosa's own idea was that she needed to make money or do something to escape the squalor she'd known all her life. In most cases, the "right“ time for beginning to consider marriage was related to educational aspirations--usually college. The desire to attend college and/or attain a degree before marrying was depicted through characters in several books, including: Lynn in Baker's Go Away Ruthie; several females in Mills' The Rules of the Game; Garth in Walden's Race the Wild Wind; and several males and females in Witheridge's Just One Indian Boy. In Edith Maxwell's Just Dial a Number, a high school senior's mother felt so strongly about the need for her daughter to go to college that she brushed aside jocular remarks that hinted of other interests: Cathy laughed. "What is it you always said, Mom? If a girl in Virginia is still unmarried by her eighteenth birthday, she's considered an old maid?" . "That was just a saying. I want you to go to college, of course. You shouldn't dream of marriage for years" (p. 60). 273 Only a few books revealed characters who were satisfied merely with completing high school before marriage. Smash, in Baker's §p_ Away Ruthie, encouraged his girlfriend to forget thoughts of college and to marry him after graduating from high school. In Summers' Ygu_ Can't Make It By Bus, when Paul and Lura planned to marry after high school graduation, their parents agreed. In contrast, Griffith's Runaway depicted a couple who did marry--in spite of parental objections-~upon graduating from high school. Young adult men in Walden's In Search of Ophelia and Schoen's A Spark of Joy hastened considerations of marriage due to time factors imposed by their professions. More diverse attitudes regarding appropriate times for marriage were evidenced in a few other books. In W. E. Butterworth's Stock-Car Racer twenty year old Dave had a firm conviction about prerequisites for marriage, regardless of time: "I think marriage is a fine and noble institution. I think everybody who has a job and the money and is prepared to support a wife should consider marriage. . . ." (p. 64) In Betty Miles' The Real Me, a sixth grade girl had definite plans for what she wanted to do before considering marriage and a family: . . , I know that I want to live alone for some time when I am grown, . . . I would have my own apartment or house, work in the day and fix what I like for my supper, go on bike trips, travel to California or to Australia--I could do anything. One thing I am sure of is, I will do a lot of things (p. 71). In Helen Bratton's Only in Time, eighteen year old black Debbie was urged by her boyfriend (Jim) and her parents to forget her aspirations for a career as a concert pianist, to marry without further 274 delay, and to “. . . work in the vineyard of the Lord" (p. 69). Jim, a political activist and a religious zealot, even coerced Debbie by shortening the time in which she was to decide whether to marry him and by telling her that if she chose music rather than him, she would be ". . . choosing mammon instead of God" (p. 69). Debbie ~finally decided that she had a duty to herself to take the time and make the effort to fully develop her musical talents. In most books where characters were married or were interested in marriage, attitudes were revealed regarding those characteristics valued in a spouse. Qualities such as intelligence, kindness, and integrity were, by far, most frequently encountered. A seven year old girl and her mother agreed that one marries the nicest person they meet in Klein's Naomi in the Middle. Paul's mother stressed the importance of a man marrying a girl who was good and beautiful in Summers' You Can't Make It By Bus. Gramps, in Garden's The Loners, was sure that his pretty nurses were single because they acted like schoolteachers--always telling others what to do; he resented their authoritarian attitudes. In Maxwell's Just Dial a Number, Paul prized Cathy's integrity. Intelligence and goodness had long been valued by Merle's parents in Hold Yourself Dear by Pauline Smith. In numerous other books characters valued qualities such as these. Characters interested in second marriages valued qualities such as those described above; however, a sense of responsibility was also very important. Among the books with characters conveying this attitude were: (George) by Konigsburg; Bird on the Wing by 275 Madison; Leslie by Sherburne; and "Hey, What's Wrong With This One?" by Wojciechowska. Characters in four books placed considerable importance on having a spouse who was socially and culturally refined and involved, and/or wealthy. In Edith Maxwell's Just Dial a Number, Deedee was revealed as one who would achieve her goals: . . . She would marry someone like Renny, live in a smart little doneover Victorian house in San Francisco, eat lunch at Trader Vic's, and go to the symphony on Thursday afternoons (p. 178). In Cavanna's lye Country Cousin Peter Knox, a Main Line Philadelphian of a prestigious family with relatively limited financial resources, was primarily concerned with marrying into extreme wealth. Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow depicted a college couple with a relationship and marriage plans fostered and encouraged by their fathers, with the hope of reciprocal gains socially and financially for each family and the couple. Though the prospective bride was somewhat disturbed about her future father-in-law's heavy hand in these dealings, the prospective groom was perfectly comfortable. In Hall's Sticks and Stones, Tom Naylor's mother revealed that she had married his father because he had all the qualities she yearned for herself: social and cultural expertise; sophistication. Mrs. Naylor also made clear her notion that ". . . the things that attracted us to each other in college were the very same things that eventually separated us" (p. 82). Colver's Sally, Star Patient depicted the marriage of a young adult couple who found many virtues in each other. However, that 276 characteristic most valued was the need that each had for the other's strengths. This portrayal was unique in the study sample. Another unique attitude relating to characteristics valued in a spouse was evidenced in Vera and Bill Cleaver's Delpha Green & Company. It did not matter to Josie that the man she planned to marry passed bad checks all over town, but her friends were disturbed and apparently put an end to it and, hence, to Josie's marriage plans. In five of the nine books depicting unmarried females who became pregnant or who were thought to be, marriage was apparently considered by most characters to be the appropriate--if not the only—- recourse. Books with characters conveying this attitude included: Go Away Ruthie by Baker; Shadi by Embry; That Was Then, This Is Now by Hinton; The Peter Pan Bag_by Kingman; and Hold Yourself Dear by Smith. A few characters at least briefly considered marriage as a possibility for unmarried, pregnant teenagers in Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt. In Terris's Plague of Frogs, a few characters were curious about the lack of interest demonstrated by a pregnant sixteen year old with regard to marriage, as well as abortion; these characters, however, did not imply that they thought the girl §bgpl§_ marry--as did most characters encountered in other books in the study sample. In Go Away Ruthie by Laura Nelson Baker and Hold Youself Dear by Smith, boys who married pregnant teenagers were resentful about the circumstances; however, others were no more sympathetic to the fellows than to their young brides. When Smash and Ruthie were about to marry, in the book by Baker, a friend analyzed the situation: 277 . . . Smash loves her in his way, despite the circumstances of their getting married. I knew that Smash resented having been what boys call "trapped" into marrying Ruthie--I happen to feel that such things are as much a boy's fault as a girl's, so I'm not sympathetic to him about that. But in spite of his resentment, he must have loved Ruthie some or he wouldn't have turned to her when he and I quarrelled. He would love her more now that they were married and would have a baby and a home (p. 166). In each book where pregnant females married, characters had the hope conveyed in the last sentence of the preceding quote. In three books characters had strong and diverse attitudes about interracial marriages. In Iggie's House by Judy Blume when a black fanfily moved into an apparently middle to upperclass, all white neighborhood, one woman was upset because ". . . next thing you know some nice girl from town will probably marry one" (pp. 77- 78). A black woman in Jackson's Tessie worried about the romantic and (future) marital prospects of her daughter who attended an exclusive private school where the only other black was a worker in the kitchen. In You Can't Make It By Bus by Summers a couple who wanted to marry pursuant to high school graduation had serious concerns about family reactions and strains that they might experience in marriage due, primarily, to ethnic backgrounds. Paul Guevara was a chicano with an interest in a chicano militant group. Lura Golden was Paul's "patty Jew-girl"--blonde haired, green-eyed, and of Russian descent. When Lura talked to her parents about marrying Paul she found that her concerns about familial reaction to Paul's being a chicano had no basis in fact. 278 Only two books revealed parents with the attitude that their "eleventh hour" advice was needed to promote successful marriages for their children. In Barbara Schoen's A Spark of Jay, when Ellen's mother insisted on a talk the night preceding her marriage, Ellen was surprised about the subject: . . Mother's talk was about money and about how marriages go on the rocks because of financial misunderstandings and how to some men money is a symbol of virility and how Dad had been unusually easygoing and generous (oblivious, I thought) and if I was ever in a really tight spot I shouldn't be too proud to ask for help and here was fifty dollars "to see me through" (p. 63). In Just One Indian Bay by Elizabeth Witheridge, Tamara Jay's mother made a point of having a private talk with her future son-in- law. Mrs. Jay told Andy she loved and enjoyed her daughter but that ". . . sometimes she pushes harder than anyone should to get her own way" (p. 183). If this should happen, Mrs. Jay advised, leave her alone until she comes to her senses. Parents and guardians provided most, or all, of the support for young married couples/families in three books: Baker's Go Away Rgtbie, Maxwell's Just Dial a NUmber, and Smith's Hold Yourself Dear. Most of these parent figures clearly believed that they were responsible for helping these young people as much as possible; pride was also a factor in these parental actions. In the books by Baker and Smith when high school girls got pregnant then married, the newlyweds moved in with the bride's family and one family or the other provided the groom with a job (in a family business); no alternatives were explored in either book. In the Maxwell book, 279 in a more extreme situation, Mr. Gerow solely supported his son Jacques and Jacques' family: Jacques-—leader of draft card burnings, one of the hard core in various college riots, though no longer a student--was twenty-three, married, and had a baby. . . . Mr. Gerow had worked hard all his life for his family, and now he was sup- porting his son's family. But, as everyone said, what else could the Gerows do? They couldn't let their grandchild go hungry (p. 52). None of the young couples who were supported by parents or guardians seemed particularly concerned about their situations or the burden they might be to others. Nine books contained content indicating attitudes regarding extramarital affairs. No negative attitudes were evidenced in those characters who attempted to, or did, indulge in extramarital sexual activity. In fact, in several books they seemed rather nonchalant about their behaviors. In Shadi by Embry, immediately after her mother's funeral, Emma's father publicly revealed that he had been living with a Mexican lover and her children. In Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow, a well-to-do middle-aged couple argued loudly and almost incessantly about the man's illicit affairs. The man thought that his behavior was justified because he was lonely and bored at home. He thought he had earned the privilege to do as he wished because he'd used his boot straps to reach the pinnacle of success. Further, he believed his behavior should be condoned by his wife and three sons. This man even spent the night with his lover after having been seen, by his seventeen year old son, embracing the woman in her home. In Bird on the Wing by Madison, Liz's mother was very open about having an indiscreet affair; later, Liz's new stepfather brazenly 280 made clear his desire for sexual activity with Liz! The Madison book also portrayed two married men shamelessly divulging that they had lovers. In Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way, Luz (a thirty-seven year old mother of seven) made no effort whatever to conceal her numerous affairs. Indeed, Luz repeatedly told her eighteen year old daughter about those which she otherwise would have been unlikely to know. In Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now, on two separate . occasions, married females openly tried to seduce a teenage boy. Though the characters who indulged in extramarital sexual activity seemed to have no qualms or negative attitudes regarding their behavior, the attitudes held by their families and friends were typically quite different. Disgust and contempt were revealed for those married characters who attempted to seduce unmarried teenagers in Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now and Madison's Bird on the Wing, In Shadi by Embry, Emma, her family, and her friends resented her father for having a lover. Like attitudes were similarly revealed in Branscum's Me and Jim Luke and Sherburne's Leslie. It is signifi- cant that in all three of these books young people were painfully aware of an adult male relative's indiscretions; however, in no case did the children reveal their knowledge or concerns to that person or to other adult family members. In contrast, in Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow, seventeen year old Steve--emotionally wounded and irate--confronted his father about having lovers and no morals; Steve finally moved away from home because the sight of his father sickened him. Curiously, Steve was not even angry with his father's lovers. 281 Steve discussed his father's indiscretions with his mother who revealed far more tolerance for her husband's behavior than did Steve. Mrs. Brennan explained that she had hated her husband's behavior but that she had never judged or condemned him for it. She further revealed her attitude that perhaps lovers met some of his needs that she could not, just as she met some that they could not (p. 149). Mrs. Brennan's discussion with Steve did not alter his attitude of hate for his father. Characters in a few other books had far less tolerant atti- tudes toward their spouses' extramarital affairs. In Hinton's_1bat Was Then,rThis Is Now, Mark's parents killed each other in a rage over his illegitimacy. Embry's Spagi_depicted a Navajo woman who, knowing her husband had a lover, used an old tribal custom to signify her divorce from him. Divorce resulted from a married woman's indiscretion in Madison's Bird on the Wigg, Interestingly, the woman's sixteen year old daughter was sympathetic toward her mother and considered her father foolish and self-righteous regarding the divorce. Another teenage girl sympathetic toward her mother regarding extramarital affairs was Rosa in Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way. In spite of her sympathy, or perhaps because of it, Rosa attempted to persuade her mother to alter the types of extramarital liaisons in which she engaged. Rosa blamed men for her mother's pitiful life and untimely death. A related atypical attitude was evidenced in Knudson's ge§u§_ Sppg_where members of a religious commune made pleas for people to repent their sins of extramarital behaviors. 282 Several (usually teenage) characters of families that experi- enced divorce or desertion were interested in, or concerned about, what precipitated the action taken. Some of these attitudes have been described in preceding paragraphs; however, others were also found. In Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way when Rosa asked a friend why nen deserted pregnant women, the girl casually revealed her belief that it was simply the nature of men not to want to be at home with lots of babies. Carol wondered, in Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt, why her father left her family when the third child was born; she thought perhaps he was just tired of her mother. Thaler's Rosaria was convinced her father had deserted his family because, having experienced defeat so often and in so many ways, he had little pride left and could not face another debacle. In Greene's A Girl Called Al and Terris's Plague of Frggs characters were sure that divorces had occurred in their families at least partly because the couples had married at such early ages. More diverse and singularly occurring attitudes about marriage were revealed in several books. In Betty Cavanna's The Country Cousin an American teenage girl living in France was unhappily convinced that: ”In Paris all good children still marry into the proper families, which means one your parents know" (p. 196); an older visiting American was dubious about this perceived notion. Alison, in Barbara Schoen's A Spark of Jay, explained how conflict about whom to marry, when, and why virtually destroyed the relationship she and her mother had prior to her marriage: 283 "My mother and I had vicious fights about him. She said, 'I won't have you give up a brilliant future.‘ And I said, 'If you'd stuck around like a proper mother and raised me you might have something to say about it, but you didn't and you don't,' and she said, 'It's disgusting, all you can think about is quitting school and shacking up with that crazy physicist,‘ and I said, 'Like mother, like daughter,‘ and _she slapped me and I walked out for good." The memory made Alison tremble, even after all those years (p. 168). In Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt a middleaged woman explained to teenage Carol that during World War II men often proposed to women they hardly knew because they were lonely, going overseas, and wanted lots of mail. In Donia Whiteley Mills' The Rules of the Game, a college man expounded at length upon his contention that the notion ". . . love and marriage go together like the proverbial horse and carriage. . . ." was purely "popular delusion" (p. 115). In Colver's Sally, Star Patient a young married couple was curious as to why attractive and lively females remained single; and, even though they thought that many such females had substitutes for marriage--such as work--they felt sorry for them. Barbara (age eleven) in Betty Miles' The Real Me and Wendy (age seventeen) in Lee Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag_were curious and concerned about the concept of "family" changing in the future. Barbara indicated her preference for the status qua and her uncertainty of just how it was that families were supposed to change. Wendy, however, was fearful of what she and her well-educated father perceived as this society's movement toward "tribal units" striving for "tribal distinctions"--with no provisions for individuality (pp. 50-51). 284 Adult Supervision Forty-nine books revealed attitudes regarding adult supervision of, or imposition of restrictions upon, young people. The attitudes expressed were generally those of parents; however, such others as: school or camp personnel, relatives, and older friends were also revealed. A few parents had the attitude that they could learn more about and better supervise the social life of their offspring, if they appeared relatively nonchalant when such matters were mentioned. Examples of this attitude were revealed in You Can't Make It By Bus by James Summers, The Peter Pan Bag by Lee Kingman, Bongo Bradley by Barbara Glasser and Ellen Blustein, and Hold Yourself Dear by Pauline Smith. In the latter book sixteen year old Merle, shortly after moving to a new town, announced that she'd met a boy: "His name is John Wright. And I_thought he was nice." Mother nodded and began to break up the asparagus. "But Harriet says he's nothing but a long cold drink of water." "What's wrong with water?" asked Mother. "She says he's a square and a grind." "Well, each to his own standards," said Mother. Mother had just about washed the asparagus to shreds by then. . . . She turned and smiled. "How about you?" she asked. "What subjects do you take this year?" (pp. 39-40) Several books revealed adult concerns about the associations, aside from dating, that young people might have with others. In Pauline Smith's Hold Yourself Dear Merle's mother cautioned her about a relationship with a teenage neighbor who was pregnant and married (in that order). Merle decided that her mother meant for her to: 285 "Remain aloof--feel sympathy, but not sentimentality" (p. 31). In Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt, Mitsy's mother forbade her associating with the family of a teenage unwed, pregnant girl. In Rosaria by Thaler a teacher and a welfare worker worried about a teenage girl when she began to associate with a new group of friends. Several parents in Hall's Sticks and Stones pressured a high school principal into denying a gifted pianist a school-sponsored trip to a competitive musical festival because they were afraid for their children to be associated with a(rumored)homosexual. Young boys, in Branscum's Me and Jim Luke, were forbidden by their mother and grandnother to even go near the house of a woman rumored to be of loose character. In Surf With Me by Laklan fifteen year old Judy's parents were concerned about her surfing, even though near home, with college boys whom they had not met. A few books revealed that adults believed teenage parties should be chaperoned at least to the extent of adults being on the premises. Teenage guests arriving at a party in Adele DeLeeuw's Miss Fix-It were surprised that the hostess's mother was not at home; the hostess hastened to state that her mother would soon arrive with "telescopic eyes" (p. 37). An eighteen year old girl in Colver's Sally, Star Patient reminded her brother how unhappy their parents would be that he had a party in their absence; then, she did her best to keep an eye on things--such as the lights going out--from the house next door. In Runaway by Griffith, when Cindy Lou's parents went away for a weekend they sent her to a friend's, locked up their car, and their house--presumably to keep her out of trouble. Merle's 286 mother, in Hold Yourself Dear by Smith, granted Merle permission to go to a slumber party only after she learned who would be present and that the hostess's parents would be there. Lealie by Sherburne described teenage reactions to chaperoned parties by revealing that young people went to Sandy's parties (which were well-chaperoned) pply_to get out of their own houses! A few books, including Maxwell's Just Dial a Number, gave credence to adult concerns about unchaperoned teenage parties. Allyson, a high school senior, frequently held such parties at her family's mansion. A police raid on one of these substantiated the long heard rumors that Allyson's parties were sex and drug orgies. Almost half of the books revealed some adult attitudes about teenagers dating. A wide variety of attitudes were portrayed but most frequently reflected were parental attitudes about curfew and persons with whom their children had one or more dates. Parents were depicted as waiting up, or not falling asleep, till their children were home from dates in several books, including: Smith's Hold Yourself Dear; Laklan's Surf With Me; Bradbury's Laurie; and Ellis's Riptide. Curfews were established by parents in a number of books but considerable variance was evidenced. In Inside the Gate by Lawrence seventeen year old Piper's mother set a 9:30 curfew and would not readily allow Piper to spend a full day away from home. In Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow eighteen year old Judy had an 11:00 weekend curfew; on special occasions, however, her hours were extended to inmediately following the time the special event concluded. Scott, 287 in Rinkoff's I Need Some Time, was routinely expected home by 1:00. Other books revealing curfews included: Ellis's Riptide; Huntsberry's The Bingang-Up; and Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt. Parents generally extended curfews for special occasions. Related to curfews were parental attitudes about when a date should go home. In Baker's Go Away Ruthie, Lynn knew her parents would object to her and Smash sitting alone on their porch at the conclusion of a date; she also knew not to accept dates for week- nights. In Just Dial a Number by Maxwell, a teenage girl's father walked through the living room late at night when he thought it time for the girl's date to go home. An atypical contrast to these situations was described in Walden's Race the Wild Wind; teenage Marty's parents left her alone with Garth when they were reunited after an extended separation. Examples of extreme concern about young people dating persons that their parents didn't know or didn't approve of were portrayed in, among others: Granger's Canyon of Decision; Laklan's Surf With Me; Witheridge's Just One Indian Boy; Baker's Go Away Ruthie; and, Lawrence's Inside the Gate. I Need Some Time by Rinkoff revealed a teenage boy enthralled with a girl that he knew his parents wouldn't approve of, as did Cormier's The Chocolate War. The parents in Smith's Hold Yourself Dear wanted their daughter to invite her boy- friends to their house for their approval. In Bradbury's Laurie and Montgomery's Into the Groove, special note was made of the fact that parents approved of the person that their child dated. 