# Adult fiction on the shelves at my house...



## 3girls1boy (Nov 20, 2001)

We have a copy of "Nine and a Half Weeks" and also "The Delta of Venus" and "Erotica" by Anias Nin on the book shelves in our living room. Kids have never shown any interest in our books before, but I am wondering if I should take them off the shelves now that oldest DD is approaching 13.

My first instinct is just to leave them there and not worry about it, but I'm wondering what others would do.

Jeanne (mom to DD 12 adn a half, DD 9 and a half, DD 7, and DS 4)


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## UnschoolnMa (Jun 14, 2004)

I would absolutely leave the books on the shelf. But then I wouldn't have a problem with my kids reading those titles so...










If they were to read the books what would you be concerned about? I am assuming that your 13 year old knows about sex so what would be the problem if she were to take an interest in reading them?


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## oldcrunchymom (Jun 26, 2002)

I'd leave them there.


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## Arduinna (May 30, 2002)

I'd leave them in their usual place, where ever that is.


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## polka hop (Dec 23, 2003)

*


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## 3girls1boy (Nov 20, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *UnschoolnMa*
I would absolutely leave the books on the shelf. But then I wouldn't have a problem with my kids reading those titles so...









If they were to read the books what would you be concerned about? I am assuming that your 13 year old knows about sex so what would be the problem if she were to take an interest in reading them?

Yes, what would be the problem is she were to take an interest in reading them? I guess, if I really think about it, it probably comes down to me wanting her to not rush into all that just yet (she is definitely in that place where she sometimes wants to be grown up and sometimes just wants to still play pretend with her siblings).

I haven't read any of the books in a long time and don't remember them clearly. "Nine and a Half Weeks" though is about what I consider an emotionally abusive relationship, and I don't quite remember how it comes off in the book.

Thanks for your comments.


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## TiredX2 (Jan 7, 2002)

Thanks for the reading suggestions.

I don't know of the specifics, but I would tend towards leaving them.


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## LongLiveLife (Nov 5, 2004)

I remember presenting an oral book report on "The Clan of the Cave Bear"... in 5th grade, when I was 10. There were some pretty graphic depictions of sexual encounters, if memory serves me, but it didn't disturb or engross me.

i'm so glad that my parents left their adult books out and never encouraged Judy Bloom and Madeleine L'engle... who are great, but we got plenty of that at school. I grew accustomed to reading in an adult voice at an early age.
Several of those books are still favorites today.

nak


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## UnschoolnMa (Jun 14, 2004)

3girls1boy wrote:
Yes, what would be the problem is she were to take an interest in reading them? I guess, if I really think about it, it probably comes down to me wanting her to not rush into all that just yet (she is definitely in that place where she sometimes wants to be grown up and sometimes just wants to still play pretend with her siblings).

That's such an incredible age isn't it? That place between little girl and young lady is, if memory serves, an exciting-frustrating time.

I haven't read any of the books in a long time and don't remember them clearly. "Nine and a Half Weeks" though is about what I consider an emotionally abusive relationship, and I don't quite remember how it comes off in the book.

I think as long as she has someone attentive and willing to discuss such things with her around (and clearly she has such a person in you







) even a story with some heavy moments could be a good read for her (and that's even if she is ever moved to read the books at all) A story with an abusive relationship can be a great way to discuss such things with a teen girl.


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## enkmom (Aug 30, 2004)

Another vote for leave them where they are. My daughter has always been encouraged to read anything she likes - in fact some of MY favorite books have been recommendations from her! As long as she knows that she can come to you with any questions or just for discussion, I think everything will be fine.


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## Irishmommy (Nov 19, 2001)

If the book is as disturbing as the movie, I'd ditch 9 1/2 weeks, otherwise I don't see the problem.


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## LizD (Feb 22, 2002)

We have all kinds of titles on our shelves that probably fall under "disturbing" whether there is sexual content or not. There has never been a question in my mind about removing my books from my shelves. This is my house. I keep certain very graphic books in my room or my husband's office, but they aren't off-limits to my children, they're just in a more private location than the living room. If your children read the books, they'll likely only understand as much as they're ready to anyway. And if the books are on your shelves it is less likely they will be thought of as "dirty" books.


