LET’S TALK ABOUT ‘IT’: CONSTRUCTIONS OF SEXUAL CONTENT IN LITERATURE FOR YOUNG ADULTS

Abstract

This dissertation examines representations of sexual content in texts for and by young adults, including sexual health manuals, young adult (YA) literature, and online fan fiction published with texts ranging from 1970 to 2022. Drawing on children’s literature studies and sexuality studies, it investigates how contemporary texts construct adolescent sexuality, sexual agency, and bodily autonomy. The project addresses teenage sexual innocence and asks how recent texts challenge or reinforce cultural assumptions around this subject. Using close reading, textual analysis, and reflexive thematic analysis of a focus group study, the dissertation explores sexual health manuals, English-language YA novels from North America and the United Kingdom, and fan fiction published on digital platforms. The first chapter traces developments in sexual health education texts. The second analyzes representations of sexuality in YA fiction. The third examines reader responses from seven new adults who discussed YA literature and fan fiction in relation to themes such as consent, pornography, desire, emotional intimacy, and shame. The findings suggest that contemporary texts increasingly depict adolescents as subjects of sexual agency. Across genres, many works present sexual development as a complex process involving topics such as pleasure, desire, and uncertainty. By centering both textual representations and reader perspectives, this dissertation argues that contemporary literature for and by young adults largely supports the development of adolescent sexuality and contributes to broader conversations about youth sexualities, sexual citizenship, and sexual health education.