288 Parents allowed dating freedom so long as their daughters performed their usual duties as portrayed in Canygn of Decision by Granger, Surf With Me by Laklan, and Go Away Ruthie by Baker. In each case the girl accepted her responsibilities without question. Another parental attitude was that boys should meet their dates at their homes. In Griffith's Runaway, Phil's mother asked why he was meeting Cindy Lou at a friend's house rather than at her home. In Just Dial a Number by Maxwell a father was displeased that his daughter ran out to meet a young man who merely drove into the driveway and honked. The father's ideas were considered old-fashioned by his daughter and her peers. A complete contrast to other parental attitudes was found in Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag when Wendy told her mother of a high school couple spending the summer traveling together, with the consent of their parents. Wendy's mother was surprised but not persuaded in the least to allow Wendy more freedom. Adult attitudes about using the affections of another were revealed in three books: Sally, Star Patient by Colver; Surf With Me by Laklan; and, Just Dial a Number by Maxwell. The Colver book revealed two pertinent situations. The aunts of a spastic paralytic, Sally, were concerned that a man of lesser means was using Sally's affection for purely selfish purposes--good food, radio, television, and a comfortable way to spend his leisure time. In the same book a teenage boy's family (of considerable means) was concerned that the boy was being preyed upon by an older female of lesser means and dubious character for financial/social reasons. In the Laklan book, 289 Judy's mother made clear the shame of using a boy's affection to further one's selfish interests; the mother, in fact, insisted that Judy owed Pete an apology for her behavior. In the Maxwell book, the dean of a high school cautioned his daughter that her dates might try to use her to improve their advantage with him for such matters as grades and recommendations for college. Adults in a few books were concerned about interracial liaisons. In Don't Look at Me That Way by Crane, Christy (a young socialite) advised her teenage Puerto Rican housekeeper not to get attracted to a "WASP" neighbor as such an attraction could only lead to negative feelings by all concerned. In Jesse Jackson's le§§1e_a black mother was extremely concerned that her daughter was enrolled in a private school for intelligent children and surrounded by white youngsters: "In all this hassle about your going to Hobbe your father has forgotten he once fell in love with a girl at school when he was about your age. What I'm trying to make you understand, Tessie, is that all we've known were colored people, and schools where there were more colored than white. When we were young, it was impossible for a colored girl to go to Hobbe or face what you're facing there. "Ten thousand Hobbes won't stop you from wanting to fall in love. And who are you going to find at Hobbe? The colored boy you told me about who washes dishes in the school cafeteria?" (p. 88). Additional and diverse adult attitudes about dating were also revealed. In Stock-Car Racer by Butterworth a mother was concerned that her son wished to transfer to the University of Florida because of his interest in a girl. In Ellis's Riptide a boy's mother was displeased that the language of her son's date was laden with sexual connotations intended to be humorous. Parents in Laura Baker's §p_ AwayrRuthie preferred dating to begin in grades nine or ten and, then, 290 double-dates were considered most acceptable. In Race the Wild Wind by Walden, Karin's guardians thought American boys "wolves" and when one became too friendly, they threatened to send Karin back to her home in Sweden. In The Friends by Guy a West Indian father who had moved his family to New York City would not permit his seventeen year old daughter to go on dates without the chaperone of at least her fifteen year old sister. The man's daughters and his own friends and relatives tried to convince him of how foolish and futile his attitude and behavior were--that if the girl was bound for trouble, she'd find it no matter what! Harley's father, in Montgomery's lntg_ the Groove, was unhappy that Harley would help "cover-up" a teenage girl's car accident to protect her from her father's wrath. One unique example of a mother's attitude regarding dating was found in Maxwell's Just Dial a Number. Cathy's mother needed her to date one boy steadily or many boys regularly as proof of Cathy's femininity and popularity as well as her own success as a parent. A similar maternal attitude was evidenced in DeLeeuw's Miss Fix-It. Adults were very concerned about the safety of teenage girls in certain places and situations. Calvin, in Guy's The Friends, forbade his daughters visiting his restaurant in Harlem on the grounds that there were too many men and he was afraid of the girls being raped. Coffee-house districts were suggested as unsafe for young girls in several books, including: Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag; Sherburne's bealie; and Madison's Bird on the Wing, Girls were warned about the dangers of hitchhiking in: Riding Free by Coles; Jesus Song by Knudson; Bird on the Wing by Madison; and Plague of Frog§_by Terris. 291 In The Country Cousin by Cavanna, an aging concierge expressed his concern to Mindy that she was alone at night in Paris even though she was close to her hotel. A mother, in Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt, repeatedly advised her three daughters to avoid strange men in the park and never to take money from strangers. In W. E. Butterworth's Stock Car Racer parents of several college boys pooled money for a stock car enterprise their sons had planned for fun and profit. The boys believed in their project, but Dave felt that their parents had provided the money requested for reasons of their own: . The parents gave him the impression that all of them were being patronized, that the group of them were 'nice boys,‘ and that $500 was a cheap enough price to keep them 'nice' and out of pool halls and roadhouses, away from 'evil companions' (p. 12). Young people in numerous books seemed to consider parental rules and regulations about dating old-fashioned or ludicrous. In spite of these attitudes most young people attempted to follow their parents' edicts. When rules were broken they were infractions such as explaining one was going to the library and then meeting a date or sneaking out of one's house at night. In three books, however, characters were resentful and rebellious regarding parental regulation. In Hold Yourself Dear by Smith, Eleana explained to her friends that she broke her parents' rules-~including those about dating--simply because they were there and she resented any rules. Her further intimations seemed to indicate that she didn't really like the boys she dated, that the whole point was they were the complete opposite of her parents, as well as their way of life and 292 desires for the future. Oriana, in Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag, expressed a similar view in more dramatic ways. In both books, the parents of the rebellious girls continued to support them, though Oriana's father managed this through the use of lawyers. In Barbara Rinkoff's I Need Some Time a male of about eighteen years revealed his resentment of parental attempts to regulate his life: "They want you to be what they want," Hutt said angrily. "From the time I was a little kid they always gave me my way. . . . When I was sixteen they began laying down the law. . ." "You know what I think? I think that suddenly they realized I was growing up and now they wanted me to fit the mold they had decided on for me." He began to laugh. "All at once rules popped out all over the place. Curfews, no drinking, no sex, no drugs." “Of course, I rebelled. Why shouldn't I? They didn't program me for that" (pp. 60-61). In two books adult supervision included seeing to it that the young people had a good time. In The Country Cousin by Cavanna, Mindy's employer took her to Paris on a business excursion and arranged a date for her to see part of the city. In Stock-Car Racer by Butterworth twenty year old Dave resented, then took pleasure in, his aunt's arranging a date for him. Only a few books revealed situations where teenagers were trusted less by their parents than by other adults. In Go Away Butnie_by Baker, Lynn's grandmother was more liberal about dating than were her parents. A mother, in Sally, Star Patient by Colver, was reassured by an older neighbor that she should trust her teenage son in her absence. Leslie by Sherburne had a similar portrayal. 293 In two books older teenage girls were concerned about their younger sister's flirtations: Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way_and Hale's Nothing But a Stranger. In the Crane book, the girls' mother shared the concern and together they supervised the younger sister's behavior. In the Hale book, Holly's father squelched her concerns with a reminder of her own youthful innocent but painful flirtations. Only in Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now was there (explicitly) a complete lack of parental supervision. For whatever reason, Bryon's mother allowed her boys to run their own lives. Attitudes of school personnel relating to human sexuality were revealed in ten books, mainly through policies regulating student behaviors. In Garden's The Loners, Jenny's parents enrolled her in a parochial school for girls precisely because no boys were allowed there and they felt more secure about Jenny being in such a school. School dress codes were frequently described. In Smith's Hold Yourself Dear, girls were not allowed to wear slacks to school. Short skirts and body stockings were not allowed in high school in Summers' You Can't Make It By Bus. In Bianca Bradbury's Laurie a high school had rules governing the appearance of both boys and girls: . . West River High had strict rules about dress, jackets and ties for the boys and no wild haircuts, dresses or skirts and loose sweaters for the girls (p. 46). TWO schools had rules regarding affectionate physical contact of students. Hand-holding was allowed in the high school in Summers' 294 You Can't Make It By Bus. The principal in Hentoff's In the Country of Ourselves was casual about students kissing on the campus. A high school in Laurie by Bradbury exercised stringent control over extracurricular activities such as dances. Rules demanded that only students could attend dances, no drinking was allowed, and once students left the dance they were not allowed to return. Aside from school policies and rules, in Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow, a high school teacher made it part of her job to be aware of many matters including romances, potential romances, and scandals; she also volunteered advice to students regarding such matters. Teachers were similarly revealed in several other books including Thaler's Rosaria, Grossman's A Rage to Die, and Hentoff's In the Countryyof Ourselves. Boarding schools and colleges in Shadi by Embry and The Rules of the Game by Mills had rules for dormitory residents who wished to leave the campus overnight, fOr the weekend, and the like. In both books, students more or less thumbed their noses at the "sign-out" procedures and other rules when they so desired. In each book, students who failed to comply with the rules were immediately suspect of illicit sexual activity. More contemporary attitudes about dormitory life were reflected in two books. In Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag, seventeen year old Wendy led a campus movement to allow more male visitors to female dormitories. Worth noting is the fact that Wendy was not personally interested in male visitors, but rather the extension of rules that she considered too stringent. In The Loners by Garden some dormitories on Lloyd's 295 college campus voted to become co-ed though his own had declined in favor of the traditional rule restricting visiting women to only one lounge--even the students' mothers! Camp rules relating to human sexuality were found in Only in Time by Bratton and Ox Goes North by Ney. In the Bratton book, campers were allowed to kiss goodnight but counselors stood nearby and announced curfew when necessary. In the Ney book, at an exclusive boys' camp, male instructors could strike campers and be tolerated--even supported--by camp officials; however, under no circumstances were they permitted to merely touch the boys in their charge. Boarding house rules banning drinking, smoking, and female visitors were made clear to teenage Phil in Runaway by Griffith. Obscenities Forty-two books contained content revealing attitudes about obscenities, as defined in this study. Obscene language--oral and written--was frequently evidenced and seemed to be taken for granted by most characters in most situations. Coarse language seemed to be the rule rather than the exception with male and female characters revealed in several books, including: I Need Some Time by Rinkoff; That Was Then, This Is Now by Hinton; In the Country of Ourselves by Hentoff; A Rage to Die by Grossman; and, The Chocolate War by Cormier. Obscene language was not only heard and seen on streets and public transportation vehicles, but also in schools (in hallways, classrooms, newspapers, and posters) 296 and, occasionally, in homes. Ward, in Hall's Sticks and Stones, expressed his view that this country needs a new set of profane words because the present ones have been so over-used that they have little meaning. Characters in numerous other books seemed to share that view. Little thought was given to young children running around city streets calling each other "dirty names" in Griffith's Runaway. Girls in several books simply shrugged off obscene remarks hurled at them as in Bird on the Wing by Madison and That Was Then, This Is Ngn_by Hinton. "Girlie-theatres," X-rated movies, bars with topless dancers, "pin-ups," communes where "free love" and drug usage were available, and pornographic printed matter were noted as available for those who might seek them. Comparatively few characters were actually revealed as engaging in these diversions. However, numerous char- acters knew of the existence of such things and seemed tolerant regarding them. Books with depictions such as these included: Bonham's Viva Chicano; Madison's Bird on the Wing; Knudson's Jesus Sang; and, Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now. Attitudes of a more positive nature regarding obscenities were found among male teenagers and young adults in several books. Males were shown to appreciate "pin-ups" in such books as Laklan's Surf With Me and Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow. In Bonham's Mystery of the Fat Cat, teenage boys planned to photograph unknowing girls at the beach and then sell the pictures. Floyd, in Sticks and Stones by Hall, kept a stack of "dirty pictures" for his own pleasure and tried to use them to gain at least one friend. Teenage boys were interested 297 in Playboy and other "skin magazines" in several books, including: The Chocolate War by Cormier; That Was Then, This Is Now by Hinton; and, I Can Stop Any Time I Want by Trivers. A thirteen year old boy in Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't marked and paper-clipped the parts of paperback books he liked and thought his friends would enjoy. Characters also enjoyed "dirty" stories, limericks, and risque or bawdy songs in books such as: Sticks and Stones by Hall; That Was Then, This Is Now by Hinton; Bird on the Wing_by Madison; Me and Jim Luke by Branscum; and, The Peter Pan Bagyby Kingman. Few negative attitudes toward obscenities were made clear. Barbara, an eleven year old advocate of the women's liberation movement in The Real Me by Betty Miles, disliked going to the barber's because: ". . . it has those calendars with undressed women, or women in underwear that I feel sorry for because all the men seem to be staring at them" (p. 22). A high school principal was distressed when he saw one of his students make an obscene gesture toward a television camera during a demonstration on the school campus in Grossman's A Rage to Die. Most of the negative attitudes evidenced were directly related to a male and a female being simultaneously exposed to some obscenity. One such situation was described by a seventeen year old girl in Go Away Ruthie by Laura Nelson Baker: . . "Don't you know that's the name of a movie: The Long, Hot Summer?" It happened to be a movie my parents had said I couldn't go to see but I had, anyway, and told them afterwards. They were angry but they got over it. Actually, I knew after I saw it that there were some good reasons for their not 298 approving of it. I had gone with Smash and it was somewhat embarrassing to see that kind of movie with a boy (p. 108). In S. E. Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now when teenage Mark--"high" on medication and beer--began to sing a "lulu of a song" from the back seat of Bryon's car, Bryon felt that he must take Cathy home because she was embarrassed (p. 55). On a later occasion when the same three characters were driving around town, a fellow they had never seen before looked at them--and without provocation-- blurted an obscenity. Bryon told of the effect that the remark had: . . . I sat stunned for a minute--the thought of Cathy's hearing such a thing just froze me. Then, so quick I didn't even realize what was happening, Mark . . . ran around to my side of the car, and punched the foul-mouthed guy in the nose, literally smashing his nose in. It was their turn to be stunned. . . . (pp. 89-90). In Summers' You Can't Make It By Bus, teenage Paul tried to protect his girlfriend from seeing several items that he considered obscene: an art print of a nude that he thought degrading, a modern sculpture of a man and a woman in the back seat of a car that was on display in an art museum, and models of copulating fish that were being sold on the streets of a town in Mexico. Fifteen year old Mary in Riptide by Ellis was somewhat nervous when her date, his brother, and his date started making jokes with sexual overtones. When Mary's date realized this, he tried to alter the situation to make her feel more comfortable. Eleven books conveyed the attitude that use of obscenities is one of the more effective means of showing contempt, instilling fright, and/or gaining at least limited control of another person. This attitude was rather explicitly revealed in Robert Cormier's 299 The Chocolate War when two teenage boys discussed their latest ploy to gain the cooperation of another: "Did you use the queer pitch on him?" "You were right, Archie. You called it beautiful. That really spaced him out. Hey, Archie, he isn't queer, is he?" ”Of course not. That's why he blew up. If you want to get under a guy's skin, accuse him of being something he isn't. Otherwise, you're only telling him something he knows." The silence on the phone indicated Emile's appreciation of Archie's genius (p. 211). In Rosaria by Thaler, a Puerto Rican boy of about eighteen finally drove a young welfare worker'whom he detested from his mother's home by hurling insults with sexual connotations at the woman. The boy's behavior was so disturbing that his fifteen year old sister called him an animal. Some other books where sexual insults were spat at others included In the Country of Ourselves by Hentoff, Me_ and Jim Luke by Branscum, and Bird on the Wing_by Madison. Photographs of a sexual nature, of unsuspecting people, were considered as a good resource for blackmail purposes in The Chocolate (War by Cormier and The Rules of the Game by Mills. (The Cormier book, in fact, revealed behavior that demonstrated the accuracy of the assumption behind the attitude.) Obscene phone calls were also considered an effective means of intimidating people, as portrayed in Cormier's The Chocolate War. To be noted is the fact that the people who received such calls attributed them to "some nut" though their annoyance and anger were hardly dissipated with the thought. Obscene hand gestures were revealed in Grossman's _A__R_ag_e to Die and in Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now as a means of showing 300 contempt; such gestures, however, seemed to provoke little or no response in relation to other forms of obscene communications. Human Anatomy/Bodnyxposure Thirty-seven books revealed attitudes regarding human anatomy and body exposure. Teenage girls worked hard to improve their figures with the belief that shapely bodies were essential for attracting and keeping a male's attention in books such as: Only in Time by Bratton and Race the Wild Wind by Walden. In the Walden book, several adults confirmed a teenage champion skier's attitudes about her figure and tried to help her diet and dress to best advantage. Teenage girls were not alone in their efforts to develop shapely figures. In (George) by Konigsburg a divorcee with two young children started a new diet as soon as a local man expressed interest in her. Younger girls in a number of books were especially anxious about the development of breasts. In Orgel's The Mulberry Music, eleven year old Libby was hopeful that her figure would resemble her mother's; people assured her that it would. In Guy's The Friends fourteen year old Phyll was anxious to develop "round" breasts because she thought them more beautiful; Phyll's family, uniformly, put emphasis on physical beauty-~with her mother damning its transitory nature. Eleven year old Winnie in Blume's Iggie's House did not want anyone to surmise her wish to be "tall and curvy." Twelve and thirteen year old girls in Clymer's How I Went Shopping and What I Got were delighted with their developing breasts and anxious for flattering 301 sweaters and the like. In Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt Ellen teased one of her younger and less well-developed sisters about her breasts by referring to her, with sarcastic affection, as Mae West. In Smith's Hold Yourself Dear a high school senior wore "falsies," to a special school dance. Eleven year old Barbara, in The Real Me by Betty Miles, had a very negative attitude about having to participate in a slimnastics class at school even though many adults and peers assured her that girls needed to be slim and shapely--which Barbara was not--to attract boys. However, Barbara was proud of her budding physical endowments and had some contempt for such activities as burning bras--even in the name of women's liberation: . . People were always making jokes about women burning their bras, and expecting you to laugh. The only bra I had was called "Little Miss Beginner," which is about the only kind that fits somebody my age, and I was certainly not going to burn it (pp. 36-37). In Klein's Naomi in the Middle seven year old Naomi's preference for developing pubic hair rather than breasts was based purely on curiosity about how it would feel. A twelve year old in Branscum's Me and Jim Luke was pleased with the size of his penis and anxious to engage in sexual activity. That female characters should place so much import on their figures was not surprising when one perceived how frequently male characters took note of female figures. Males most frequently demonstrated interest in breasts, whether with younger or more mature women. Books portraying this interest included: Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't; Bonham's Viva Chicano; Branscum's Me and Jim Luke; 302 Cormier's The Chocolate War; Garden's The Loners; and, Konigsburg's (George). Female derriére were of interest to males in Branscum's Me and Jim Luke and in Madison's Bird on the Wing, "Hare," a married man with two children in Don't Look at Me That Way by Crane, showed his interests in feminine legs. Males scrutinizing females from top to bottom were depicted in several books, including: Laurie by Bradbury; Just Dial a Number by Maxwell; Into the Groove by Montgomery; You Can't Make ItrBy Bus by Summers; and Walk in a Tall Shadow by Walden. In the latter book, a high school senior noted breasts, hips, waist, and legs of most females he encountered--including school teachers and his mother; further, he frequently compared one female to another. The appeal of muscular male bodies to females was specifically described in a few books, including: Miss Fix-It by DeLeeuw and field Yourself Dear by Smith. In the latter book, a teenage girl was exceedingly proud of her steady boyfriend's physique and extremely jealous of the attention she was sure he attracted as a lifeguard-- mainly due to the body that she perceived as magnificant. She was, in fact, more concerned with the boy's physical development than his mental attributes. Calvin, the father of two teenage daughters in The Friends by Guy like to boast about his physique and brag that his wife had always thought his "flesh" was "great." In several books girls dressed to accentuate their physical endowments in order to attract more attention from males. A high school girl in Susan Thaler's Rosaria yearned for the kind of dresses that "boys go crazy for" (p. 3). Lisa, in Bradbury's Laurie, explained 303 to some of the high school girls the importance of dressing to show their figures to best advantage. A few books revealed some negative peer reaction to girls considered too revealingly dressed; usually through other females. Madison's Bird on the Wing depicted high school students as staring and jeering at Liz when she-~as an act of parental defiance--wore a dress that even she considered far too short. In The Rules of the Gane_by Mills, a college girl was frowned upon for her typical attire: very tight slacks and low-cut, snug sweaters. Younger teenagers in Hall's Sticks and Stones laughed when they saw that Amber had bared herself as nearly as she dared and then walked by Tom's house with the desperate hope of getting his attention. In contrast, in Knudson's Jesus Song, most of Ruth's young friends calmly accepted that she had once worked in a bar as a topless dancer. In several books characters wore bathing suits--brief ones in a number of cases. Only two books, however, revealed negative attitudes relating to this type of body exposure. E. L. Konigsburg's (George) revealed eleven year old Ben's embarrassment in this regard: Benjamin wanted to dig himself right into the sand. There was his teacher, maker of scientists, standing there without a shirt on. There he was with all of his chest showing and showing all the hair on that chest. Pale. Pale all over except for that hair making him look more naked. It was embarrassing. And there was his mother sitting in that almost-chair, and there was his teacher looking right into the top of his mother's bathing suit. Really, thought Ben, the way she keeps growing out at the top of that suit, she ought to go on a diet. And Mr. Berkowitz with her. Mr. Berkowitz sat down right on the blanket next to Mrs. Carr and did not look at all embarrassed about how he or Mrs. Carr looked in their bathing suits or about where his eyes should go (pp. 44-45). 