A Question of Age
February 8th, 2011 by Keira
This is something I’ve been pondering while working on a new book and I’m conducting an informal poll around the blogosphere. As long as a character is 18, are you okay with reading about him or her in sexual situations? Or is that still too young? What’s your threshold? 18? 19? 20? Older?
And does it change when the story is historical rather than contemporary? Is having a 17-year-old hero or heroine okay in a historical depending on the mores of the time period? Does the age of the other half of the pair come into play? Say, two 19-year-olds is okay, but a 19-year-old with a 30-year-old makes you uncomfortable? Does gender make a difference?
Does the plot matter? Would a BDSM story with an 18-year-old be off-putting while a sweet, traditional romance be fine?
Or does age not particularly matter at all as long as it’s a compelling, well-written romance?
If it’s appropriate to the setting, it doesn’t bother me. I read plenty of historical romances with characters under eighteen back in the 70s and 80s before the hysteria sent the publishers running and hiding, and if they were well written then I enjoyed them. One of Bertrice Small’s more popular books, The Kadin, starts when the female lead is 13, and has her in bed with the main guy when she’s 14. The sky did not fall, and although the book is still available, the Pedo Police have never kicked in Avon’s door. [shrug]
For me, it all comes down to the writing. Is it well done? Does the writer convince me that this 16-year-old and that 30-year-old are in love and have a good relationship? That’s pretty much the bottom line when I’m reading Whatever the plot might involve, it’s up to the writer to sell it, just as it is with a couple of 30-year-old characters.
Or does age not particularly matter at all as long as it’s a compelling, well-written romance?
Yes, that.
Angie
Age matters for me.
I have read historicals where she is younger, and for the most part I am okay with that. A historical set in Middle Ages Scotland makes sense to have a young heroine and an older man.
But in modern time I prefer to read them older. Personal preference for me is mid twenties. I just feel that most people don’t have the maturity needed for a real relationship before then.
Now there are exceptions, and I know quite a few personally, but that’s my preference in reading. It always has been. Unless I was a high schooler reading about high schoolers, if I am reading a modern romance, I prefer people with maturity.
And I also don’t like too many years difference. 15 is my max, usually. But then not an 18 year old girl and a 33 year old man, that just smacks of immaturity on his part. After you reach thirty (both of you) you should hopefully done all your growing up (for the most part.
LOL, so I guess my answer is yes, age does matter.
Thanks for weighing in, Angie and Talya!
Age is only a concern for me when the characters are underage. So at 18, I don’t care what the character does…whether it be BDSM, gay, older romantic interests, whatever. So long as there’s no incest, rape, or torture, it’s all fair game in my book.
Thanks for commenting, Vegetarian Cannibal! And great screenname.
I’m a woman in a long lasting and strong marriage, who enjoys nothing more than the studying of love and sex. I have two young men for friends, one is 21 and one is not quite 19, while I myself am 34.
If I were to not write about the delicious and tender thoughts they inspire in me, I would be doing a disservice to myself, regardless of what the reader thought about it.
In my opinion what makes erotic writing sexy, is when it is open enough to be bold in it’s truths, be they taboo to talk about or not. To discount the many reasonable reasons that people of any age or difference in age may find for enjoying one another, be it in the physical or the mind, is to ignore so many amazing possible adventures and tales.
Everyone has sex, and people are all people. I want to imagine them all.