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## JessicaS (Nov 18, 2001)

Where would you put them if you took them off the shelves? If you put them elsewhere I would say that one would be _more_ likely to read them than if it was treated as no big deal.


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## SagMom (Jan 15, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *abimommy*
If you put them elsewhere I would say that one would be _more_ likely to read them than if it was treated as no big deal.


Ah, yes. This is how I came to read Helter Skelter and Playboy . (If Dad hid them under the furniture, they must be good!)

I vote for leaving the books on the shelf too. I'd much rather have it out in the open and have the kids feel they can talk about what they're reading if they need to.


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## VisionQuest (Dec 28, 2001)

If they've been on your shelf this long, I think it would send up a flag if you pulled them off now.

(This coming from a person who's currently reading How to Make Love Like a Porn Star by Jenna Jameson!







: It is in my library bag because the kids haven't seen it - I'm too afraid to have it out!)


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## girlndocs (Mar 12, 2004)

I'd leave 'em. And to make sure the material was balanced in an overall woman-friendly direction I'd round 'em out with copies of The Clitoral Truth and Our Bodies, Ourselves


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## littlest birds (Jul 18, 2004)

Personaly, I think that reading is a good exposure to elements of adult sexuality. I was precocious in reading so I remember reading a lot of adult books pretty early and feeling that I could safely imagine and fantasize about sexuality long before I acted on it. I second adding more informative titles especially for your daughter. I read ALL the books on my parents shelves, and anything with intriguing content I read many times.


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## amydidit (Jan 21, 2005)

I agree you should leave them. 13 is a fabulous age, and not too young (in my opinion) to begin exploring more adult subjects. If you hid them then she'd be more likely to want to read them because now they're *taboo*... but if they're on the regular book shelf I think that shows that those subjects are a regular, natural, healthy part of life.

I haven't read those books, but I read Clan of the Cave Bear when I was in 4th or 5th grade and didn't find it disturbing at all. If a child is old enough to pick up a book of an adult subject and be interested enough in reading it then I think that child is old enough to read it. I'm so glad my mom let me read Clan of the Cave Bear. I would've even if she said no, but isn't being open about things so much better?


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## CincoDeMama (Dec 9, 2001)

i'd leave them where they are and take the mystery out of them~if there is any, kwim?


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## mommyofshmoo (Oct 25, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Irishmommy*
If the book is as disturbing as the movie, I'd ditch 9 1/2 weeks, otherwise I don't see the problem.

I remember seeing 9 1/2 weeks as an older teen- maybe 18 or 19 and being disturbed- and I had been having sex for years! strangely, I actually mentioned something to my mother (Gasp!) about it and she gave me some helpful advice:

"Adult sexuality is complicated and can be very different from teenage exploration and sexuality."

I think I would put away any books that were about emotional abuse or S/M relationships, etc. untill the kids were a bit older. If nothing else, friends who noticed these books around the house could use them to make your kids really embarrassed.

Those books abviously belong to adults and I don't think teenagers want to be faced with their parent's sexual tastes in the living room.

I guess I'm more old-fashioned than I thought.


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## Ruthla (Jun 2, 2004)

Another vote for leaving the books where they are. If you haven't read them in a while, and have forgotten how they portray things, you might want to reread them either now or after your ds reads them (if he does) so you can discuss them more easily.

I have certain "adult books" that I keep out of my kids' reach- and they always have been. Anything in their reach, they're allowed to read.

I'm also wondering about such books as Harlequinn romances- the reading level certainly isn't too high, and the stories are sweet (though usually not very realistic) but I really don't want my 10yo reading graphic sexual scenes. I don't know if I'd feel differently if she hadn't been exposed to pornography at the age of 7 (by her ex-stepdad.) Maybe she should read about sex from a woman's perspective, as an alternative to the graphic visualizations that she's already seen (and decided were disgusting.)