304 You Can't Make It By Bus by James Summers presented a unique example of acceptable attire being relative to time and place. Prior to a high school trip to Mexico, Paul had expressed pleasure that his girlfriend's bathing suit was not as bare as most on the California beaches. In Mexico, however, Paul's attitude changed sharply: Lura came over to him, and suddenly her bikini that had been modest at Zuma Beach was too skimpy for Mexico. It showed too much of her shape-~her small waist and curving hips. He saw the Mexicans whispering among themselves. "You should get dressed," he told her sharply. She looked at him in total surprise. "Why?" "You're almost naked," he told her bluntly. "I don't like you to show off that way." She sounded hurt. "I thought you said I looked good when--" "Yeah. Too good. People are watching you." "What difference does it make?" she asked. "It's none of their business." Inwardly, Paul had to agree that it wasn't any of their business. Yet he felt embarrassed for Lura. She looked good, sure. He was proud that she was his girl and looked that way. Yet he was ashamed because the Mexicans stared with expression- less faces. . . . "That time in Mexico at the pool--I made you get dressed," he'd said, speaking brokenly, hunting words. "You were all right, see? I was proud of you as a chicano from the East Side. But with those Mexicans watching, I grew ashamed for us both. They were stripping you the rest of the way. They were telling each other you were a gringita without shame, and I hated it and them." "I understand," she'd said. "You were--possessive. . . . What was thought of me was thought of you" (p. 142). Characters were revealed to have casual attitudes about nudity within family situations. Young people were allowed in bathrooms while others were bathing--including adults. Sometimes the youngsters even helped with the bathing of another person as in Klein's Naomi in the Middle and Bird on the Wing by Madison. Young children were allowed 305 to play--undressed--in their homes in the Madison book and in Hinton's That Was Then,yThis Is Now. In the latter book, children were not required to dress when family friends were visiting. Children within a single family casually went "skinny-dipping," apparently with adult approval, in Branscum's Me and Jim Luke and in The Peter Pan Bag_by Kingman. In the latter book, "skinny-dipping" was segregated by sex though the reason for this segregation was not given. In The Rules of the Game by Mills a group of college coeds were very casual--with the exception of one girl--about playing strip-poker (while under the influence of alcohol). The incident was unique among the books comprising the study sample. A police sergeant in Bonham's Viva Chicano believed that only "psychos" removed their clothes in public. A young, socialite mother ‘ expressed, in Don't Look at Me That Way by Crane, the view that young college age radicals only stripped in public to get the attention of others. For the most part, characters were modest about appearing even semi-nude in other than family situations. When a change of clothes was necessary, shades were usually drawn, people other than family or close friends of the same sex were sent from the room, and doors were often locked. Portrayals such as these were found in Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't, Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag, and Terris's Plague of Froga. Modesty was reflected in a variety of additional ways. In Vera and Bill Cleaver's Delpha Green & Company, when a young girl (in mixed company) entered a pole-climbing contest, tucked her skirt 306 into her underpants, and went up the pole, her twelve year old girl- friends and her mother were shocked. The girl herself was completely detached about the whole episode. Sneakers by Shepard depicted a twelve year old boy who had plans to play professional football and make commercials. He was sure, however, he would do no nude commercials--the ones in underwear would be embarrassing enough. In Kingman's The Year of the Raccoon and Terris's The Drowning Boy young boys were concerned about their pets (a raccoon and a rat, respectively) embarrassing them and others by such behaviors as unzipping zippers and burrowing inside the neck of women's dresses. In Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt, a nude figure sketched by a boy in a high school art class got a mixed reception: the teacher praised it, some students giggled, others were embarrassed. The most unrealistic instance of modesty was found in Cavanna's The Country Cousin when some Americans in a large fitting room were astonished to see French women wearing black and brown demibras and bikini pants under their regular clothes. The Americans considered their own lingerie "tame" in comparison to the "scanty" French things! Worthy of note is that the Cavanna book was published in 1967. Had the book been published even three years later, the incident cited might well have been tempered considerably due to fashion changes. Procreation Thirty-three books contained content revealing attitudes toward some aspect of procreation: birth control; pregnancy; birth; 307 illegitimacy; adoption; abortion; preparation for, and care of, infants and new mothers. Twenty-one books implied the use of some means of birth control thereby expressing tolerant or appreciative attitudes toward birth control methods or practices. Married couples were often depicted as appreciative of the luxury of family planning and as being very selective about when to have children. Among the books portraying these attitudes were: Bishop's Little League Stepson;' Colver's Sally, Star Patient; Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way; Hodges' The Making of Joshua Cobb; Schoen's A Spark of Joy; Terris's The Drowning Boy; and Witheridge's Just One Indian Boy. In more recently published books in particular, young people were somewhat dismayed that others--married or not--apparently failed to engage in birth control practices when procreation was ill-advised. Books portraying these attitudes included Don't Look and It Won't Hurt by Peck and Plague of Frogs by Terris. In Bonham's Viva Chicano teenagers were shown to think, with some disgust, of one section of town as producing children as if in factories. Other views of birth control were also revealed. The liberated grandmother in Klein's Naomi in the Middle was revealed as appreciative of birth control when she literally thanked God that fewer families had seven children in contemporary times than in times past. Her feelings seemed to stem from empathy (derived from personal experi- ence) fer the youngest children in large families. An endorsement for the use of birth control methods was implied in Terris's IDS. Drowning Boy when Roseanne (a young, married, pregnant nurse) revealed 308 her conviction that her six year old emotionally disturbed nephew's problems probably had root in the very real possibility that he had been--and was-~an unwanted child. Kingman's The Peter Pan Bag_revealed two atypical attitudes regarding birth control. In one instance, Oriana--a young, radical adult--expressed her opposition of governmental laws regarding the disbursement of birth control information. In another incident, when sixteen year old Wendy's father (an artist-scientist- cartographer) predicted that in the future family life would be vastly different, his rather intellectual children added an idea which they foresaw as a predictable necessity: licensing to have children. In Just One Indian Boy by Witheridge a group of college students discussed the future and revealed contemporary social pressures relating to the population explosion and birth control. TWenty-one books revealed attitudes about pregnancy, with the pervading attitude that it is a normal human function to be accepted, if not appreciated. In almost all cases, pregnant women continued their lives normally and deviated only in seeking additional medical care. Pregnancy was viewed as no reason to discontinue a person's usual activities except in the case of Crane's Don't Look at Me That Wa , where a pregnant woman took to her bed because of an uncared fer heart condition. In most cases, women actually seemed to increase activity during pregnancy because they added--with gusto--to their usual behaviors by making physical preparations for their expected children. In no case was a complaint rendered about tasks at hand. 309 Attitudes that pregnancy is to be shared with family and friends were often evidenced. In Bishop'S‘Little League Stepson, Robin's mother discussed with him the possibility of family expansion before she was pregnant. In Konigsburg's (George) and Klein's Naomi in the Middle parents explained birth processes to children whose mothers were pregnant. Parents in both books sought to help their children understand and to make them a part of life-giving processes in their families. The Klein book demonstrated most clearly the attitude that children should have as much information as they desire through the parents' attempts to explain various stages of prenatal development. Sharing pregnancy with family was portrayed as a necessity for survival in Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't and Crane's‘Qpnlt_ Look at Me That Way, In the Blume book, a young married couple was distressed to learn that Angie was pregnant--so, they were especially pleased that Ralph's family felt partial responsibility for providing for the expected youngster. A similar incident was revealed in Just Dial a Number by Edith Maxwell. A different situation was portrayed in Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way when Rosa's mother—-pregnant, a husband in abstentia, and suffering with an undetected heart condition-- wanted Rosa to assist her through pregnancy. In contrast to these situations, in Branscum's Me and Jim Luke, Sammie John's widowed mother announced to him via postal service that she was re-married, pregnant, and would see him at some future time. While Sammie John's mother was very casual about all of this, he became physically ill then full of vengeance. 310 More joyful sharing of pregnancy was illustrated in such books as The Drowning Boy by Terris and Just One Indian Boy by Witheridge when young married couples involved their friends in preparing for expected infants. Cautious attitudes about pregnancy were revealed in a few books. The importance of medical check-ups throughout pregnancy were alluded to in such books as The Drowning Boy by Terris and Don't Look at Me That Way by Crane. Several books alluded to the importance of a pregnant woman getting regular exercise. Among these were: Colver's Sally, Star Patient; Schoen's A Spark of Joy; and, Terris's Plague of Frogs. Caution about over-doing was expressed in several books. In The Drowning Boy by Terris, a young couple decided that they should not get a dog while Roseanne was pregnant, that her hands were full with her usual responsibilities. In Schoen's A Spark of Joy young husbands were concerned about their pregnant wives having to assume the role of hostess too often. The Schoen book also revealed one young husband as cautioning his wife about her eating habits while pregnant. In Terris's Plague of Frog§_sixteen year old, unwed, pregnant, Marcella was cautious about too much bending or stretching. In Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way, one young mother revealed that when she was pregnant, in New York City, only Puerto Rican men always gave her a seat on the subway and buses. Attitudes about extramarital pregnancy were conveyed in two books. In Snagl_by Embry, Emma's father was gossiped about for taking a common-law wife and having a family with her while he was separated from his legal family. His common-law wife was held more accountable 311 than he; nevertheless, his wife divorced him by traditional Navajo means. In Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way, Rosa's mother--Luz-- who had several children out-of-wedlock was actually respected by some people, including Rosa's boyfriend who described Luz's love for children as saintly; in fact, he compared her to the Holy Mother. Rosa's mother had also been deserted by Rosa's father during pregnancy. The prevailing attitude seemed to be to excuse Luz for her behavior; no condemnation was evidenced. Interestingly, premarital pregnancy evoked a wider range of emotion, action, and response. The need for unmarried pregnant girls to marry was conveyed through a few books including: Baker's Go Away Ruthie; Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now; and, Smith's Hold Yourself Dear. Marriages in each case were revealed as weak and undesirable ones--the couples married because they believed the girl was pregnant, not because they actually sought a life together. In the books by Baker and Smith, the pregnancies were real; in the Hinton book, however, the girl merely thought she was pregnant and later learned that she was not. The books by Smith and Baker also reflected the attitude that pregnancy before marriage was as much the boy's fault as the girl's. Girls apparently accepted total responsibility for their pregnancy in four books: Me and Jim Luke by Branscum; Don't Look and It Won't Hurt by Peck; Leslie by Sherburne; and, Plague of Frogs by Terris. In the Branscum book, a girl who had been raped and impregnated determined to keep her child despite public reaction. In the Peck book a pregnant teenage girl, deserted by her boyfriend, 312 took the responsibility for finding and moving to an unwed mother's home and putting her child up for adoption. A similar situation was depicted in Sherburne's Leslie. In Plague of Frogs a young girl set out to have a child of her own and went through several obstacles to achieve her dream. Only Go Away Ruthie by Baker explicitly revealed an unmarried pregnant girl as embarrassed that she was pregnant. Unmarried expectant fathers of children were almost always shown as unhappy about their circumstances. In cases when they decided to marry the pregnant girls, they felt that their own future hopes were diminished. Characterizations such as these were portrayed in Baker's Go Away Ruthie and Smith's Hold Yourself Dear. Adult characters frequently had disdain for unmarried, pregnant girls; however, these attitudes were usually counter-balanced in the same books by more tolerant attitudes of other adults.and younger characters. Portrayals such as these were presented in: Go Away Butnie_by Baker; Don't Look and It Won't Hurt by Peck; le§l1e_by Sherburne; Hold Yourself Dear by Smith; and, Plague of Frog§_by Terris. In the latter book, Marcella's father cursed her and her baby. This was the most extreme negative attitude found regarding unwed mothers and their off—spring; the same book showed friends supporting Marcella. Bonham's Viva Chicano had a unique representation of young people's attitudes toward adults who were permissive about teenage sexual activity. Keeny condemed a woman who sponsored a "halfWay 313 house," in part, for her indirect support for sexual activity and pregnancy among teenage girls. In one of the more realistic portrayals in relation to unwed teenage pregnancy, Terris's Plague of Frogs showed young people as being as much-~or more-—concerned about who the father was as they were about the pregnant girl, her baby, and their future. Joking about premarital pregnancy was revealed in two books: Terris's Plague of Frog§_and Garden's The Loners. In the latter book, when Paul first encountered Jenny, they were in a hospital corridor. When they inquired as to what each was doing in the hospital Jenny responded, jokingly, that she could be at the hospital for a rabbit test but that she had no boyfriend; Paul did not find the joke funny and, in fact, was so embarrassed that Jenny felt the need to apologize. In Ney's Ox Goes North when a teenage boy called his wealthy grandmother to request a large sum of money, she automatically suspected that he had "gotten himself in trouble with some girl“ and was willing to give him the money outright. More diverse attitudes about pregnancy were revealed in a few books. In Plague of Frogs by Terris some characters were extremely upset when an unmarried girl eight months pregnant danced with liveli- ness and joy at the wedding celebration of another. Whether people were concerned about the pregnant girl's dancing or her unmarried state was not clear. Alice Colver's Sally, Star Patient depicted a young bride-to-be saying: ". . . All I need now is for Janet to have her baby in time to walk down the aisle ahead of me" (p. 180). The implication was that the prospective bride would be embarrassed to 314 have a woman nine months pregnant in her wedding. An interesting contrast to this attitude was portrayed in Klein's Naomi in the Middle when a mother of two continued tennis lessons through her pregnancy (and illustrations even showed her in short shorts). Pregnant women were depicted as very egocentric in Winifred Madison's Bird on the Wing and Barbara Schoen's A Spark of Joy. In the Madison book, a young pregnant woman who already had a couple of children was so self-centered (and perhaps insecure) that she was inhospitable to guests. Schoen's book was more explicit in conveying a pregnant woman's egocentric attitude: . . Being pregnant is a little like being in love. It is hard to concentrate on anything else (p. 66). One of the few characters who accepted news of a pregnancy coolly was shown in Schoen's A Spark of Joy, Presumably Jim's boss was less than pleased that Jim was about to become a father because he thought becoming a father might detract some of Jim's attention from work. Later, the reader was given reason to believe that the boss had been cool about Jim's becoming a father because his own wife was barren, much to his disappointment. Only a few books depicted the usual circumstances of a woman who has children giving advice to women pregnant for the first time. An interesting situation showing this was found in Schoen's A Spark gf_ggy_where pregnant Ellen was given advice by her friend Alison. Then while Ellen's first-born was still an infant, she in turn gave advice to the younger pregnant ines of two of her husband's colleagues. In each case, the women seemed to put as much stock--if not more--in 315 what their advisors said as in information they gleaned from doctors, nurses, books, and the like. A Spark of Joy by Schoen was the only book which depicted a woman as being bored during pregnancy. Ellen conscientiously worked at npt being bored after her third month of pregnancy. Attitudes about childbirth were revealed in fifteen books. In most books, childbirth was an event to be celebrated. All of the books showed people considering childbirth as a natural, normal human function, as in: Me and Jim Luke by Branscum; Sally, Star Patient by Colver; Naomi in the Middle by Klein; and, Plague of Frogs by Terris. Schoen's A Spark of Joy singularly depicted negative feelings in the process of childbirth; Ellen felt some pain and loneliness when she was in the delivery room. Luz, in Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way, had horrible dis- comfort during pregnancy due to her undetected heart condition but she attributed her difficulties to such factors as heat and poverty. When Luz died of a heart attack, her family was amazed to learn that her infant had been saved by surgery. Four books revealed attitudes relating to illegitimacy. In Nat Hentoff's In the Country of Ourselves, a young black teacher was extremely concerned about the function of a school for an illegitimate child; she said trying to make the child learn was not the point but rather that: 316 . . You got a child whose mother's got nine others, a boy who's never seen his father, you have to make him know we want him, we need him. He's why we're here--. . . . ?“ (p. 35) In S. E. Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now, teenage Mark had known for years that he was illegitimate and, at age nine, he had seen his parents kill each other in a drunken brawl. Bryon, whose mother had taken Mark in after the deaths of his parents, puzzled over Mark's early and apparently easy acceptance of his illegitimacy as well as the tragic death of his parents. . . . "He ain't my real father. My real father was a cowboy, here for the rodeo. The old lady said he had gold hair and gold eyes just like mine and that he won all kinds of prizes at the rodeo." . . . It had never seemed to bother him. But then, nothing did. Maybe it had, and I just never knew it (p. 57). In Don't Look at Me That Way by Caroline Crane, eighteen year old Rosa was one of Luz's several illegitimate children. Several of the children didn't know their various fathers and Rosa didn't even know her father's name. Luz was not bothered by her promiscuity or the lack of financial support by her various lovers for her large, poverty-stricken family. Her application for public housing was reportedly turned down because she had no husband living with her and she did have several illegitimate children; however, those officials rejecting the housing application were the only people who took such a negative view of Luz's behavior. Though Rosa loved her mother and understood her promiscuous behavior, she experienced difficulties due to her illegitimacy and resented having been born into a circle from which she could not escape. Rosa's boyfriend overlooked the squalor in which Rosa's family lived and her mother's 317 promiscuous behavior with the attitude that the way Luz loved her children: "She's like the Holy Mother" (p. 133). In Plague of Frogs by Terris, sixteen year old Marcella enraged her handsome father so much that he finally told her that he had always wondered if she was really his child--a girl with an ugly facial birthmark like hers. In fact, he became so violent that a neighbor, fearing for Marcella's safety, sent her father away. Five books depicted attitudes toward adoption. When unwed teenagers put their infants up fer adoption in Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt and in Zoa Sherburne's Leslie, most people agreed that the girls had made the best decision for all concerned. But, not all people had such positive attitudes about adoption as an alternative for unwed teenage mothers. A contrast in adult attitudes was evidenced in Leslie: When one of the girls who lived in the apartment building had an illegitimate baby and gave it up for adoption, Mrs. Haley [about fifteen or twenty years older than teenage Leslie's mother] thought the girl had done the right thing. "It'll be hard on Dee, but giving up her baby now is better than having both of them suffer in the years to come." Leslie's mother thought it shocking that Dee should be un- married and pregnant in the first place, but that she would give away her child was just plain wicked. She was sorry only for Dee's parents because they were good respectable people with other children to think about (pp. 44-45). Nothing But a Stranger by Hale revealed the attitude that putting one's child up for adoption is a viable alternative for parents who are unable fer whatever reason to adequately care for their natural children. lagrje_by Bradbury and Nothing But a Stranger by Hale revealed the anguish that children who have been adopted can feel--even in the 318 best situations-~as well as their curiosity about their natural parents and the circumstances which precipitated their being put up fer adoption. In the book by Hale, a sibling used knowledge of her older sister's adoption to inflict an emotional injury and to establish what she perceived as her own superiority as a natural child of their I parents. Neufeld's Edgar Allan published in 1968, revealed that while many people admired those who adopted children, they also had strong beliefs about what kind of adoption was "right." These attitudes were clearly shown by Reverend Fickett's family, congregation, and neighbors when he and his wife, in a segregated town, initiated procedures to adopt a black child. The Ficketts were first admired fer their adoptive plans but when the child to be adopted didn't meet community requirements, people ostracized and persecuted the family to the point that Edgar Allan was returned to an agency and the Ficketts moved to another town. In general, putting a child up for adoption as well as adopting one were shown as acts of love and as beneficial to all concerned. Parents who adopted children were revealed as especially loving and generous. Though abortion was not portrayed in any book, attitudes towards it were revealed in Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt and in Terris's Plague of Frogg, In each book, abortion was mentioned as a viable alternative for an unwed pregnant teenager; in the former book a representative of a home fer unwed mothers introduced this notion and in the latter book two young teenagers indicated the 319 possibility'UDan unwed pregnant friend. In both books, abortion seemed to be tolerated by most people; however, neither of the unwed pregnant girls gave the idea of having an abortion one second of thought. Eleven books revealed attitudes about the preparation for, and care of, infants and new mothers. Young married couples were usually depicted as believing that they must make material preparation fer a baby: budgeting, shopping, special arrangements for clothing and a room fer the infant. Family and friends of these young couples were generally shown to believe that they had partial responsibility for these preparations. Books with portrayals such as these in- cluded: The Making of Joshua Cobb by Hodges; A Spark of Joy by Schoen; The Drowning Boy by Terris; and Just One Indian Boy by Witheridge. Attitudes about the importance of cleanliness and comfort for infants and new mothers were made clear in several books, including: A Spark of Joy by Schoen and Plague of Frogs by Terris. The attitude that a new mother must be careful not to over-extend herself was made especially clear in Blume's Then Again, Maybe I Won't when Angie's mother and father-in-law presented her with the gift of a nurse for the first few weeks after her first child's birth, though-«most certainly--part of the reason for this gift was status—seeking. In direct contrast to this was Rosa's confusion as to why a young socialite mother of two, in Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way, needed special assistance when her own mother--living in extreme poverty and without a husband present--had managed with seven children. 320 In Don't Look at Me That Way by Crane and Me and Jim Luke by Branscum breast-feeding was used for convenience, cost factors, and--due to belief in an old wives' tale--birth control. The young socialite mother in Crane's book did not engage in breast-feeding though she made clear her appreciation for those who did because it seemed "so mother-earthish." Attitudes about childless, married people were clearly expressed in A Spark of Joy_by Barbara Schoen and in Stock-Car Racer by W. E. Butterworth as very sympathetic. In the latter book, Uncle Comer tried to explain to his nephew Dave why his wife and their housekeeper, Aunt Leslie, seemed so possessive of him: ". . . What we've got here is two middle aged women . . . who have nothing much to do with their time but watch the sun come up and go down. You've got to remember that neither of them had children. That does something to a woman. What they've got is you, Dave. They can show you off. You're sort of a stand- in for the real thing." What Comer had said about the childless women made sense. But it also applied to childless men (pp. 66-68). Fantasies and Dreams TWenty-eight b00Ks contained content revealing attitudes about fantasies, daydreams, or dreams relating to human sexuality. The attitudes were revealed through unmarried teenagers and young I adults; males were portrayed in slightly more than half the instances found. Most characters had positive or pleasurable feelings about their fantasies, daydreams, or dreams. High school males with positive feelings about daydreams and fantasies of females in whom they were interested were delineated in 321 Cormier's The Chocolate War; Hentoff's In the Country of Ourselves; Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now; Huntsberry's The Big Hang Up; Rinkoff's I Need Some Time; Stolz's The Edge of Next Year; Trivers' I Can Stop Any Time I Want; and Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow. In most instances, males consciously sought the pleasure of daydreams or fantasies involving their female interests when they were unable to be with them due to school, work, or some other routine function. Teenage and young adult females with positive feelings about daydreams and fantasies to improve reality were revealed in less routine situations. In Donia Whiteley Mills' The Rules of the (Game, eighteen year old Cindy sought to fantasize that John was at her bedside after she was hospitalized due to an automobile accident he caused. Canyon of Decision by Granger depicted Jo, a high school senior, as consciously seeking to fantasize being in a romantic setting with her boyfriend after being separated from him. In Winifred Madison's Bird on the Wing, teenage Liz, with an unhappy home life and no sdcial life, actively sought fantasy about a former boyfriend whom she could not even visualize well: . .Again she conjured a scene with him, driving down Highway 101 with the hot sun above, the refreshing salt breezes off the Pacific and Rick's arm around her (p. 56). Piper, in Lawrence's Inside the Gate, planned to reflect on her first date with Mitch, a high school dropout. Moreover, she planned to fantasize that Mitch was a college boy and put herself in a suitably glamourous role. Later, when Mitch wasn't around, Piper sought a vicarious romantic life through books and fantasy. 322 In The Rules of the Game by Mills, Cindy, a college freshman, partially responded to Pete's sexual advances by choosing to fantasize that he was John--who had recently broken her heart. Nine books revealed young people seeking to fantasize about a future life with another. In Huntsberry's The BigHangr p and Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow high school boys enjoyed spending time fantasizing what living with certain females would be like. High school girls were similarly revealed in Cavanna's The Country Cousin, Laklan's Surf With Me, Maxwell's Just Dial a Number, and Walden's Walk in a Tall Shadow. In three books male and female characters jointly fantasized about a future together: Griffith's Runaway; Lawrence's Inside the Gate; and Rinkoff's I Need Some Time. An atypical example of a character seeking fantasy was evidenced in Peck's Don't Look and It Won't Hurt. Seventeen year old Ellen--unmarried, pregnant, and deserted by her boyfriend-~used fantasies to escape from reality and as hope (albeit false hope) for the future. Ellen wanted to believe her fantasies and fought those who tried to dispel them; a doctor in the story explained this syndrome as commonly occurring in unwed, pregnant females. In Hale's Nothing But a Stranger eighteen year old Holly, (concerned about hurting a former boyfriend, sought to escape her guilt through dreaming of her current boyfriend. All characters who experienced fantasies, daydreams, or dreams found them pleasurable to some extent. However, in six books some negative feelings were evidenced when the flights from reality were considered too distracting or disconcerting. Sherburne's Leslie 323 singularly depicted a young girl who felt the need to push thoughts of a young male from her mind. In Hall's Sticks and Stones, Tom was disgusted that thoughts of Ward kept him from studying and invaded his sleep. Orlando, in The Friends by Guy, lamented that he was unable to eat, sleep, or do anything without Ruby being in his thoughts. In Griffith's Runaway, seventeen year old Phil, frequently daydreamed and fantasized about his girlfriend with the result of tears and deep depression. In Garden's The Loners teenage Paul became angry when, at the funeral of his dearly loved grandfather, his thoughts were pervaded by Jenny. A similar incident occurred later when Paul took an academic examination crucial to his future. In Blume's Inen_ Again, Maybe I Won't thirteen year old Tony frequently fantasized and dreamed about girls; however, he wished he could constantly play basketball because that was the only time he didn't think of girls or familial concerns. Tony was also revealed as having such guilt about his dreams that he couldn't discuss them with his psychiatrist though he sometimes wanted to do so. In Stock-Car Racer by W. E. Butterworth, high school teachers overlooked a boy's daydreaming in class as an ". . . infrequent lapse into girl-considering by an otherwise calm-headed A student" (p. 24). Body Functions Four books contained content revealing attitudes toward body functions. Young female characters in Shadi by Embry and Don't Look and It Won't Hurt by Peck correlated the onset of their menstruation with bad times. Sixteen year old Carol in the Peck book thought, 324 with anguish, that her "pathetic puberty" would creep along forever. In the Embry book, seventh grade Emma had looked forward to menstru- ating because in her Navajo culture it was an event to be celebrated as entry into womanhood; however, when girls at her school made clear that they thought the celebrations were "square," Emma tried to avoid hers. Though Emma was glad, after the fact, that she had a ceremony of celebration at her grandmother's insistence--she correlated the beginning of bad times for her family with the celebration date. In Neufeld's Edgar Allan, Mary Nell (alias M. N.) was so unpredictable upon beginning menstruation that some family members avoided her; her mother, however, understood and was tolerant of M. N.'s erratic behavior. In The Chocolate War by Cormier, Emile was a sexually per verted high school boy who experienced pleasure by leaving feces unflushed in school toilets and thinking how repulsed the next person at that toilet would be. Summary of Findings The question which provided the basis for the category "Sexual Attitudes" was: What is revealed, explicitly or implicitly, to be the nature of attitudes regarding human sexuality? Eighty-five of the 100 books in the study sample were found to contain content revealing human sexual attitudes. TWelve sub-categories were found: appearance; romance; flirting; gestures of affection; sexual activity; marriage; adult supervision; 325 obscenities; human anatomy and body exposure; procreation; fantasies; and, body functions. These sub-categories are presented here, as in Table 13, proceeding from the most to least frequently occurring. In 1965, nine of the twelve sub-categories were treated as compared to totals of eleven and twelve all other years (see Table 14). This particular observation cannot be justifiably identified as indicating a trend in the study sample. However, numerous trends of sexual attitudes were discernable in the ten year period, 1965- 1974. Sexual attitudes were revealed through characters of a wide age range and varying marital states; most, however, were those of unmarried teenagers and young adults. Appearance Seventy-five books contained content revealing attitudes relating to such matters of appearance as physical attractiveness and attire. The pervading attitude was that a clean, well-groomed, fashionable, and comely appearance is highly valued. Characters of all ages reflected this attitude but it was most significant for, and apparent in, teenage females. Special efforts were consistently made by almost all characters to achieve an appearance as attractive as possible, especially for dates and special occasions; this was particularly apparent when physical beauty and/or financial resources were limited. Physical attractiveness was so important to some females that they endured sometimes painful efforts at beautification; in most cases, endurance resulted in rewards. Physical attractiveness 326 TABLE l3.--Number of Books in which Sexual Attitudes were Revealed, 1965-1974. L0 to N co 0‘ O r- N m d’ 7': 5 5 5 E E E E E 5 2'3 E Appearance 6 8 8 8 7 8 8 7 8 7 75 Romance 7 8 6 7 8 8 7 5 6 7 69 Flirting 6 9 6 5 6 7 7 6 8 6 66 Gestures of Affection 5 7 7 4 5 7 7 7 8 6 63 Sexual Activity 3 4 4 5 5 6 5 5 8 7 52 Marriage 4 4 5 3 7 7 6 5 4 5 50 Adult Supervision 3 6 5 4 5 5 6 5 6 4 49 Obscenities l 3 3 4 7 5 4 8 7 42 Human Anatomy and Body Exposure 2 2 6 5 5 4 4 38 Procreation 3 3 l 2 4 6 4 2 5 34 Fantasies and Dreams 2 3 3 l 3 5 4 3 4 28 Body Functions 1 l l l 4 TABLE l4.--Number of Sexual Attitude Subjects as Revealed in Books per Year. 1.0 to 1x 00 01 o .— N m <- 2 L0 to to £0 0 N N N N N «OJ 3 2 33 S? 92 .°—‘ 2 .°—‘ 51‘ .92 13 Subjects Revealed 9 11 11 12 11 11 12 12 11 12 112 Books Containing Data 8 9 8 9 8 8 8 8 10 9 85 327 was admired in members of one's own sex, as well as of the opposite sex. Association with physically attractive others was important to most characters. Social isolates, portrayed in a few books, were described as having unattractiveness among their problems. Another attitude frequently encountered was that appropriate appearance is relative to time, place, age, and sex. Most frequently shown through teenage girls' attire, coiffures, and use of cosmetics, the attitude was also revealed in other ways. In several books teenage girls believed it was important to appear as more mature and worldly-wise to maximize male interest in them. These girls had only limited success in attracting and maintaining male interests. Further, they often experienced ridicule and/or rejection by many of their peers, particularly females, and developed questionable reputations. A few books published in more recent years portrayed parents and their teenage daughters as having differing attitudes about appropriate attire fer the girls. Generally, the girls disregarded or rebutted parental objections. A few families urged teenage girls to develop more feminine appearances to compensate for very strong interests in academics or activities stereotypically considered for males. In one book the rumor that a teenage boy was a homosexual was partially attributed to the fact that his long, graceful hands did not meet the masculine status quo. Numerous books reflected the attitude that many personal qualities are often valued more than an attractive physical appearance. Frequently this attitude evolved over a period of time in which characters grew to know each other and, thus, placed 328 less importance on appearance than on other personal qualities--of a positive or a negative nature. Intelligence was the personal quality most often revealed as being valued over physical attractive— ness. Other qualities sometimes prized were: dedication to family, friends, and responsibilities; thoughtfulness; integrity; altruism; and talent. Characters perceived as good-looking were usually considered less attractive when those around them realized strongly negative aspects of their personalities such as a lack of integrity, selfishness, or viciousness. Attitudes about the importance of appearance and attire remained consistent through 1965-1974. However, changes in the appropriateness of appearance and attire, especially for females, were clearly revealed through numerous books and reflected fashion trends. Through the ten year period parents made fewer comments about, and played a lesser role in the selection of, clothing for their teenagers (usually females) indicating an increase toward a laissez-faire attitude. Romance Sixty-nine books contained content revealing attitudes toward romance. The pervading attitude seemed to be that females (are in love with love. Females, from adolescence to senior years, were explicitly revealed as interested in romance in thirty books; their interest was implied in many more books. Teenage females were frequently interested in the romantic life of their friends and of older females with whom they had close relationships; they 329 questioned, listened, and watched other females to learn about love. Interest in romance was reflected in the frequently encountered incidence of females romanticizing reality and typically being disappointed with dates who did not. To a lesser extent, females were shown as interested in romance in movies, drama, poetry, music, and books--though a few females thought the romances they read about were unrealistic, too glamorized. Only four books explicitly depicted females as having little or no interest in romance; ranging in age from about eleven to sixteen, these girls were more interested in education, careers, and independence than in romance. Interest in romance was explicitly revealed in females three times more often than in males. Only ten books explicitly revealed males, four of them adolescents, as being interested in romance, whereas twenty books depicted males as having doubts about, or a lack of interest in romance. In general, these young men preferred the company of other fellows to that of girls; further, they failed to understand those who differed from them in this respect. These males were shown to be considerably more interested in cars, sports, and other special interests than in the opposite sex. Several books revealed that these attitudes are apt to change with maturation and a widening circle of friends. TWenty-six books portrayed characters with the attitude that caution is advisable in romance. Several characters were cautious about romantic inclinations either because they did not trust their own emotions or those of the person in whom they were 330 interested, usually the former. A few characters had the desire to avoid relationships which seemed to have potential for threatening plans for future scholarly endeavors and/or careers. In numerous books, parents, guardians, siblings, and friends advised caution in romantic involvements that they perceived as less than desirable; these cautionary attitudes were based on concerns about: maturity; moral standards; people being preyed upon for financial, social, or scholarly gain; and racial or ethnic diversity. Generally, cautious attitudes toward romance were proven to have merit because numerous characters had no scruples whatever about estab- lishing and using romantic involvements for purely selfish purposes. Almost all attitudes regarding romance and racial or ethnic diversity suggested caution. These attitudes were revealed in only eight books. Five books revealed people as very concerned about what others would think of them, their friends, or family members for close associations or romantic involvement with someone of a different racial or ethnic group. Generally, teenagers honestly and sincerely confronted questions about what others would think of romantic involvements such as these. A black matriarch, a Chippewa boy, and a Puerto Rican boy all explicitly revealed their belief in the importance of seeking romance with one's own kind; several white characters implied the same attitude. Two books portrayed Puerto Rican girls who expressed disbelief in the romantic interest that "WASPs" showed them. In one book, a high school boy believed that the purpose behind integration was to help fester interracial romances. The concensus of attitude reflected 331 in these eight books was that it is desirable for romance to occur within one's own racial group; however, the fact that interracial romance is recognized and often tolerated is very significant. Also of significance is the fact that the eight books were published in a seven year span: Thaler's Rosaria, 1967; Neufeld's Edgar Allan and Jackson's leaaje, 1968; Summers' You Can't Make It By Bus, 1969; and, in the 19705, Crane's Don't Look at Me That Way; Blume's Iggie's House; Hinton's That Was Then, This Is Now; and Witheridge's Just One Indian Boy, A large number of books revealed that time is a variable with potential for influencing romantic attitudes. As time passes: one comes to know oneself and significant others; the quality of one's love improves or diminishes; one's perspectives are altered; and, personal and societal values change. Several additional attitudes regarding romance were evidenced in about ten books each. People were resented when they--without invitation--attempted to involve themselves, in any way, in the romantic life of young people. Females, in particular, were very possessive of those with whom they were romantically involved; they seemed to assume almost maternal roles. A romantic inclination toward someone was differentiated from other emotions and behaviors. Generally, adult romances (usually preceding second marriages) provoked interest and pleasure in people who observed them. An atypical attitude regarding romance was revealed when a young man professed his belief that the important thing was to dis- cover a satisfying love, regardless of societal notions and norms. 332 The incidence of attitudes regarding romance was fairly consistent in 1965-1974; nevertheless, several trends were apparent. Increases were evidenced, especially in the more recent half of the sample, in attitudes regarding adult romances usually preceding second marriages (generally favorable), romance among racially or ethnically different people (generally recognized but questionable), and differentiation between romantic and other emotional or behavioral responses. Books in the more recent half of the sample also revealed less tendency for females to romanticize reality and to be as possessive as in several of the books published earlier. Further, though only four books revealed a lack of female interest in romance, three were published in the more recent half of the sample; this observation may well be indicative of a developing trend and reflect the influence of the Women's Liberation Movement on contemporary society. Flirting Content revealing numerous and diverse attitudes regarding flirting was found in sixty-six books. TWo attitudes prevailed. The most frequently encountered attitude was that flirting is an acceptable, appropriate means of showing interest in, or affection for, another. Positive attitudes about flirting were exemplified in the incidence, frequency, and intensity of behaviors, as well as the lack of regret for flirtatious behaviors. Attitudes seemed commensurate with the developmental levels of those involved. 333 Attitudes of caution or condemnation were almost consistently directed toward those who seemed to flirt: as a promise of sexual activity (outside of marriage); for reasons other than personal romantic or sexual interests; and as older (usually male) characters with teenagers. Contemptuous attitudes were strongest when the older characters were married. Those who engaged in such flirting seemed to believe that the ends justify the means and had little or no regard for the possible effects that their attitudes and behaviors might have on others. Further, they were characterized as "playboys," “loose women," and unscrupulous manipulators. When family or good friends perceived flirting of these types, they attempted to caution the "decent” teenagers who might be effected by it. In most cases when young people were warned that others might be attempting to take advantage of them through flirtatious behavior, the advice was ignored or long unheeded but the wisdom of the advice was usually recognized with time. Cautionary or contemptuous attitudes were shown in several teenagers and young adults--usually female-~who experienced hurt, jealousy, or a spirit of competitiveness when flirting occurred between someone in whom they had special interests and others. In most cases, these negative feelings seemed to be tied to sincere interest in, or affection for, special others. Negative feelings were rarely directed to the special other regardless of their role in the flirting. One trend was a definite increase in books portraying atti- tudes regarding older characters (usually married) flirting with teenagers. All but two were published in the 1970s. 334 Gestures of Affection Sixty-three books contained content revealing attitudes toward gestures of affection. Attitudes of a positive nature were, by far, most frequently revealed. The pervading attitude seemed to be whole-hearted approval of gestures of affection among unmarried or married people as demonstration of romantic or sexual interests; comfort, support, or understanding; appreciation; and traditional or habitual behavior. Positive attitudes about gestures of affection were exemplified in the incidence, frequency, and intensity of behaviors, as well as the lack of regret for demonstrating gestures of affection. Attitudes seemed commensurate with the developmental levels of those involved. Numerous characters showed interest in, and appreciation of, gestures of affection occurring among others. Generally, males seemed to be in the active role and females in the passive--except for defining limits for affectionate gestures. Relatively few negative attitudes regarding gestures of affection were found and most of those were related to illicit relationships. In each case where married persons made affectionate gestures with romantic overtones toward unmarried others, they and their behaviors were resented by many others. Most other negative attitudes were those of parents and older siblings who were con- cerned about the sexual seduction of teenage females; frequently, the concerns and pursuant_actions of older characters seemed disproportionate to the cause for concern. 335 Attitudes of caution or condemnation were almost always directed toward those who were suspected of using affectionate gestures in pursuit of selfish interests. Those who engaged in these behaviors clearly held the attitude that the ends justified the means; they apparently had no reservations about their behaviors, though in several cases others did. Rejection of affection was as likely as not to evoke vindictiveness, especially among high school teenagers. However, persons who revealed this sort of attitude through actions were condemned by most others around them. These attitudes also occurred in numerous books. 4 Several books revealed attitudes about public display of affection. In general: older characters were less tolerant of it than were younger ones; females were less shy about it than males; and, school codes varied in this regard. A slight increase in the number of books revealing attitudes regarding gestures of affection was evidenced in the more recent half of the period (see Table'HL p. 326). A few trends were apparent. The majority of attitudes regarding gestures of affection in the context of illicit relationships and familial concern about sexual seduction of teenage females were depicted in books published in the more recent half of the period sampled. Clearly evidenced through the ten years was increasing permissiveness regarding the public display of affection. 336 Sexual Activity Content revealing attitudes about sexual activity (premarital, marital, extramarital, and other) was found in fifty-one books. The attitudes related to nocturnal orgasms, masturbation and other sexual stimulation, heterosexual petting, heterosexual intercourse, homosexual relations, and variant sexual behaviors. More variance was evidenced in attitudes relating to sexual activity than any other attitudinal aspect of this study. Individual's standards regarding various types of sexual stimulation, as well as heterosexual petting and intercourse varied considerably. However, the attitudinal concensus of most teenage and young adult characters as related to these sexual behaviors was permissiveness; indeed, this was the attitude that pervaded the study sample. Young people (usually males) were frequently shown to be interested in the sexual activity of their peers. The importance of virginity preceding marriage was an attitude explicitly conveyed in only six books, by females in each case. In more recently published books, young people were especially casual about sexual activity, their own and that of others; an attitude condoning sexual freedom permeated these books. In contrast, very few adults were explicitly revealed as having permissive attitudes about premarital sexual activity and those who did were rather unrealistically portrayed. By and large, adults were shown to hold the traditional attitude that sexual intercourse should be within the bonds of marriage. 337 In general, males were more anxious for sexual activity than were females. A few of the more recently published books depicted teenage boys as having an almost desperate need to fondle a girl's breast. Males were typically depicted as placing much less importance than females on genuine fondness as a prerequisite for sexual activity; several books revealed males as unscrupulous in their demands for premarital sexual activity. Through the period analyzed an increase in male expectations for sexual activity was evidenced. Behaviors implied the attitude that the aggressive role in sexual activity is that of the male. In all cases but one, females established the limits of sexual activity; however, the limits were significantly broadened in acceptability through the ten year period. Attitudes about marital sexual activity were infrequently evidenced and most often related to belief in the importance of carefully planning procreation. Very few books implied that marital sexual intercourse, aside from the purpose of procreation was pleasurable; each was published in the more recent half of the period sampled. Indeed, one book revealed a bride who, with disappointment, realized that the intense pleasure she and her husband originally shared in sexual activity had rapidly diminished. In another book, several women were shown as wishing to avoid sexual intercourse with their husbands. In the eight books depicting extramarital relationships, attitudes evidenced related more to the breaking of marital vows 338 than to specific sexual activity. Most of these books were published in the more recent half of the period analyzed. Each of the twelve books dealing with some aspect of rape conveyed negative attitudes toward the act and the perpetrator. Only one book implied that some people may have negative attitudes toward rape victims. The predominant attitude in these books was that females, particularly those hitchhiking or alone in cities, must be cautious to avoid the possibility of rape; nevertheless, several teenage girls felt confident enough to place themselves in potentially dangerous situations in these same books. Numerous, diverse, and almost exclusively negative atti- tudes regarding homosexuality were evidenced in four books, with only one being published prior to 1972. The pervading attitude was that a homosexual is socially undesirable--a freak, a pariah. At least one character in three of the books recognized the personal and social damage that could be inflicted on a person merely accused of homosexuality; these characters had no qualms about using this knowledge to hurt or manipulate others. Attitudes relating to other aspects of sexual activity were also found. Attitudes regarding nocturnal orgasms and male masturbation were revealed in one book each; both were published in the 19705. Though the behaviors were considered normal and pleasurable in both books, the central characters regarded them with some guilt. Of the three books depicting voyeurism (only one of which was published before 1970), only one negative attitude was found; and, that was resolved when the protagonist decided it 339 was not a sin because no one was hurt. The most deviant sexual behavior evidenced was in Cormier's The Chocolate War (1974) where teenage Emile took pleasure in sadistic acts; he wanted to tell others about his pleasures but thought they would not understand. Sixty-two percent of the books containing attitudes regarding sexual activity were published in the more recent half of the period sampled; see Table'T3,p. 326. Several trends were evidenced. More recent books showed significant increases in: younger children being interested in sexual activity; diversity of attitudes; permis- siveness; and, the various aspects of sexual activity dealt with. Marriage Fifty books contained content revealing attitudes relating to marriage. Most attitudes were those of unmarried teenagers and young adults; very few attitudes were revealed through married characters' points of view. Positive attitudes were most frequently evidenced. The most prevalent attitude was that marriage is desirable. This attitude was revealed in several ways, including: plans and ' aspirations for the future; happiness in marriage; interest in, and endorsement of, marriage among one's friends and family; entry into second marriages; and lack of understanding of those who never married and those who had doubts or negative attitudes about matrimony. In most cases marriage seemed to be aspired to for sharing life with a special loved one. However, others reasons were also apparent, chiefly: companionship and a spouse to help 340 with rearing children (often in the case of second marriages); and, resolution to premarital pregnancy. Two related attitudes were revealed in numerous books. Characters were often shown to have definite opinions about the appropriate time for considering matrimony, in addition to or regardless of considerations of love. Typically, the appropriate time for considering marriage was related to educational aspirations, usually college. The importance of attaining a degree was presented in several books but simply attending college was just as frequently encountered. Characters in a few books considered the "right“ time for entertaining thoughts of marriage in terms of the accomplishment of professional, financial, or other personal goals. Most books revealed characters' attitudes about those characteristics valued in a spouse. In dating relationships physical appearance.and popularity were typically of primary importance, at least initially; however, those qualities most often valued over time and in a spouse were intelligence, kindness, integrity, and a sense of responsibility. Characters in only a few books sought marriage for prOSpective financial, cultural, or social gains. Adults with children and interests in second marriages usually believed it was important for their children to accept and like prospective spouses. When parents suspected that children did have reservations or objections to second marriages, they typically proceeded with their plans and hoped that with time the children would change their attitudes. Only one parent actually 341 based prospect of a second marriage on the contingency of her child's approval. Marriage was typically considered the appropriate, if not the only, recourse for unmarried pregnant females in five of nine books; in two other books, marriage was at least briefly considered. In two books where marriages of this sort did occur, the females were somewhat embarrassed but pleased while males resigned them- selves to the situations albeit with the feeling that they had been trapped. In each case, the sooner the marriage, the better. In general, these young people were surrounded by people who had some sympathy for youth lost, the conviction that the young people must meet their new responsibilities, and the hope that love would develop for them. Only in the more recently published books was there a move away from the notion that unwed pregnant girls should marry. Nine books contained content indicating attitudes regarding extramarital affairs; almost all were published in the more recent half of the sample. No negative attitudes were found in those (usually male) characters who attempted to, or did, indulge in extramarital sexual activity; in fact, they often seemed rather nonchalant and relatively open about their indiscretions. Most characters with knowledge of the extramarital activities of others had very negative attitudes regarding the deeds and usually felt resentment or contempt for the unfaithful spouse; nevertheless, characters only rarely divulged their knowledge to others--apparently out of love, respect, or the desire to protect the faithful spouse. 342 In general, there seemed to be a passivity regarding extramarital behaviors-~as if they were objectionable but inevitable. A high incidence of sympathy was evidenced for the wronged spouse. Teenagers were frequently shown to be curious and concerned about what prompted extramarital activities or divorce in their families; the young people sometimes wondered if they or their siblings contributed to their parents' marital discord. Attitudes relating to interracial marriage were revealed in only three books, two published in the more recent half of the sample. Mothers (black and white) were shown to have serious reservations about the prospect of interracial marriages for young peOple. A teenage couple planned to marry in spite of differing ethnic and religious background which they recognized as potentially problematic for them in terms of family and society in general. Eight books explicitly depicted characters with negative attitudes about marriage (at least for themselves). One of the books was published in 1968; two in 1969; and, five in the 19705. In six of the eight books, females were shown to be negative regarding marriage-~perhaps a reflection of the influence of the Women's Liberation Movement. Sometimes the females made clear their choice for careers and independence; sometimes they verbalized a preference for their own life-styles rather than societal norms. The two males explicitly revealed as having negative attitudes about marriage had both experienced the marital discord of their parents; both young men were cynical about matrimony. 343 An average of five books per year contained attitudes regarding marriage. One pattern observed was that two of every three books published in 1969-1971 contained attitudes about marriage; significantly, during that time period there was considerable social concern about the hippie movement, communal living, and the free love concept. Indeed, the social-sexual revolution that is purported to have occurred in the latter half of the 19605 may well be reflected here. In comparison, only sixteen books contained marital attitudes in 1965-1968 and only fourteen in 1972-1974; this observation gives further credence to the societal reflection theory. Other trends were also evidenced. In the more recent half of the sample, increases were apparent in: (l) acceptance of adults marrying for a second time; (2) an aura of inevitability regarding extramarital behaviors; and, (3) negative attitudes toward marriage, particularly among females--perhaps a reflection of the influence of the Women's Liberation Movement and, to a lesser extent, the hippie movement in the late 19605. A trend may be developing away from the attitude that premarital pregnancy necessitates marriage. Another developing trend may be the revelation of attitudes regarding marriage among racially or ethnically different people. Adult Supervision Forty-nine books revealed attitudes regarding adult super- vision--usually parental, but also that of school and camp personnel, relatives, and older friends. Two attitudes prevailed. 344 First, most adults felt responsible for at least limited supervision of their charges, particularly regarding dating. In- creasing permissiveness was evidenced in more recently published books, especially regarding curfews, unchaperoned parties, and freedom in general. Most parents wanted to know, or at least know about, those whom their children dated. Only in earlier books did parents make strict regulatory stipulations for dating, aside from curfews. Second, most young people considered parental rules and regulations ludicrous or old-fashioned but, nevertheless, facts of life requiring obedience. Only three books showed people rebelling against parental supervision. In several books (most of which were recently published), parents advised teenage daughters of anxieties regarding the girls being in certain places and situations. Hitchhiking and being alone in a city were most frequently considered dangerous. While the girls usually shared their parents cautionary attitudes, they-- nevertheless-~typically gambled on doing as they pleased without harm. In a few books parents were concerned about the friendships of their children with unwed pregnant teenagers, older age groups, or people reputed to be "fast," "loose," or homosexual. Not made clear was whether anxieties were based on the possibility of children being influenced by those whom parents viewed as less than desirable or on the probability of their reputations being 345 affected. Only in about half of these cases did young people respect parental attitudes. Attitudes of school personnel relating to human sexuality were revealed in ten books, mainly through policies regulating student behaviors. Change in societal values were clearly evidenced as increasingly permissive through the efforts to strictly regulate student appearance in 1965 to condoning coeducational housing in 1970. Though slightly over half of the attitudes regarding adult supervision were evidenced in the more recent half of the sample, more permissiveness was observed in parents and less respect fer stringent control was observed in young people. Obscenities Forty-two books contained attitudes about the use of obscenities. With numerous books depicting the incidence of obscenities in a rather neutral fashion, the pervading attitude was one of inevitability of such within a free society. Though comparatively few characters (primarily male) used obscenities, many (of both sexes) knew of their existence and were tolerant of their use. Obscene language, gestures, and media productions were taken for granted by most characters but particularly the young. Only males actively sought to enjoy obscenities. In eleven books, use of obscenities was viewed as an extremely effective means of showing contempt, instilling fright, or gaining control over another person. Characters who engaged in 346 such behaviors did so without qualms though usually they were frowned upon by others. Almost all of these portrayals were evidenced in the more recent half of the sample. Most negative attitudes were found in the several books depicting coeducational exposure to obscenities. In general, males were depicted as more concerned than females about these incidences and as feeling a necessity to defend the honor of females involun- tarily exposed to such matters. Almost three times as many attitudes were found in the more recent half of the sample as in the earlier half. None were revealed in 1965 and only in one publication in 1966, as compared to being found in eight books in 1973 and seven in 1974. As the incidence of, and permissiveness regarding, the use of obscenities increased, so did the graphicness. Human Anatomy and Body Exposure Thirty-seven books revealed attitudes regarding human anatomy and body exposure. The prevailing attitude was male interest in the female anatomy-~particularly breasts. Female recognition of these male interests was evidenced through efforts to improve figures and to dress revealingly. Though adolescent and early teenage females in several books (primarily recent publications) were especially anxious for breast development, their anticipation seemed more related to desires for maturity than to evoking male interests. In contrast, only a few books showed females as interested in the male anatomy and only one book explicitly revealed a male as interested in the develOpment of his body. 347 In the several books depicting nudity within family-type situations, attitudes were casual. In general, nudity among younger children was most acceptable and early teenagers were most self- conscious about even semi-nudity. In the two books where public nudity was mentioned (both published in 1970 and, hence, correlating with the hippie movement), attitudes revealed such behaviors as deviant or for attention getting purposes; the behaviors were frowned upon. Attitudes regarding human anatomy/body exposure were evidenced sixty-two percent of the time in the more recent half of the sample. Almost half of the attitudes were found in books published during 1970-1972; perhaps this emphasis reflects the social-sexual revolution that is purported to have occurred in the latter half of the 19605. Procreation Attitudes regarding some aspect of procreation were revealed in thirty-three books. The prevailing attitudes were that pregnancy, childbirth, and care of infants are normal human functions to be planned for and accepted, if not celebrated, in the bonds of wedlock. Most books revealed the procreational period as a time when: normal activities can be pursued; medical assistance is desirable but not essential; and, family and friends want to share preparation, pleasures, and concerns. Though several instances of unplanned 348 pregnancy were found, as were a few attitudes regarding the timeliness of procreation, no one prospective parent was described as not wanting a child. Only one book showed any negative female feelings regarding procreation. About two of every three books containing procreational attitudes revealed tolerance or appreciation regarding some means of birth control. More recently published books revealed concerns about the lack of use of birth control methods and the movement for Zero Population Growth. In five of the nine books depicting premarital pregnancy, marriage was considered the appropriate, if not the only,recourse; marriage was at least briefly considered in two additional books. This attitude seemed to reflect a need to quickly resolve an embarrassing situation rather than the needs and interests of the prospective parents and the babies. Only four books (all published in the 19705) conveyed the attitude that alternatives to marriage should be explored in cases of premarital pregnancy. In two cases, unwed mothers kept their infants and in two other cases, infants were put up for adoption. Differing opinions as to the appropriate- ness of these actions were evidenced in each book; however, the concensus of opinion supported the young mothers. Marriage was only fleetingly considered as an option in two of these books. Two books also mentioned abortion as a viable alternative, acceptable to most characters, fer unwed pregnant females; however, in neither book did unwed pregnant females give abortion any serious thought. 349 The five books dealing with adoption conveyed the general attitude that putting a child up for adoption as well as adopting one are essentially acts of love, beneficial to all concerned. Putting children up for adoption was generally viewed as a good decision for unwed pregnant females and parents unable to adequately provide fer youngsters. In two books, children experienced anguish and curiosity about their natural parents and the circumstances of their adoption. One book revealed that very strong and mainly negative attitudes may surface as many people in segregated com- munities perceive cross-racial adoption as touching their lives. Several diverse attitudes regarding illegitimacy were found in four books; all published in the 19705. In three books, the pervading attitude was sympathy for the child. An average of three books per year conveyed attitudes related to procreation. An increase in the incidence of these attitudes was evidenced in 1969-1972 when seventeen of the thirty-three books containing relevant content were published. The increase may be partially attributable to such social concerns of that time as the hippie movement, communal living, the free love concept, and the Women's Liberation Movement--all a part of the latter 19605 social- sexual revolution. Other trends were evidenced. Attitudes regarding pregnancy were three times more prevalent in the books published in 1970-1974. Use of birth control methods was appreciated throughout the sample, in familial contexts; however, in a few of the more recently pub- lished books, birth control was additionally revealed as a societal 350 concern. A few books published in the 19705 may indicate developing trends for: (l) more open, honest, and sympathetic attitudes toward illegitimacy; (2) a move away from the attitude that pregnancy out of wedlock necessitates marriage; (3) more tolerant attitudes toward those who choose to rear their children conceived out of wedlock, those who put infants up for adoption, and those who have abortions. Fantasies and Dreams Content revealing attitudes about fantasies, daydreams, or dreams relating to human sexuality was found in twenty-eight books. All but one of the attitudes were those of unmarried teenagers and young adults; slightly more than half were those of males. The prevailing attitude was that fantasies, daydreams, and dreams are pleasurable. Characters sought romantically and sexually oriented fantasies to improve reality, usually in the absence of steady dates, and to envision future life with another. In three books couples enjoyed sharing and developing fantasies of the future. Only two books revealed characters who sought fantasies to escape realities they did not wish to face. In six books characters who experienced some pleasure in fantasies were also shown to have negative feelings when the fantasies were considered too distracting or disconcerting. A very significant increase in the revelation of attitudes regarding fantasies, daydreams, and dreams was observed. In 1965, not one book revealed such attitudes; in 1966-1969, nine books did; 351 and, in 1970-1974, nineteen books. The fantasies also became more graphic and more sexually oriented. Bodnyunctions Four books contained content revealing attitudes toward body functions. Three books presented attitudes regarding the onset of menstruation: teenage females in two books equated it with bad times; in another book, within a family, only the mother seemed tolerant of a teenage girl's erratic behavior. In one book a high school boy found pleasure in using feces to repulse others, though he knew better than to tell others of his pleasure. With one of these books having been published in 1968 and three in the 19705, a trend may be developing to reveal more atti- tudes regarding body functions. Chapter Summary_ Numerous and diverse attitudes regarding human sexuality were evidenced in eighty-five books in the study sample. The attitudes reflected a wide range of human interests and concerns ranging from physical appearance to marriage and procreation to deviant sexual behavior. Generally, the attitudes revealed were those of teenagers and young adults and were of a positive nature. In general, adults were shown as less permissive than younger characters; females were shown as less permissive than males; married characters were less permissive than those who were un- married. Females seemed more concerned with romance than did males. The pervading attitude seemed to be live and let live. 352 Numerous trends relating to human sexual attitudes were discernible in 1965-1974. Permissiveness for self and others in- creased with regard to sexual activity, marriage, adult supervision, use of obscenities, human anatomy/body exposure, as well as fantasies and dreams. Trends appear to be developing toward increased per- missiveness regarding procreation and increased recognition of attitudes regarding homosexuality, deviant sexual behaviors, and body functions. Increasingly, attitudes represent various ethnic groups, age levels, and cultural, financial, and educational strata. In Chapters IV, V and VI, respectively, discussions of findings and sunmarizations have been presented relative to the three global questions providing the bases for this study: 1. What is revealed, explicitly or implicitly, to be the nature of information regarding human sexuality? 2. What is revealed, explicitly or implicitly, to be the nature of human sexual behavior? 3. What is revealed, explicitly or implicitly, to be the nature of attitudes regarding human sexuality? Chapter VII is comprised of a summary of the study, conclusions and implications based upon research results, as well as recommendations for further research. CHAPTER VII SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS Summary The purpose of this study was to determine human sexual information, behaviors, and attitudes portrayed in realistic fiction, published in 1965 through 1974, with settings in contemporary America, and intended for readers aged ten through sixteen. The major questions which this study sought to answer were: 1. What is revealed, explicitly or implicitly, to be the nature of information regarding human sexuality? 2. What is revealed, explicitly or implicitly, to be the nature of human sexual behavior? 3. What is revealed, explicitly or implicitly, to be the nature of attitudes regarding human sexuality? A thorough review of the literature revealed that forty-one graduate studies in content analysis and assessment had been conducted in the United States prior to 1976 in the field of children's litera- ture: four masters' theses and thirty-seven doctoral dissertations. Not one study dealt specifically with human sexuality. A random sample of 100 trade books, ten books per year for the period 1965-1974, was drawn from four selected professional book lists for investigation. 353 354 The method used to investigate the treatment of human sexuality as depicted in contemporary American realistic fiction for youth was content assessment. Three broad categories were chosen for investi- gation: sex information; sexual behaviors; and, sexual attitudes. Prior to actual data collection, two raters independently made checks for reliability to determine whether the research to be conducted was likely to yield meaningful results. Each of the 100 books in the sample was read twice. All passages pertinent to any of the three categories were recorded. Findings were then further classified into sub-categories which provided the bases for making judgments and drawing conclusions. Sex Information Sex information content was evidenced in twenty-eight books on sixteen topics related to human sexuality. Information was most frequently provided regarding childbirth, sexual intercourse, pregnancy, and the care of infants and new mothers; however, infor- mation was also found for: adoption, puberty, birth control, genetics, human anatomy, sexual diseases, agencies for unwed mothers, abortion, aphrodisiacs, frigidity, sterility, and homosexuality. Most information was presented accurately. In the several books where misinformation (including old wives' tales) was given, it was almost always doubted, rejected, or clarified. Friends and parents--almost always mothers--were the infor- mational sources most frequently encountered. Mass media was used as a source of information as frequently as professional people. A 355 few books revealed institutions (an unwed mothers' home, a hospital, a welfare agency, and an adoption agency) as sources of information. Informational sources seemed to be equally reliable in providing accurate information. Characters generally seemed to be in command of information as they required it. Information characters sought was typically found with little difficulty; the one notable exception was a character who researched homosexuality with less than satisfying results. Information had or sought generally seemed commensurate with characters' developmental levels. Numerous trends relating to sex information were discernible in the ten year period from which the sample was drawn. Increases were observed in: (l) the number of books revealing sex information; (2) the variety of subjects for which information was provided; (3) the incidence of detailed and graphic presentations of sex information; (4) the incidence of younger children apprised of sex information; (5) the use of friends, mass media, and professional people as sources of information; (6) the availability of sex information for young people; (7) use of multiple sources in acquiring sex information; (8) societal concern with human sexuality; and, (9) efforts by authors to provide readers with accurate sex information. Sexual Behaviors Human sexual behaviors were evidenced in eighty-four books and were found to be of seven types, in order of frequency: flirting; 356 gestures of affection; use of obscenities; sexual activity; procre- ation; fantasies and dreams; and, human anatomy and body exposure. The behaviors were shown by early adolescent through adult characters in premarital, marital, and extramarital situations. Sexual behaviors were revealed as commensurate with age and, usually, maturity levels. Generally, younger characters were more shy and more physically aggressive than older characters. Older characters' sexual behaviors were less innocent, more blatant, and more serious. In general, males were implied to be more aggressive, more sexually demanding, and more sexually active than females. Most sexual behaviors were demonstrations of sincere interest or affection or were efforts to achieve pleasure; however, other situations were found where characters indulged in sexual behaviors for such purposes as manipu- lation of others for selfish reasons, experimentation, and substi- tution for some undesirable reality. Female sexual behaviors were more routinely based on sincere interest or affection than were male behaviors; in general, the older the character, the more apparent this fact. Sexual behaviors were usually accepted as complimentary and were reciprocated. However, characters were sometimes offended, jealous, and/or vindictive when their sexual behaviors were ignored or rejected; more females (usually teenage) were portrayed as jealous and/or vindictive than males. Sixty-nine books depicted flirtatious behaviors. Most frequently characters of all ages flirted to attract attention or to show interest in, or affection for, another. However, characters 357 also flirted as a promise of sexual activity or for selfish reasons other than romantic or sexual interests. Sixty-five books revealed characters making gestures of affection such as: kissing, being physically close, holding hands, embracing, and other behaviors such as letter-writing and gift- giving. Usually characters made sincere, frequent, and varied gestures of affection to demonstrate romantic or sexual interests. However, affectionate gestures were also made to show comfort, support, understanding, or appreciation, as well demonstration of traditional or habitual behavior. In about ten percent of the books, gestures of affection were made in selfish pursuits other than of romantic or sexual interest; these behaviors seemed unusual in terms of frequency, severity, and the degree of success enjoyed by the perpetrators. Another ten percent of the books depicted rejection of affection, with a fairly even split between males and females and between non-destructive and destructive behavior as a result of perceived rejection of affection. The use of obscenities was revealed in forty-two books, usually by male characters sixteen or older in written and spoken communication; however, use of pictures, films, and objects of an obscene nature were also evidenced. Obscenities were used: (1) to escape boredom; (2) to satisfy interests or needs; (3) as endeavors at humor; and (4) as a tool of malice. Use of magazines (such as Playboy), pictures of women, jokes, and coarse language was 358 frequently apparent. Most characters were very casual in their use of obscenities. Sexual activity was revealed in forty-two books and generally seemed to be to fulfill desires for pleasure or deeper emotional involvement with another. However, instances of planned procreation and rape were also found. In one book, a teenage boy experienced nocturnal orgasm. Only one book specifically depicted (teenage) males masturbating. There was no hint of orgasm or masturbation among females. Numerous (usually teenage) males and a few females were sexually aroused by visual stimuli and some by auditory and tactile stimuli. Only one book described the incidence of a penile erection without apparent stimulation. Unmarried teenagers and young adults were explicitly depicted in eighteen books and implied in several others as engaging in heterosexual petting. Typically, characters who petted did so regularly-—almost routinely--with mutual interest and enjoyment. In the few cases where attempts to pet with unwilling partners were portrayed, the aggressors were males seeking sexual pleasure with- out romantic interests and the unconsenting females used the strongest tactic available to elude the antagonist. In a few books younger teenage males fought their desires to pet. Sexual intercourse in other than normative marital situ- ations was explicitly or implicitly revealed in twenty-six books. Premarital sexual intercourse was encountered more than twice as 359 often as extramarital sexual intercourse. Usually at least one of the characters felt an emotional tie to the partner. In two-thirds of the books where characters engaged in premarital sexual intercourse, no apparent negative side-effects occurred and the behavior was almost taken for granted. Characters in more recently published books were far less inhibited and more tolerant of premarital sexual intercourse for themselves and fer others. In the relatively few books where premarital pregnancy occurred, characters frequently married. In the more recently published books adoption, abortion, or a single mother keeping a child were revealed as viable options. While premarital sexual activity increased in 1965-1974, there was no equivalent increase in pregnancy or related concerns. Males were generally shown as more demanding than females for sexual intercourse and more casual about it; however, the latter point was less evident in the more recent publications. Eight books revealed extramarital sexual behaviors. Generally, extramarital relationships were of a rather indiscriminate, transitory nature. TWo books depicted men who divided attention between wives and lovers. In three instances, extramarital lovers eventually established a life together. In three books persons demanded divorces due to spouses' extramarital activities. In one book, a husband and wife killed each other due to the woman's infidelity; in another, a wife tolerated her husband's affairs as meeting some of his needs that she was apparently unable to fulfill; in other cases, extra- marital indiscretions were not resolved. In the eight books 360 depicting extramarital behaviors, six males attempted promiscuity as compared to four females. Sexual intercourse in wedlock was scarcely alluded to and then usually in terms of planned procreation. In the few books revealing sexual intercourse for other than procreational purposes, only one showed spouses as having mutual pleasure; typically, husbands were anxious while wives were stubbornly opposed to participation. Only one book explicitly revealed a homosexual relationship; the participants were young adult military men-~one of whom professed to be bisexual with a preference for males. However, this book and one other depicted relationships which might justifiably be inter- preted as homosexual; between males in one book and females in the other. In both cases, a teenager and a young adult were involved. Six books depicted the act, the perpetrator, or the result of rape; six additional books described the cautious behavior of females to avoid the possibility of rape. It was made clear that rape can happen anywhere but that lone females are most vulnerable, particularly when hitchhiking. Rape was shown as a violent act and implications were made that the perpetrator might succeed in committing the act without reprisal; only two books depicted alleged rapists going to jail and only two others alluded to rape as being a criminal act. In three books, teenage males displayed voyeuristic behavior. Only in one book did a character make special efforts to engage in the practice; in all other instances, boys simply took advantage of window views they encountered. 361 Only one character in the study had sadistic sexual tendencies. No other sexually deviant behavior was evidenced. Twenty-seven books, through characters sixteen or more years of age, dealt with some aspect of procreation: birth control; pregnancy; birth; adoption; abortion; preparation for, and care of, infants and new mothers. Married characters were portrayed by a ratio of two to one. Extramarital procreation was explicitly revealed in only one book. Use of birth control methods was implied in twenty-one books, usually through statements about choosing to have a child. In the few books where use of birth control methods was explicitly revealed, it was in the context of the desirability or the effectiveness of such practices. Seventeen books depicted pregnancy; slightly more than half of the cases were planned and within wedlock. Generally: couples delayed conception until they felt capable of providing well for children; people lived routinely through pregnancy except for frequently encountered efforts to materially prepare for infants; and, women received regular medical attention. The only symptoms of illness or fatigue experienced by any of the women were morning dizziness, revulsion of food, or aches in the small of the back; only one woman was shown as experiencing any of these ailments more than just occasionally. The only extreme illness depicted during pregnancy was attributed to a woman's uncared for heart condition and the poverty-stricken environment in which she lived. 362 One book depicted an apparently planned pregnancy where the unwed teenage mother had no intention of marriage. Nearly half of the pregnancies were unplanned and occurred out-of-wedlock, though marriage sometimes followed. Nine of the fourteen books depicting childbirth portrayed it simply as a pregnant woman going to a hospital, having a baby, and returning home; more recent publications tended to be more explicit. Natural childbirth was depicted in three books and none of the women experienced difficulty of any sort. In fact, only one woman was explicitly shown to experience pain and mental anguish in childbirth. In one book doctors saved an infant when they performed immediate surgery on a woman who suffered a fatal heart attack. No book explicitly described complications in childbirth or less than normal, healthy infants--even though a couple were born in the eighth month of development and in dire circumstances. In the eleven books depicting preparation for, and care of, infants and new mothers, (usually) young married couples worked to make special arrangements for room, furniture, and supplies that they anticipated need for; typically, family and friends assisted in the preparations. The importance of cleanliness and rest for new mothers and their infants was revealed. Breast-feeding was depicted in only two books. No difficulty was shown in preparing for infants or in new mothers' recuperation; only one book depicted a new mother as experiencing any difficulty whatever in caring for an infant--and that was due to lack of maternal self-confidence. 363 When infants were orphaned in two books, family members arranged to keep them. Five books depicted some aspect of adoption. In two cases each, unwed pregnant teenagers signed their infants over for adoption and parents put children up for adoption when they were unable to adequately care for their youngsters. In two books, teenagers experienced mental anguish about questions of true identity and searched for answers though only one persevered until all information was obtained. In almost every case, all matters of adoption were portrayed as acts of love. The availability of abortion for unwed pregnant teenagers was revealed in two books though neither girl expressed interest in the procedure. Twenty-eight books revealed unmarried teenagers and young adults as having fantasies, daydreams, or dreams relating to human sexuality. Males demonstrated these behaviors in slightly over half of the cases and their fantasies tended to be more sexually explicit than those of females. All of the behaviors revealed curiosity about or desires for the present or the future. Usually fantasies were about merely being with a person in whom one was interested; however, sometimes characters fantasized about a future life with some significant other. A few characters fantasized to escape reality. In three books, female characters compared their fantasies to literary experiences which seemed more desirable but less possible. The sexual nature of fantasies was usually only 364 implied; however, a few were rather explicit regarding such matters as petting and masturbation. Twenty-one books revealed behaviors relating to human anatomy and/or body exposure; strong sexual concerns were almost always evidenced. Generally, characters were casual about nudity and body exposure, especially with younger people and in familial settings. Typically, older characters showed more modesty though there were exceptions--particularly among the more recent publications. Nudity within the family was usually revealed as when persons were bathing or dressing and through younger children playing within their homes. However, two more recent publications depicted nude, segregated swimming in familial contexts. A few females dressed to accentuate or expose body parts in order to attract males, to defy parents, and (in one case) for a job as a topless dancer. Incidence of these types of behavior were more frequent among the books more recently published: In one book, coeds played strip poker; in another, Yippies stripped in public; and, in another, a mother bared herself to the waist to stress her convictions about beauty to her daughters. Almost always, characters' behaviors were true to personal standards though these varied through time and according to age groups. An average of six sub-categories per year were dealt with in 1965-1969 as compared to an average of seven sub-categories per year in 1970-1974. Numerous trends were discernible. Increases were evidenced in: (1) characters flirting as a promise of sexual activity; (2) older characters (usually married) flirting with 365 teenagers; (3) affectionate gestures being made more openly and more casually; (4) married characters making more affectionate gestures toward unmarried characters (usually teenagers); (5) the use of more obscenities; (6) more diverse sexual activity on a more routine basis; (7) premarital and extramarital sexual behaviors; (8) nonchalance and less commitment of females regarding sexual activity; (9) pregnancy out-of—wedlock; (10) fantasies and dreams of a sexual nature; (11) human anatomy and body exposure. Throughout the period sampled, behaviors were more graphically portrayed. More recently published books placed far less emphasis on "double standards" for males and females. Behaviors were increasingly diverse, liberal, and more widely tolerated from 1965-1974. Sexual Attitudes Eighty-five books revealed human sexual attitudes in twelve sub-categories: appearance; romance; flirting; gestures of affection; sexual activity; marriage; adult supervision; obscenities; human anatomy and body exposure; procreation; fantasies; and body functions. Sexual attitudes were revealed through characters of a wide age range and varying marital states; most, however, were those of unmarried teenagers and young adults. Attitudes regarding human sexuality generally: were commensurate with age and maturity levels of characters; were of a positive nature; and showed adults as less permissive than younger characters; females as less permissive than males; and, married characters as less permissive than unmarried characters. Most characters revealed personal standards of a higher, 366 less liberal nature than they expected or tolerated of society as a whole. Seventy-five books revealed attitudes regarding appearance. Most characters--but especially female teenagers--reflected the pervading attitude that a clean, well-groomed, fashionable, and comely appearance is highly valued. Most characters worked to achieve as attractive appearance as possible, especially for dates and special occasions; this was particularly apparent when physical beauty or financial resources were limited. Sometimes females endured painful efforts at beautification. Physical attractiveness was admired in the opposite sex and in one's own. Association with physically attractive others was important to most characters; social isolates had unattractiveness among their problems. Appropriate appearance was frequently relative to time, place, age and sex--frequently through teenage girls' appearance and attire, but also in other ways. Several teenage girls believed it was important to appear as nore mature and worldly-wise to maximize male interest; they experienced only limited success in attaining goals, ridicule or rejection by many of their peers (e5pecially females), and developed questionable reputations. In the few more recent publications where parents and teenage daughter had differing attitudes about appropriate attire, the girls generally disregarded or rebutted parental objections. A few families urged teenage girls to develop more feminine appearances to compensate for very strong interests in academics or activities stereotypically considered for males. In one book a teenage boy was rumored to be 367 a homosexual partly because his long, graceful hands did not meet the masculine status quo. The attitude that many personal qualities are often valued more than an attractive physical appearance was reflected in numerous books as evolving over a period of time in which characters grew to know each other and, thus, placed less importance on appear- ance than on other personal qualities-~of a positive or a negative nature. Intelligence was most often valued over physical attractive- ness. Other qualities sometimes prized were: dedication to family, friends, and responsibilities; thoughtfulness; integrity; altruism; and talent. Characters perceived as good-looking were usually considered less attractive when strongly negative aspects of their personalities were recognized by others. In sixty-nine books, attitudes toward romance were revealed. The pervading attitude that females are in love with love was explicitly revealed in thirty books and implied in many more. Teenage females were frequently interested in the romantic life of their friends and of older females with whom they had close relationships. Females frequently romanticized reality and were typically disappointed with dates who did not. To a lesser extent, females were shown as interested in romance as portrayed through media though a few thought the romances they read about were un- realistic and too glamorized. Only four books explicitly depicted females who had little or no interest in romance; ranging in age from about eleven to sixteen, these girls were more interested in education, careers, and independence. 368 Interest in romance was explicitly revealed in females three times more often than in males. Only ten books explicitly revealed males, four of them adolescents, as interested in romance, whereas in twenty books males either had doubts about romance or a lack of interest in it. Generally, these young men preferred the company of other fellows; further, they failed to understand those who differed from them in this respect. These males were shown as more interested in cars, sports, and other special interests than in females. Several books, however, revealed that these attitudes are apt to change with maturation and a widening circle of friends. In twenty-six books, characters had the attitude that caution is advisable in romance. Several characters were cautious about romantic inclinations either because they did not trust their own emotions or those of the person in whom they were interested, usually the former. A few characters desired to avoid relationships which seemed to have potential for threatening plans for future scholarly endeavors or careers. Numerous parents, guardians, siblings, and friends advised caution in romantic involvements that they perceived as less than desirable based on concerns about: maturity; moral standards; people being preyed upon for financial, social, or scholarly gain; and racial or ethnic diversity. Generally, cautious attitudes were proven to have merit because numerous characters had no scruples whatever about establishing and using romantic involvements for purely selfish purposes. Almost all attitudes regarding romance and racial or ethnic diversity suggested caution as revealed in eight books. In five 369 books people were very concerned about what others would think of them, their friends or family members for close associations or romantic involvements with someone of a different racial or ethnic group; generally, teenagers honestly and sincerely confronted questions such as these. American Indian, Black, Puerto Rican, and Caucasion characters explicitly revealed belief in the importance of seeking romance with one's own kind. In two books, Puerto Rican girls expressed disbelief in romantic interest that "WASPs" showed them. In one book, a high school boy believed that the purpose behind integration was to help foster interracial romances. Though the concensus of attitude reflected in these eight books was the desirability of romance occurring within one's own racial group, the fact that interracial romance was recognized and often tolerated is significant. A large number of books revealed that time is a variable with potential for influencing romantic attitudes. As time passes: one comes to know oneself and significant others; the quality of one's love improves or diminishes and one's perspectives are altered; and, personal and societal values change. Additional attitudes regarding romance were evidenced in about ten books each. People were resented when they attempted to involve themselves in the romantic life of young people. Females, in particular, were very possessive of those with whom they were romantically involved; they seemed to assume almost maternal roles. Romantic inclinations were differentiated from other emotions and behaviors. Generally, adult romances (usually preceding second 370 marriages) provoked interest and pleasure in people who observed them. An atypical attitude toward romance was revealed when a young bisexual male professed belief that the important thing was to discover a satisfying love, regardless of societal notions and norms. Attitudes regarding flirting were found in sixty-six books, with the most frequent attitude being that flirting is an acceptable, appropriate means of showing interest in, or affection for, another. Attitudes of caution or condemnation were almost consistently directed toward those who seemed to flirt: as a promise of sexual activity (outside of marriage); for reasons other than personal romantic or sexual interests; and as older, (usually) male characters with teenagers. Contemptuous attitudes were strongest when the older characters were married. Those who engaged in such flirting seemed to believe that the ends justify the means and had little or no regard for the possible effects that their attitudes and behaviors might have on others. These characters were portrayed as "playboys," "loose women," and unscrupulous manipulators. When family or good friends perceived flirting of these types, they attempted to caution the "decent" teenagers who might be effected by it and while (usually) the advice was ignored or long unheeded--the wisdom of it was usually recognized with time. Cautionary or contemptuous attitudes were shown in several teenagers and young adults--usually females--who experienced hurt, jealousy, or a spirit of competitiveness when flirting occurred 371 between someone in whom they had special interests and others. In most cases, these negative feelings were rarely directed to the special other regardless of their role in the flirting. Sixty-three books revealed attitudes regarding gestures of affection, with the pervading attitude being whole-hearted approval of gestures of affection among unmarried or married people as demonstration of romantic or sexual interests; comfort, support, or understanding; appreciation; and traditional or habitual behavior. Numerous characters showed interest in, and appreciation of, gestures of affection occurring among others. Generally, males seemed to perceive themselves in the active role and females in the passive-- except for defining limits for affectionate gestures. Relatively few negative attitudes regarding gestures of affection were found and most of those were related to illicit relationships. Generally, married characters and their affectionate gestures toward other than spouses were resented by many others. Most other negative attitudes were those of parents and older siblings who were concerned about the sexual seduction of teenage females; frequently, the concerns and pursuant actions of older characters seemed disproportionate to the cause for concern. Attitudes of caution or condemnation were almost always directed toward those who were suspected of using affectionate gestures in pursuit of selfish interests. Those who engaged in these behaviors clearly held the attitude that the ends justified the means and apparently had no reservations about their behaviors, though in several cases others did. 372 Rejection of affection was revealed as likely as not to evoke vindictiveness, especially among high school females. However, persons who acted with this attitude were condemned by most others around them. Several books revealed attitudes about public display of affection. In general: older characters were less tolerant of it than were younger ones; females were less shy about it than males; and, school codes varied regarding the behavior. Attitudes about sexual activity (premarital, marital, extra- marital, and other) were found in forty-one books and related to nocturnal orgasms, masturbation and other sexual stimulation, heterosexual petting, heterosexual intercourse, homosexual relations, and variant sexual behaviors. More variance was evidenced in attitudes relating to sexual activity than any other attitudinal aspect of this study. Individual's standards regarding various types of sexual stimulation, as well as heterosexual petting and intercourse varied considerably. However, the attitudinal concensus of most teenage and young adult characters was permissiveness. Young people (usually males) were frequently interested in the sexual activity of their peers. The importance of virginity preceding marriage was an attitude explicitly conveyed in only six books, by females in each case. In more recent publications, young people were especially casual about sexual activity. In contrast, very few adults were explicitly revealed as having permissive attitudes about premarital sexual activity and those who did were 373 rather unrealistically portrayed. Generally, adults held the traditional attitude that sexual intercourse should be within the bonds of marriage. In general, males were more anxious for sexual activity than were females and placed less emphasis on genuine fondness as a prerequisite for sexual activity. Several books revealed males as unscrupulous in their demands for premarital sexual activity. An increase in male expectations for sexual activity was evidenced in more recent books. Behaviors implied the general attitude that the aggressive role in sexual activity is that of the male with females establishing the limits of sexual activity. Attitudes about marital sexual activity were infrequently evidenced and most often related to belief in the importance of carefully planning procreation. The very few books that implied marital sexual intercourse was pleasurable, aside from the purpose of procreation, were more recent publications. In one book, a young bride was disappointed to realize that the intense pleasure she and her husband originally shared in sexual activity had rapidly diminished. In another, several women wished to avoid sexual intercourse with their husbands. In the eight books depicting extramarital relationships, attitudes related more to the breaking of marital vows than to specific sexual activity and most were found in more recent publi- cations. In one book a wife tolerated her husband's affairs with the belief that his lovers must have been fulfilling some of his needs which she was unable to meet. 374 Each of the twelve books dealing with some aspect of rape conveyed negative attitudes toward the act and the perpetrator. Only one book implied that some people may have negative attitudes toward rape victims. The predominant attitude in these books was that females, particularly those hitchhiking or alone in cities, must be cautious to avoid the possibility of rape; nevertheless, several teenage girls felt confident enough to place themselves in potentially dangerous situations in these same books. Almost exclusively negative attitudes regarding homosexuality were evidenced in four books. The pervading attitude was that homo- sexuality is socially undesirable. At least one character in three books recognized the personal and social damage that could be inflicted on a person merely accused of homosexuality and had no qualms about using this knowledge to hurt or manipulate others. Other attitudes regarding various aspects of sexual activity were also found. Nocturnal orgasms and male masturbation were ultimately revealed (in one book each) as normal and pleasurable though the central characters periodically regarded the behaviors with some guilt. Though three books depicted voyeurism, only one negative attitude was found and it was resolved when the protagonist decided it was not a sin because no one was hurt. The most deviant sexual behavior was evidenced through a teenage boy who enjoyed sadistic acts and wanted to tell others about his pleasures; how- ever, he kept his behaviors secret because he thought that others would not understand. 375 In fifty books, attitudes relating to marriage were revealed. The prevailing attitude that marriage is desirable was revealed through: plans and aspirations for the future; happiness in marriage; interest in, and endorsement of, marriage among one's friends and family; entry into second marriages; and lack of understanding of those who never married and those who had doubts or negative atti- tudes about matrimony. In most cases marriage seemed to be aspired to for sharing life with a special loved one; however, other reasons included: companionship and a spouse to help with rearing children; and, resolution to premarital pregnancy. Characters often had definite opinions about the appropriate time for considering matrimony, in addition to or regardless of considerations of love. Typically, the appropriate time was related to educational a5pirations, usually college. A few characters considered the "right" time for entertaining thoughts of marriage in terms of the accomplishment of professional, financial, or other personal goals. Most books revealed characters' attitudes about those characteristics valued in a spouse. In dating relationships, physical appearance and popularity were typically of initial and primary importance; however, those qualities most often valued over time and in a spouse were intelligence, kindness, integrity, and a sense of responsibility. Only a few characters sought marriage for prospective financial, cultural, or social gains. Adults with children and interests in second marriages usually believed it was important for their children to accept 376 and like prospective spouses. Nevertheless, several adults made clear their lack of inclination to reject a prospective spouse as a result of any objections by their offspring. Only one parent actually based the prospect of a second marriage on the contingency of her child's approval. In five of nine books, marriage was considered the appro- priate recourse for unmarried pregnant females; in two other books, marriage was at least briefly considered. In two books where marriages of this sort did occur, females were somewhat embarrassed but pleased while males resigned themselves to the situation. Generally, these young couples were surrounded by sympathetic people who, convinced that the couple must meet their new responsibilities, hoped that love would develop. Only in more recent publications was there a move away from the notion that unwed pregnant girls should marry. Nine books revealed attitudes regarding extramarital affairs and almost all were more recent publications. No negative atti— tudes were found in those (usually male) characters who attempted or indulged in extramarital sexual activity; in fact, they often seemed rather nonchalant and relatively open about their indis- cretions. Most characters with knowledge of such activities had very negative attitudes regarding the deeds and usually felt resentment or contempt for the unfaithful spouse; nevertheless, characters only rarely divulged their knowledge to others. In general, there seemed to be a passivity regarding extramarital behaviors. A high incidence of sympathy was evidenced for the 377 wronged spouse. Teenagers were frequently shown to be curious and concerned about what prompted extramarital activities or divorce in their families; sometimes wondering if they or their siblings contributed to their parents' marital discord. Attitudes relating to interracial marriage were revealed in only three books, two of them being more recently published. Mothers, (black and white) were shown to have serious reservations about the prospect of interracial marriages for young people. A teenage couple planned to marry in spite of differing ethnic and religious background which they recognized as potentially problematic. Eight books explicitly depicted characters with negative attitudes about marriage, at least for themselves. In six of the eight books, females were shown to be negative regarding marriage-- perhaps a reflection of the influence of the Women's Liberation Movement. Sometimes the females made clear their choice for careers and independence; or, a preference for their own life-styles rather than societal norms. Two males having cynical attitudes about marriage had experienced the marital discord of their parents. Forty-nine books revealed attitudes regarding adult super- vision--usually parental, but also that of school and camp personnel, relatives, and older friends. TWo attitudes prevailed. First, most adults felt responsible for at least limited supervision of their charges, particularly regarding dating. Increasing permissive- ness was evidenced in more recent publications however. Most parents wanted to at least know about those whom their children dated. Only in earlier books did parents make strict regulatory stipulations for 378 dating, aside from curfews. Second, most young people considered parental rules and regulations ludicrous or old-fashioned but, nevertheless, facts of life requiring obedience. Only three books showed people rebelling against parental supervision. In several books (mostly recent publications), parents advised teenage daughters of anxieties regarding the girls being in certain places and situations, particularly hitchhiking and being alone in a city. While the girls usually shared their parents cautionary attitudes, they typically gambled on doing as they pleased. A few parents were concerned about the friendships of their children with unwed pregnant teenagers, older age groups, or people reputed to be "fast," "loose," or homosexual. Not made clear was whether anxieties were based on the possibility of children being influenced by those whom parents viewed as less than desirable or on the probability of their reputations being affected. Only in about half of these cases did young people respect parental atti- tudes. Attitudes of school personnel relating to human sexuality were revealed in ten books, mainly through policies regulating student behaviors. Change in societal values were clearly evidenced as increasingly permissive through the efforts to strictly regulate student appearance in 1965 to condoning coeducational housing in 1970. Forty-two books revealed attitudes about the use of obscenities. Numerous books depicted the incidence of obscenities in a rather neutral fashion and the pervading attitude was one of inevitability 379 of such within a free society. Though comparatively few characters (primarily male) used obscenities, many of both sexes knew of their existence and were tolerant of their use. Obscene language, gestures, and media productions were taken for granted by most characters but particularly the young. Only males actively sought to enjoy obscenities. In eleven books, use of obscenities was viewed as an extremely effective means of showing contempt, instilling fright, or gaining control over another person. Characters who engaged in such behaviors did so without qualms though usually they were frowned upon by others. Almost all of these portrayals were evidenced in the more recent half of the sample. Most negative attitudes were found in the several books depicting coeducational exposure to obscenities. In general, males were depicted as more concerned than females about these incidences and as feeling a necessity to defend the honor of females involuntarily exposed to such matters. In thirty-seven books, attitudes regarding human anatomy and body exposure were revealed. The prevailing attitude was male interest in the female anatom --particularly breasts. Female recognition of these male interests was evidenced through efforts to improve figures and to dress revealingly. Though several ado- lescent and early teenage females were especially anxious for breast development, their anticipation seemed more related to desires for maturity than to evoking male interests. In contrast, only a few books showed females as interested in the male anatomy and only one 380 book explicitly revealed a male as interested in the development of his body. In the several books depicting nudity within family-type situations, attitudes were casual. In general, nudity among younger children was most acceptable and early teenagers were self-conscious about even semi-nudity. Attitudes regarding some aspect of procreation were revealed in thirty-three books. The prevailing attitudes were that pregnancy, childbirth, and care of infants are normal human functions to be planned for and accepted, if not celebrated, in the bonds of wedlock. Most books revealed the procreational period as a time when: normal activities can be pursued; medical assistance is desirable but not essential; and, family and friends want to share preparation, pleasures, and concerns. Though several instances of unplanned pregnancy were found, as were a few attitudes regarding the timeliness of procreation, no one prospective parent was described as not wanting a child. Only one book showed any negative female feelings regarding procreation. About two of every three books containing procreational attitudes revealed tolerance or appreciation regarding some means of birth control. Concerns about the lack of use of birth control methods and the movement for Zero Population Growth were revealed in more recent publications. In five of the nine books depicting premarital pregnancy, marriage was considered the appropriate, if not the only recourse and it was at least briefly considered in two additional books. 381 This attitude seemed to reflect a need to quickly resolve an embarrassing situation rather than the needs and interests of the prospective parents and the babies. Only four of the more recent publications conveyed the attitude that alternatives to marriage should be explored. In two cases unwed mothers kept their infants while in two others infants were put up for adoption. Differing opinions as to the appropriateness of these actions were evidenced in each book; however, the concensus supported the young mothers. Marriage was only fleetingly considered as an option in two of these books. Two books also mentioned abortion as a viable alter- native, acceptable to most characters, for unwed pregnant females; however, in neither book did unwed pregnant females give abortion any serious thought. The five books dealing with adoption conveyed the general attitude that putting a child up for adoption as well as adopting one are essentially acts of love, beneficial to all concerned. Putting children up for adoption was generally viewed as a good decision for unwed pregnant females and parents unable to adequately provide fer youngsters. In two books, children experienced anguish and curiosity about their natural parents and the circumstances of their adoption. One book revealed that very strong and mainly negative attitudes may surface as many people in segregated com- munities perceive cross-racial adoption as touching their lives, though they may approve of such adoptions at a distance. 382 Diverse attitudes regarding illegitimacy were found in four of the more recent publications. In three books the pervading attitude was sympathy for the child. Attitudes about fantasies, daydreams, or dreams relating to human sexuality were revealed in twenty-eight books. All but one of the attitudes were those of unmarried teenagers and young adults; slightly more than half were those of males. The prevailing attitude was that fantasies, daydreams, and dreams are pleasurable. Characters sought romantically and sexually oriented fantasies to improve reality, usually in the absence of steady dates, and to envision future life with another. In three books couples enjoyed sharing and developing fantasies of the future. Only two books revealed characters who sought fantasies to escape realities they did not wish to face. In six books characters who experienced some pleasure in fantasies were also shown to have negative feelings when the fantasies were considered too distracting or disconcerting. Four books revealed attitudes toward body functions. Three books presented attitudes regarding the onset of menstruation: teenage females in two books equated it with bad times; in another book, within a family, only the mother seemed tolerant of a teenage girl's erratic behavior. In one book a high school boy found pleasure in using feces to repulse others, though he knew better than to tell others of his pleasure in this behavior. In 1965, nine of the twelve sub-categories were treated as compared to totals of eleven and twelve all other years. Numerous trends relating to human sexual attitudes were discernible in 383 1965-1974. Permissiveness for self and others increased with regard to sexual activity, marriage, adult supervision, use of obscenities, human anatomy/body exposure, as well as fantasies and dreams. Trends appear to be developing toward increased permissiveness regarding procreation (regardless of marital state) and increased recognition of attitudes regarding homosexuality, deviant sexual behaviors, and body functions. Changes in the appropriateness of appearance and attire clearly reflected fashion trends through the ten year period. Increasingly, attitudes are diverse and represent various ethnic and racial groups, age levels, and cultural, financial, and edu- cational strata. Increases were observed in attitudes regarding: adult romances; romance and marriage among racially or ethnically different people; differentiation between romantic and other emotional or behavioral responses; older (usually married) people flirting with teenagers; younger children being interested in sexual activity; second marriages; extramarital behaviors; negative attitudes toward marriage (especially among females). More recent publications depicted females as less inclined to romanticize reality and as less possessive. Conclusions The major conclusions regarding the explicit and implicit revelations of the nature of human sexual information, behaviors, and attitudes as portrayed in American contemporary realistic fiction for readers aged ten through sixteen were: 384 l. TWenty-eight books contained sex information on numerous and diverse aspects of human sexuality. The information was almost always accurately presented. Instances of old wives' tales, incom- plete definitions, and misinformation were almost always identified, rejected, or doubted within the texts which would seem to facilitate the careful reader's acquisition or absorption of accurate infor- mation. Generally, the more normative aspects of human sexuality were those for which most information was revealed. In addition to acquiring information from fiction, readers may learn of potential sources of information. Some information was written simply enough to be readable by young people who may have less interest and maturity than generally seem desirable for the information given, at least in fictional contexts. The numerous discernible trends in the period indicated increased efforts by authors to provide information in fictional contexts on various aspects of human sexuality. 2. Eighty-four books portrayed a variety of human sexual behaviors through various ethnic, social, educational, and financial strata. The behaviors generally appeared realistic--increasingly so in more recent publications. While diverse behaviors were reflected in a variety of contexts in the literature, the incidence and frequency may not accurately reflect American society, e.g.: premarital pregnancy does not occur only among middle class Caucasians; females masturbate; abortion is sometimes sought; childbirth is not 385 always easy; sexual experimentation and activity is indulged in by many people not reputed to be promiscuous. The numerous discernible trends indicated increased efforts by authors to realistically and graphically portray the wide range of human experience. 3. Eighty-five books revealed a plethora of attitudes regarding human sexuality from a multiplicity of viewpoints. Atti- tudes regarding normative behaviors were most frequently revealed. Most attitudes were positive and were increasingly permissive for self and others through the period sampled. Overall, the attitudes portrayed seemed realistic--and increasingly so in more recently published books. Nevertheless stereotypic attitudes seemed prevalent regarding some aspects of human sexuality, e.g.: sexual freedom as regarded by adults and young people; premarital pregnancy; homosexuality; male and female sex roles; pregnancy; and, childbirth. The numerous discernible trends indicated efforts by authors to realistically and graphically reveal the wide range of human thinking on increasingly diverse aspects of human sexuality. Clearly, wide reading of American contemporary realistic fiction may contribute to readers' awareness and knowledge of human sexuality in terms of information, behaviors, and attitudes. The books analyzed were directed to readers aged ten to sixteen and most seemed to be aimed at a female reading audience. Content varied greatly in terms of reading difficulty, complexity of subject matter, and explicit detail. Strides toward more realism were very apparent though there remains much room for improvement. Sometimes 386 the interest and maturity levels of intended audiences did not seem to have been considered, resulting in more information or complexity than the typical reader may reasonably absorb or choose to deal with. Passages regarding human sexuality seemed, in some books, irrelevant to literary criteria and, hence, presented only to titillate the reader. Recommendations Numerous recommendations pertinent to authors, publishers, teachers, librarians, parents, and researchers have become apparent through the work on this study. While diverse aspects of the nature of human sexuality are present in contemporary American realistic fiction for young people, there is much to be desired. Reality may be more accurately reflected if more books are published in which: 1. Characters do not perceive romance/marriage and college as an either/or proposition. 2. Appropriate times are indicated for young people con- sidering love/marriage other than in relation to high school graduation and/or college. 3. Pregnancy and new infants are undesired. 4 Pregnancy and birth cause some pain and mental anguish. 5. Anxieties of pregnancy out-of—wedlock are experienced. 6 Complications and anguish related to adoption and abortion are revealed. 387 7. Emotional stress relating to extramarital behaviors is more clearly conveyed, especially through spouses, siblings, and lovers. 8. Purely physical relationships result in serious problems fer at least one of the characters involved. 9. Complications of premarital and extramarital sexual relationships are less easily resolved. 10. Complications of marriages due to pregnancy are more honestly revealed as difficult. 11. Marital sexual intercourse is at least alluded to as pleasant other than for procreation. 12. Fewer stereotypic images of morally and sexually "loose" males and females are presented. 13. Fewer stereotypic images of premarital and extramarital sexual relationships are presented. 14. Premarital pregnancy occurring among minority groups, all social levels, and females younger than sixteen should be presented. 15. Central characters are portrayed with thoroughly un- redeeming moral standards and the consequences of their behaviors are revealed. 16. At least some young people have strongly negative attitudes,with commensurate behaviors, regarding the concept of sexual freedom. 17. Less tolerance for use of obscenities is apparent in some characters. 388 18. "Nice" females at least experiment with sexual behaviors beyond flirting and gestures of affection. l9. Fewer females are shown as "in love with love.‘' 20. At least some females are shown to experience sexually vivid fantasies and dreams and to masturbate. 21. Fewer Stereotypic images are revealed of adult atti- tudes and behaviors regarding human sexuality. 22. Religious concerns regarding all aspects of human sexuality are depicted. 23. Single parents are happily adjusted to their lives and are capable of independently managing reasonably well. 24. Tolerance of homosexuality is portrayed. 25. Use of birth control methods are explicitly stated. 26. Incidence of, and trauma associated with, sexual diseases are honestly presented. 27. Severe problems that may result from using sexual behavior to manipulate others are clearly revealed for all concerned characters. 28. Young males show interest in and concern about their physical development. 29. Concerns and anxieties of sexual experimentation are presented. 30. Ramifications of rape are revealed for all concerned, as well as procedures and relative merits of options available for rape victims. 389 31. Ill effects that males may experience due to promiscuous sexual behaviors are presented. 32. Familial burdens relating to premarital and extramarital sexual promiscuity are revealed. While recommendations to achieve more reality are numerous and certainly important, work on this study evoked other concerns which prompted further recommendations of perhaps more significance for authors and publishers in producing books for young pe0ple: 1. Because readers may add to their information bases through reading realistic fiction, sex information should be accurately presented gr_clearly revealed as inaccurate or of (at least) a dubious nature. 2. Books focusing on minority group characters seem more blatantly didactic regarding human sexuality than do others; clearly, this literary weakness should be rectified. 3. A few books were so laden with facts about some aspects of human sexuality that the story seemed of lesser importance and, hence, lacked vitality and literary merit. Surely authors and pub— lishers could clearly distinguish between those books intended to inform and those intended to entertain. Realizing and appreciating the lack of necessity for a clear dichotomy between books to inform and books to entertain, the researcher nevertheless holds that fiction should first and foremost be a story; any information revealed therein should take a second place to the story. 4. Sexual infbrmation, behaviors, and attitudes should be revealed only as important to the story. Revelations of human 390 sexuality simply to titillate are inexcusable and some are invita— tions for legal actions in the name of pornography. 5. Developmental levels of intended and recommended audiences should be carefully considered for books revealing aspects of human sexuality. 6. More books involving matters of human sexuality should be directed to male reading audiences. Given that the reading of literature may affect attitudes and behaviors, provide vicarious experiences, and contribute to a person's information base, the foregoing recommendations--directed primarily to authors and publishers--are justified. A variety of viewpoints and situations on the wide range of human experience is desirable as is accurate information, insofar as possible, with literature appropriate for various developmental levels of readers. In spite of the numerous literary weaknesses evidenced in the study sample, these books do provide enterprising educators (and, perhaps, librarians and parents) with useful sources for enhancing some aspects of young people's cognitive and affective development: 1. Selected pieces of realistic fiction may be successfully utilized for instructional purposes concerning various aspects of human sexuality, particularly with the evidenced increase of informa- tion being presented in fictional contexts. In fictional books, that content which appears to be factual offers opportunities for the development or utilization of critical reading/thinking skills through such activities as examining that which eeeaa to be factual in light of: 391 a. other literary elements of the book such as credi- bility of characterization, setting, and plot; b. background information/qualifications of the author to write on such a subject; c. reader's firsthand or vicarious experiences; d. interviews with people knowledgeable about the subject; and, e. informational (non-fiction data available regarding the subject. 2. These books may be successfully utilized in learning experiences designed to develop or enhance the reader's literary appreciation or knoweldge of, and skill in, literary criticism for one aspect of the bggy_of literature, for (modern) realistic fiction as one genre of literature, and/or for basic literary elements (theme, plot, setting, characterization, and style or unity). Some activities which might be employed in effort to achieve the specified ends could include: a. oral or written analysis of a work in terms of one or more literary elements; b. comparison of how a subject is dealt with in two or more literary genres; and, c. reader's theatre, role-playing, and (in a few cases) puppetry. 3. Selected works may be successfully utilized in efforts to assist readers with examination or clarification of values. Dis- cussion, character analysis, and role-playing based on exposure to 392 literature would be particularly conducive to the reader's gaining insight into self and others. Opportunities to examine problems encountered in literature through alternative settings and character- izations could be especially fruitful, as could opportunities to explore problems in literature compared to those evidenced in actuality (using personal experiences, interviews, newspapers, journals, magazines, non-fiction, and the like as a basis for such comparisons). 4. Selected books may be used in extending learner's aware- ness and understanding of the pluralistic nature of our contemporary society. Numerous opportunities exist for examining differences in people especially regarding educational, financial, and cultural factors but more importantly (in the researcher's judemgnt), a plethora of opportunities exist for use in developing the learner's understanding that people are more similar than dissimilar in terms of basic human needs and wants. 5. Closely related to items 2, 3, and 4 above, several of the books in the study sample offer good opportunities to examine stereotypes in media ang_in the "real world." Activities especially conducive to identifying stereotypes, examining the strengths and weaknesses of authors' use of stereotypes in story construction, and exploring why stereotypes occur in the thinking of people in the "real world" and the concommitant ramifications include, especially: discussion, role-playing, and dramatization. 6. Selected books in the study sample may be successfully utilized as bibliotherapeutic sources. Educators and other 393 professionals who engage in the practice of bibliotherapy may use some of these books in helping young people face reality and work through their own personal difficulties in counseling-type situations. It is perhaps more likely that mare educators may use some of these books as sources for "preventative measures" to help students avoid putting themselves in difficult situations which might require counseling and the implementation of bibliotherapy. In no way does this study purport to suggest that books be censored, rejected, or removed from library or classroom shelves. The findings of this study do, however, support the strong need frequently indicated in earlier stated theories and studies for teachers, librarians, and parents to make every effort to see that all readers have a "balanced reading diet.f The study also supports the notion that readers' literary exposure may well demand, beyond mature guidance, directed and purposeful experiences in: critical reading/thinking fostered through numerous aspects of the language arts. Authors, publishers, teachers, librarians, and parents are urged to use the findings of this study to develop, present, select, and use realistic fiction for young people. Researchers interested in conducting content assessments are urged to follow these recommendations: 1. Unless time and financial resources are not problematic, study samples of junior novels should be limited as strictly as possible. 394 2. Purchase, as early as possible, the books comprising the study sample. In the long run, time, efforts, and money will be saved by having the complete works at one's ready disposal. 3. Provide, before data collection, for some means of abstracting background information for each book in the study sample, particularly regarding characterization. This information will be an invaluable aid in analyzing and reporting the study. The larger the sample, the more important is this recommendation. 4. Securing publishers' and authors' permission to quote is exceedingly time consuming and potentially costly; initiate these efforts as early as possible. Dramatically demonstrating this point is the fact that in this study, one year and eight days passed in attempts to secure quotation privileges from one publisher. 5. As publishers are contacted for permission to quote in the dissertation, also specify the need for the material to be micro- filmed and, consequently, available for purchase by other researchers. Implications for Further Study Several possible areas for research became apparent in the course of this study. A replication of this study for l975-l984 and for subsequent time frames would be interesting and useful because indications are that time affects changes in information, behaviors, and attitudes as revealed in the literature. A replication of this study using literature from other countries would be interesting to determine if the findings here are uniquely American. 395 Using all or several of the categories and subcategories identified in this content assessment, a content analysis to determine the statistical significance of findings would be interest- ing and useful. A comparison of the results of this more generalized study with results of a more structured content analysis would be of worth. A study to compare findings of the present study to attitudi- nal and behavioral surveys of living people would be worthwhile. Some findings in the present study could also be compared to data available through such agencies as the Census Bureau. A study to determine reader interest in the books sampled would be interesting, as would a study of the number of these volumes printed and sold. A study to determine how young readers would rate the books sampled as compared to professional book lists ratings would be of interest and of value. Studies comparing findings in the present study to those involving other literary genres would also be interesting and useful. Additional investigations to determine the influence of literature on attitudes and behaviors of young people are needed-- particularly, longitudinal studies including all literary genres. Finally, studies to ascertain young readers' awareness of information, attitudes, and values gleaned through literature should be conducted. It would be interesting and useful to learn: if young readers are aware of information, attitudes, and values that they encounter in literature and if young people and adult researchers similarly interpret these findings. APPENDIX A DIRECTIONS TO THE RATERS 396 DIRECTIONS TO THE RATERS As a rater for this study, you are being provided (a) three children's books for analysis: Little League Stepson by Curtis Bishop (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1965), Marchers for the Dream by Natalie S. Carlson (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1969), and I Can Stop Any Time I Want by James Trivers (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1974); (b) three copies of a questionnaire written to accommodate the three global questions to be answered in this study: (1) What is revealed, explicitly or implicitly, to be the nature of attitudes regarding human sexuality? (2) What is revealed, explicitly or implicitly, to be the nature of human sexual behavior? (3) What is revealed, explicitly or implicitly, to be the nature of information regarding human sexuality?; (c) sample responses to the questionnaire using excerpts from children's books; and (d) a list of definitions to provide for the clarification of terms pertinent to the study. As you read each book, please identify words, statements, or longer passages which explicitly or implicitly reveal: (l) attitudes, (2) behaviors, and/or (3) information regarding human sexuality. Please cite those passages relevant to the questions given; you need only indicate the page and paragraph, and/or sentence numbers below the appropriate question on the questionnaire for each book. (Count partial paragraphs as whole.) A passage relating to more than one question should be cited in each event. 397 398 An Excerpt from Me and Jim Luke1 After we ate we took off our britches and laid in the sun, naked as the day we were born, drowsing and trying to soak up enough of the warm sunlight for the winter ahead. Grandpa and Uncle Shall went back to fishing for a mess to take home. "You know, Sammy John," Jim Luke said, sleepily, staring at his private parts, or what we called ding dongs, "I got a purty big'un." I sniggered, "It might be a big'un but it shore ain't purty, Jim Luke.‘I He laughed too. "Yeah," he said, “but man, iffen it was fifteen feet long I could stand outside under the trees and let it creep around the corner of a house into some old gal's winder afore she knowed what was a happenin'.“ I sniggered again. "Yeah, man," I said, "and she could grab a hoe and chop its head off, mistakin' it fer a snake afore you could grab it back. 'Sides, what you want to poke somethin' like that in a winder fer?" "Ye seen our animals a matin', ain't ye, Sammy?" he asked. "Yep, and you don't have to sound so high and mighty. I know I don't want no little'uns fer I can't take care of myself real good yet. So there," I said. "Oh shut up, Sammy, you jist wait till you get as old as me. You don't know the half of nothin', and I bet you still believe in Santa Claus," he said. "I don't neither," I hollered at him, and jumped up running for the bluff at the river's edge. Jim Luke's heels pounded hard behind me. He couldn't even stand for me to get ahead of him. 1Robbie Branscum, Me and Jim Luke (New York: Doubleday" & Co., Inc., 1971), pp. 33-34. 399 Excerpts from Don't Look and It Won't Hurt2 All those days were pretty much alike except one. We'd been to the library that morning, so we had our usual quota of kiddies' books. We were sitting on the swings. I [Carol] was reading a Dr. Seuss to Liz, and she was leaning over, straining to see the pictures. I don't know why, but pretty soon I noticed that this old wreck of a truck was driving around the park. It must have gone around three or four times, slow. Then it stopped, and a man got out. He was a big heavy-set guy wearing a battered ball cap, which he took off while he wiped the sweat off his forehead. A mongrel dog jumped out of the bed of the truck and started sniffing around in the grass. While this old guy was looking at us, it dawned on me that we were the only people in the park. Who else would be out on a day that hot without a tree in sight? Well, you know how mothers are always telling you not to have anything to do with strange men in parks. We've all heard it. The land around the lake is a private preserve, supposedly off limits to everybody except the people who own the cabins. It's sort of a club, but nothing fancy. A place where business- men from town go out to fish and drink beer on the weekends. And where high school kids sneak in late at night. I'd heard stories about what goes on out there then, especially after prom night. Well, after I got that out of my system, we sat there awhile, listening to the quiet of the place. I didn't feel much better for telling it. It dawned on me that maybe Jerry only heard parts of the story and not others. But when he spoke finally, I knew it was all right. "You're Carol, not Ellen," he said. "I know that." And then, he kissed me. 2Richard Peck, Don't Look and It Won't Hurt (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1972), pp. 24¥25, 47, and 97. 400 RATER'S QUESTIONNAIRE Rater: Book: Little League Stepson by Curtis Bishop (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1965). I. What attitudes regarding human sexuality are, explicitly or implicitly, revealed? II. What human sexual behaviors are, explicitly or implicitly, revealed? III. What information regarding human sexuality is, explicitly or implicitly, revealed? 401 RATER'S QUESTIONNAIRE Rater: Book: Marchers for the Dream by Natalie S. Carlson (New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1969). I. What attitudes regarding human sexuality are, explicitly or implicitly, revealed? 11. What human sexual behaviors are, explicitly or implicitly, revealed? III. What information regarding human sexuality is, explicitly, revealed? 402 RATER'S QUESTIONNAIRE Rater: Book: I Can Stop Any Time I Want by James Trivers (Englewood Cliffs, N. J.: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1974). I. What attitudes regarding human sexuality are, explicitly or implicitly, revealed? II. What human sexual behaviors are, explicitly or implicitly, revealed? III. What information regarding human sexuality is, explicitly or implicitly, revealed? 403 RATER'S QUESTIONNAIRE: SAMPLE I Book: Me and Jim Luke by Robbie Branscum (New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1971). I. What attitudes regarding human sexuality are, explicitly or implicitly, revealed? Paragraphs two through five (explicit). Paragraph eight (explicit). II. What human sexual behaviors are, explicitly or implicitly, revealed? None. III. What infbrmation regarding human sexuality is, explicitly or implicitly, revealed? Paragraphs six and seven (explicit). Paragraph eight (implicit). 404 RATER'S QUESTIONNAIRE: SAMPLE II Book: Don't Look and It Won't Hurt by Richard Peck (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1972). I. What attitudes regarding human sexuality are, explicitly or implicitly, revealed? Paragraph two (implicit). 11. What human sexual behaviors are, explicitly or implicitly, revealed? Paragraph three (implicit). Paragraph four, sentence seven (explicit). III. What information regarding human sexuality is, explicitly or implicitly, revealed? None. 405 DEFINITIONS FOR RATERS Human Sexuality.--The term "human sexuality" refers, as used in this study, to the second definition given in Webster's: "(a) interest in or concern with sex (b) sexual drive or activity."1 Sex Information.--The term "sex information" refers, as used in this study, to knowledge regarding human sexuality. Sexual Attitudes.--The term "sexual attitudes" refers, as used in this study, to "a manner of acting, feeling, or thinking that shows .2 one's disposition, opinion, etc.,' regarding matters of human sexuality. Sexual Behavior.--The term "sexual behavior" refers, as used in this study, to the physical expression of human sexuality. The most commonly occurring sexual behaviors (or expressions of human sexuality) are: masturbation, nocturnal orgasm, heterosexual petting, . . 3 homosexual relat1ons, and heterosexual intercourse. 1David B. Guralnik, ed., Webster's New World Dictionary, 2nd college ed. (New York: The World Publishing Company, 1970), p. 1305. 2Ibid., p. 90. 3James Leslie McCary, Human Sexuality; A Brief Edition (New York: 0. Van Nostrand and Company, 1973), p. 203. APPENDIX B PERMISSION ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 406 PERMISSION ACKNOWLEDGMENTS From Go Away_Ruthie by Laura Nelson Baker. Copyright (c) 1966 by Laura Nelson Baker. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. From Graystone College_by Richard Barness. Copyright (c) 1973 by Lerner Publications, Co. Reprinted by permission of Lerner Publications, Co. From A New Home for Theresa by Betty Baum. Copyright (c) 1968 by Betty Baum. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. From Bryn by Hetty Burlingame Beatty. Copyright (c) 1965 by Hetty B. Whitney. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Co. From Little League Stepson by Curtis Bishop. Copyright (c) 1965 by Curtis Bishop. Reprinted by permission of J. B. Lippincott Co. From lggie's House by Judy Blume. Copyright (c) 1971 by Judy Blume. Reprinted by permission of The Bradbury Press, Inc. From Then Again, Maybe I Won't by Judy Blume. Copyright (c) 1971 by Judy Blume. Reprinted by permission of The Bradbury Press, Inc. From The Mystery of the Fat Cat by Frank Bonham. Copyright (c) 1968 by Frank Bonham. Reprinted by permission of the publishers, E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc. From Viva Chicano by Frank Bonham. Copyright (c) 1968 by Frank Bonham. Reprinted by permission of the publishers, E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc. From Laurie by Bianca Bradbury. Copyright (c) 1965 by Bianca Bradbury. Reprinted by permission of David McKay Company, Inc. From Me and Jim Luke by Robbie Branscum. Copyright (c) 1971 by Robbie Branscum. Reprinted by permission of Doubleday & Co., Inc. From Only in Time by Helen Bratton. Copyright (c) 1967 by Helen Bratton. Reprinted by permission of David McKay Company, Inc. From Stock-Car Racer by W. E. Butterworth. Copyright (c) 1966 by W. E. Butterworth. Reprinted by permission of Grosset & Dunlap, Inc. From Marchers for the Dream by Natalie Savage Carlson. Copy- right (c) 1969 by Natalie Savage Carlson. Reprinted by permission of Harper & Row, Publishers. 407 408 From The Country Cousin by Betty Cavanna. Copyright (c) 1967 by Betty Cavanna. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow and Co., Inc. From Delpha Green and Company by Vera and Bill Cleaver. Copy- right (c) 1972 by Vera and William J. Cleaver. Reprinted by permission of J. B. Lippincott Co. From Lady Ellen Grae by Vera and Bill Cleaver. C0pyright (c) 1968 by Vera and William J. Cleaver. Reprinted by permission of J. B. Lippincott Co. From How I Went Shopping and What I Got by Eleanor Clymer. Copyright (c) 1972 by Eleanor Clymer. Reprinted by permission of Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. From Riding Free by Robert Coles. Copyright (c) 1973 by Robert Coles. Reprinted by permission of Little, Brown and Company. From Sally, Star Patient by Alice Ross Colver. Copyright (c) 1968. Reprinted by permission of Dodd, Mead & Co. From The Chocolate War by Robert Cormier. Copyright (c) 1974 by Robert Cormier. Reprinted by permission of Pantheon Books. From Don't Look at Me That Way by Caroline Crane. Copyright (c) 1970 by Caroline Crane. Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc. From Miss Fix-It by Adele Louise DeLeeuw. Copyright (c) 1966 by Adele Louise DeLeeuw. Reprinted by permission of Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc. From The Beast in Holger's Woods by August William Derleth. Copyright (c) 1968 by August William Derleth. Reprinted by permission of Thomas Y. Crowell Co. From Riptide by Ella Thorp Ellis. Copyright (c) 1969 by Ella Thorp Ellis. Reprinted by permission of Atheneum Publishers. From Shadi by Margaret Embry. Copyright (c) 1971 by Margaret Embry. Reprinted by permission of Holiday House, Inc. From The Loners by Nancy Garden. Copyright (c) 1972 by Nancy Garden. Reprinted by permission of The Viking Press. From Hold Zero! by Jean Craighead George. Copyright (c) 1966 by Jean George. Reprinted by permission of Thomas Y. Crowell Co. From Bongo Bradley by Barbara Glasser and Ellen Blustein. Copyright (c) 1973 by Barbara Glasser and Ellen Blustein. Reprinted by permission of Hawthorn Books, Inc. Publishers. 409 From Canyon of Decision by Peg Granger. Copyright (c) 1967 by Peg Granger. Reprinted by permission of Criterion Books. From A Girl Called Al by Constance Greene. Copyright (c) 1969 by Constance C. Greene. Reprinted by permission of The Viking Press. From Runaway by Valeria Winkler Griffith. Copyright (c) 1971 by Valeria Winkler Griffith. Reprinted by permission of Thomas Y. Crowell Company, Inc. From A Rage to Die by Mort Grossman. Copyright (c) MCMLXXIII, Mort Grossman. Published by The Westminster Press. Used by permission. From The Friends by Rosa Guy. Copyright (c) 1973 by Rosa Guy. Published by Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc., and Bantam Books, Inc. By permission of Bantam Books, Inc. Reprinted by permission of the author and Four Winds Press from Nothing But a Stranger by Arlene Hale, (c) 1966 by Scholastic Magazines, Inc. From Sticks and Stones by Lynn Hall. Copyright (c) 1972 by Lynn Hall. Reprinted by permission of Follett Publishing Company. From In the Country of Ourselves by Nat Hentoff. Copyright (c) 1971 by Nat Hentoff. Reprinted by permission of Simon & Schuster, Inc. From Jazz Country by Nat Hentoff. Copyright (c) 1965 by Nat Hentoff. Reprinted by permission of Harper & Row, Publishers. From That Was Then, This Is Now by S. E. Hinton. Copyright (c) 1971 by S. E. Hinton. Reprinted by permission of The Viking Press. From The Making of Joshua Cobb by Margaret Hodges. Copyright (c) 1971 by Margaret Hodges. Reprinted by permission of Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc. From Slake's Limbo by Felice Holman. Copyright (c) 1974 by Felice Holman. Reprinted by permission of Charles Scribner's Sons. From Way to Go, Teddy by Donald Honig. Copyright (c) 1973 by Donald Honig. Reprinted by permission of Franklin Watts, Inc. From The Big Hang-Up by William E. Huntsberry. Copyright (c) 1970 by William E. Huntsberry. Reprinted by permission of Lothrop, Lee 8 Shepard, Co. From The Big Wheels by William E. Huntsberry. Copyright (c) 1967 by William E. Huntsberry. Reprinted by permission of Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, Co. 410 From Tessie by Jesse Jackson. Copyright (c) 1968 by Jesse Jackson. Reprinted by permission of Harper & Row, Publishers. From The Peter Pan Bag_by Lee Kingman. Copyright (c) 1970 by Mary Lee Natti. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Co. From The Year of the Raccoon by Lee Kingman. Copyright (c) 1966 by Mary Lee Natti. Reprinted by permission of Houghton Mifflin Co. From Naomi in the Middle by Norma Klein. Copyright (c) 1974 by Norma Klein. Reprinted by permission of The Dial Press. From Jesus Song by R. R. Knudson. Copyright (c) 1973 by R. Rozanne Knudson. Reprinted by permission of Delacorte Press. From (George) by E. L. Konigsburg. Copyright (c) 1970 by E. L. Konigsburg. Reprinted by permission of Atheneum Publishers. From The Secret Raft by Hazel Newman Krantz. Copyright (c) 1965 by Hazel Krantz. Reprinted by permission of Vanguard Press, Inc. From Surf With Me by Carli Laklan. Copyright (c) 1967 by Carli Laklan. Reprinted by permission of McGraw-Hill Book Co. From Inside the Gate by Mildred Lawrence. Copyright (c) 1968 by Mildred Lawrence. Reprinted by permission of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. From No Slipper for Cinderella by Mildred Lawrence. Copyright (c) 1965 by Mildred Lawrence. Reprinted by permission of Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc. From Bird on the Wing by Winifred Madison. Copyright (c) 1974 by Winifred Madison. Reprinted by permission of Little, Brown and Co. From The Clubhouse by Peggy Mann. Copyright (c) 1969 by Peggy Mann. Reprinted by permission of Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, Inc. From Just Dial a Number by Edith Maxwell. Copyright (c) 1970. Reprinted by permission of Dodd, Mead & Co., Inc. From The Real Me by Betty Miles. Copyright (c) 1974 by Betty Miles. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. From The Rules of the Game by Donia Whiteley Mills. Copyright (c) 1969 by Donia Whiteley Mills. Reprinted by permission of The Viking Press. From Into The Groove by Rutherford Montgomery. Copyright (c) 1966 by Rutherford Montgomery. Reprinted by permission of Dodd, Mead & Co., Inc. 411 From The Sand Ponies by Shirley Rosseau Murphy. Copyright (c) 1967 by Shirley Rosseau Murphy. Reprinted by permission of The Viking Press. Reprinted by permission of S. G. Phillips, Inc. from Edgar Allan by John Neufeld. Copyright (c) 1968 by s. a. Phillips, Inc. From Ox Goes North; More Trouble for the Kid at the Top by John Ney. Copyright (c) 1973 by John Ney. Reprinted by permission of Harper & Row, Publishers. From The Mulberry Music by Doris Orgel. Copyright (c) 1971 by Doris Orgel. Reprinted by permission of Harper 8 Row, Publishers. From Don't Look and It Won't Hurt by Richard Peck. Copyright (c) 1972 by Richard Peck. Reprinted by permission of Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. 1 From I Need Some Time by Barbara Rinkoff. Copyright (c) 1970 by Barbara Rinkoff. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. From The Watchers by Barbara Rinkoff. Copyright (c) 1972 by Barbara Rinkoff. Reprinted by permission of Alfred A. Kn0pf, Inc. From Hiding Out by Thomas Rockwell. Copyright (c) 1974 by Thomas Rockwell and The Bradbury Press. Reprinted by the permission of The Bradbury Press. From Amy and Laura by Marilyn Sachs. Copyright (c) 1966 by Marilyn Sachs. Reprinted by permission of Doubleday & Co., Inc. From A Spark of Jay by Barbara Schoen. Copyright (c) 1969. Reprinted by permission of Thomas Y. Crowell Co. From Sneakers by Ray Anthony Shepard. Copyright (c) 1973 by Ray Anthony Shepard. Reprinted by permission of the publishers, E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc. From Leslie by Zoa Sherburne. Copyright (c) 1972 by Zoa Sherburne. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow and Co., Inc. Reprinted by permission of Julian Messner, A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc., from Hold Yourself Dear by Pauline C. Smith. Copyright (c) 1965 by Pauline C. Smith. From Too Steep for Baseball by Arthur D. Stapp. Copyright (c) 1965 by Arthur D. Stapp. Reprinted by permission of Harper & Row, Publishers. From The Edge of Next Year by Mary Stolz. Copyright (c) 1974 by M. S. Stolz. Reprinted by permission of Harper & Row, Publishers. 412 From A Wonderful, Terrible Time by Mary Stolz. Copyright (c) 1967 by M. S. Stolz. Reprinted by permission of Harper & Row, Publishers. From You Can't Make It By Bus by James L. Summers. Copyright (c) MCMLXIX, James L. Summers. Published by The Westminster Press. Used by permission. From The Drowning Boy by Susan Terris. Copyright (c) 1972 by Susan Terris. Reprinted by permission of Doubleday & Co., Inc. From Plague of Frogs by Susan Terris. Copyright (c) 1973 by Susan Terris. Reprinted by permission of Doubleday & Co., Inc. From Rosaria by Susan Thaler. Copyright (c) 1967 by Susan Thaler. Reprinted by permission of David McKay Co., Inc. From I Can Stop Any Time I Want by James M. Trivers. Copyright (c) 1974 by James Trivers. Reprinted by permission of Prentice-Hall, Inc. From In Search of Ophelia by Amelia Elizabeth Walden. Copy- right (c) 1966 by Amelia Elizabeth Walden. Reprinted by permission of McGraw-Hill Book Co. From Race the Wild Wind by Amelia Elizabeth Walden. Copyright (c) MCMLXV, Amelia Elizabeth Walden. Published by The Westminister Press. Used by permission. From Walk in a Tall Shadow by Amelia Elizabeth Walden. Copy- right (c) 1968 by Amelia Elizabeth Walden. Reprinted by permission of the author. From Just One Indian Boy by Elizabeth Witheridge. Copyright (c) 1974 by Elizabeth Witheridge. Reprinted by permission of Atheneum Publishers. From "Hey, What's Wrong With This One?" by Maija Wojciechowska. Copyright (c) 1969 by Maija Wojciechowska Rodman. Reprinted by permission of Harper & Row, Publishers. From Freddy's Book by John Neufeld. Copyright (c) 1973 by John Neufeld. Reprinted by permission of Random House, Inc. SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 413 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY Master List of Children's Books Agle, Nan Hayden. Joe Bean. New York: The Seabury Press, Inc., 1967. Anderson, C. W. Another Man O'War. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1966. Baker, Laura Nelson. Go Away Ruthie. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1966. Barness, Richard. Graystone College. Minneapolis, Minn.: Lerner Publications Co., 1973. Baum, Betty. A New Home for Theresa. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1968. Beatty, Hetty Burlingame. Bry . Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1965. Bishop, Curtis. Little League Stepson. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1965. Blume, Judy. lggie's House. Scarsdale, New York: Bradbury Press, Inc., 1970. Then Again, Maybe I Won't. Scarsdale, New York: Bradbury Press, Inc., 1971. Bonham, Frank. Mystery of the Fat Cat. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1968. Viva Chicano. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1970. Bradbury, Bianca. Andy's Mountain. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1969. Laurie. New York: Ives Washburn, Inc., 1965. Branscum, Robbie. Me and Jim Luke. New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1971. Bratton, Helen. Only in Time. New York: David McKay Co., Inc., 1967. 414 415 Butterworth, W. E. Stock-Car Racer. New York: W. W. Norton Co., Inc., 1966. Byars, Betsy. After the Goat Man. New York: The Viking Press, 1974. Carlson, Natalie Savage. Marchers for the Dream. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1969. Cavanna, Betty. The Country Cousin. New York: William Morrow and Co., Inc., 1967. Cleaver, Vera and Bill Cleaver. Delpha Green and Company, Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1972. Lady Ellen Grae. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1968. Clymer, Eleanor. How I Went Shopping and What I Got. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1972. Me and the Eggman. New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., Inc., 1972. Cohen, Peter Zachary. Morena. New York: Atheneum Publishers, 1970. Coles, Robert. Riding Free. Boston: Atlantic/Little, Brown and Co., 1973. Colver, Alice Ross. Sally, Star Patient. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1968. Cormier, Robert. The Chocolate War. New York: Pantheon Books, 1974. Crane, Caroline. Don't Look at Me That Way. New York: Random House, Inc., 1970. DeLeeuw, Adele Louise. Miss Fix-It. New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc., 1966. Derleth, August William. The Beast in Holger's Woods. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1968. Dixon, Peter L. Deep Dive. Glendale, Calif.: Bowmar, 1971. Fire Guard. Glendale, Calif.: Bowmar, 1971. Ellis, Ella Thorpe. Riptide. New York: Atheneum Publishers, 1969. Embry, Margaret. Shadi. New York: Holiday House, Inc., 1971. 416 Fife, Dale. The Fish in the Castle. New York: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, Inc., 1965. Fox, Paula. Portrait of Ivan. Scarsdale, New York: Bradbury Press, Inc., 1969. Garden, Nancy. The Loners. New York: The Viking Press, 1972. George, Jean Craighead. Hold Zero! New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1966. Glasser, Barbara and Ellen Blustein. Bongo Bradley, New York: Hawthorn Books, Inc., 1973. Granger, Peg. Canyon of Decision. New York: Criterion Books, 1967. Greene, Constance. A Girl Called A1. New York: The Viking Press, 1969. Griffith, Valeria Winkler. Runaway. New York: Abelard-Schuman, Ltd., 1971. Grossman, Mort. A Rage to Die. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1973. Guy, Rosa. The Friends. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1973. Hale, Arlene. Nothing But a Stranger. New York: Four Winds Press, 1966. Hall, Lynn. Sticks and Stones. Chicago: Follett Publishing Company, 1972. Hentoff, Nat. In the Country of Ourselves. New York: Simon & Schuster, Inc., 1971. Jazz Country. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1965. Hinton, S. E. That Was Then, This Is Now. New York: The Viking Press, 1971. Hodges, Margaret. The Making of Joshua Cobb. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc., 1971., Holman, Felice. Slake's Limbo. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1974. Honig, Donald. Wayrto Go, Teddy, New York: Franklin Watts, Inc., 1973. 417 Huntsberry, William Emery. The Big Hang-Up. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, Co., 1970. . The Big Wheels. New York: Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, Co., 1967. Jackson, Jesse. Tessie. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1968. Kingman, Lee. The Peter Pan Bag, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1970. The Year of the Raccoon. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1966. Klein, Norma. Naomi in the Middle. New York: The Dial Press, 1974. Knudson, R. R. Jesus Song, New York: Delacorte Press/Dell Publishing Co., Inc., 1973. Konigsburg, E. L. (George). New York: Atheneum Publishers, 1970. Krantz, Hazel Newman. The Secret Raft. New York: Vanguard Press, Inc., 1965. Laklan, Carli. Surf With Me. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1967. Lawrence, Mildred. Inside the Gate. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1968. No Slipper fbr Cinderella. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Inc., 1965. . Madison, Winifred. Bird on the Wing. Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1974. Mann, Peggy. The Clubhouse. New York: Coward, McCann and Geoghegan, Inc., 1969. Maxwell, Edith. Just Dial a Number. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., '1970. Miles, Betty. The Real Me. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1974. Mills, Donia Whiteley. The Rules of the Game. New York: The Viking Press, 1969. Montgomery, Rutherford. Into the Groove. New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1966. Murphy, Shirley Rosseau. The Sand Ponies. New York: The Viking Press, 1967. 418 Neufeld, John. Edgar Allan. New York: 5. G. Phillips, Inc., 1968. Hey, John. Ox Goes North; More Trouble for the Kid at the Top. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1973. Orgel, Doris. The Mulberry Music. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1971. Peake, Katy. The Indian Heart of Carrie Hodges. New York: The Viking Press, 1972. Peck, Richard. Don't Look and It Won't Hurt. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Incf? 1972. Rinkoff, Barbara. I Need Some Time. New York: The Seabury Press, Inc., 1970. The Watchers. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1972. Rockwell, Thomas. Hiding Out. Scarsdale, New York: Bradbury Press, Inc., 1974. Sachs, Marilyn. Amy and Laura. New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1966. Schoen, Barbara. A Spark of Jay, New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co., 1969. Scholefield, Edmund O. (Bryan's ng, Cleveland, Ohio: The World Publishing Company, 1967. Shepard, Ray Anthony. Sneakers. New York: E. P. Dutton 8 Co., Inc., 1973. Sherburne, Zoa. Leslie. New York: William Morrow and Co., Inc., 1972. Smith, Pauline. Hold Yourself Dear. New York: Julian Messner, 1965. Stapp, Arthur 0. Too Steep for Baseball. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers,71965. ' Stolz, Mary. The Edge of Next Year. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1974. . A Wonderful, Terrible Time. New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1974. Summers, James L. You Can't Make It By Bus. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1969. 419 Terris, Susan. The Drowning Boy. New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1972. Plague of Froga, New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1973. Thaler, Susan. Rosaria. New York: David McKay Co., Inc., 1967. Trivers, James. I Can Stop Any Time I Want. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1974. Wagner, Jane. J. T. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1970. Walden, Amelia Elizabeth. In Search of Ophelia. New York: McGraw- Hill Book Co., 1966. Race the Wild Wind. Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1965. . Walk in a Tall Shadow. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., 1968. Wier, Ester. The Winners. New York: David McKay Co., Inc., 1968. Witheridge, Elizabeth. Just One Indian Boy. New York: Atheneum Publishers, 1974. Wojciechowska, Maia. "Hey, What's Wrong with This One?" New York: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1969. Other Children's Books Cited Fitzhugh, Louise. Nobogy's Family Is Going to Change. Farrar, Straus & Giroux, Inc., 1974. Juliusburger, Susanne. Beginninga, New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, 1974. . Klein, Norma. Taking Sides. New York: Pantheon Books, 1974. Neufeld, John. Freddy's Book. New York: Random House, Inc., 1973. Professional References Books Ambrose, Edna and Miel, Alice. Children's Social Learning: Implications of Research and Expert Study, Washington, D.C.: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development, A Department of the National Education Association, 1958. 419 Terris, Susan. The Drowning Boy. New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1972. Plague of Froga, New York: Doubleday & Co., Inc., 1973. Thaler, Susan. Rosaria. New York: David McKay Co., Inc., 1967. Trivers, James. I Can Stop Any Time I Want. Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1974. Wagner, Jane. J. T. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Co., 1970. Walden, Amelia Elizabeth. In Search of Ophelia. New York: McGraw- Hill Book Co., 1966. Race the Wild Wind. 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