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## Saiahma (Jul 2, 2003)

This is SO weird...Those were 2 books that I "found" on my mom's shelf at about 12-13 (along with Wifey by Judy Blume..) and yes, I "snuck" and read them. I though I was being really crafty by leaving the book jacket/dust covers propped up in their usual places on the shelf while I had the hard cover book hidden in my room. I WISH my mom would have been more open with me. I always had the impression/feeling that sex was "bad" until after DS was born. I think if she would have pointed out books like this to me and opened up a discussion I would have felt more comfortable coming to her with other questions.

So anyhow, I'd say leave the books...but let your DC know they can come to you if they have questions about ANYTHING they read.


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## Red (Feb 6, 2002)

My parents had a bookshelf. If contained some Readers' Digest Condensed books, a few old hardcovers and some paperbacks. Occassionally I'd pick one and read it. If they were hard to understand, I put them back and got another.

I read Black Like Me, and Charlie that way. Both had words my parents didn't allow and situations I had never imagined. I picked up Black LIke Me probably a dozen times before I actually read it.

I was 19 when I discovered my father (yep, dear ole Dad)and aunt reading romance novels. The really hot ones. Seems they'd been reading them for years, trading titles at the dinner table, and I'd never noticed.

I think most of us read at our own comfort level. Chances of your daughter actually reading those books if they're left inthe open is slim, until she's ready. Make sure you have plenty of good reads on the shelves that are more her age group.

On the other hand, removing them to your own room is a fine alternative. Would you feel uncomfortable if she was reading one of them? (I might)


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## AntoninBeGonin (Jun 24, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *amydidit*
I haven't read those books, but I read Clan of the Cave Bear when I was in 4th or 5th grade and didn't find it disturbing at all. If a child is old enough to pick up a book of an adult subject and be interested enough in reading it then I think that child is old enough to read it. I'm so glad my mom let me read Clan of the Cave Bear. I would've even if she said no, but isn't being open about things so much better?

I read that book when I was in middle school also. I really like Jean Auel's Earth Children series. My parents never even mentioned censoring what I read as a child. I think censorship (even if it's just moving a book) is usually more harmful than helpful because it sends the message that the opposite point of view isn't as important.

I hope that makes as much sense to you as it does in my head! Ha!









Nay "The Intactavist Doula"














: my little booby bandito, Antonin









I love my super supportive DH







Our kitties!


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## neptuneaurora (Jul 3, 2005)

One more vote for leaving the books on the shelves. You don't even know for sure if they'll even ever pick them up and look at them, much less read them.

I've always been and avid reader but I had to hide almost everything that I read as a teenager from my very conservative parents. It caused a huge rift in my relationship with them. I felt like I was not being allowed to grow up. They wanted me to stay interested in childlike subjects forever, which is something that obviously isn't possible.

I agree with the pp who said that reading about mature subjects will allow them to explore with their minds so that they don't feel the need to go out into the world to learn about them.


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## sohj (Jan 14, 2003)

Another vote for leaving them there.

I'd probably add a variety of stuff like girlndocs suggested. Of course, Our Bodies, Ourselves will be already on the shelves in the "health" section. V. important for me as I've got a son and I think he ought to know the woman's point of view and something about how she might get an orgasm. Don't want him getting too many of those "pointers" from his buddies who have funny ideas about what women really want.









I also think that those tacky romance novels ARE dangerous. I don't think they should be forbidden, but I'm inclined to think that they require discussing more than Nine and A Half Weeks! Those Harlequin novels and the racy bodice rippers BOTH are complete fantasies...and _dangerous_ ones at that! They perpetuate the idea of woman as prey, of man as an animal who needs the taming influence of a "good" woman, and the idea of marriage as the goal in any relationship. Friendship(s) are pretty much irrelevant. Standard, stultifying sex roles are reinforced, and reality in the form of poverty, race or class issues rarely enter the story.

The fact is, like mommyofschmoo quoted her mother as saying: "Adult sexuality is complicated and can be very different from teenage exploration and sexuality." And, many times, adult sexuality in the context of adult relationships is mixed up with well-repressed socio-cultural issues like racism, sexism and other -isms (there seems to be an endless number) as well as the romance-novel-aided-perpetuation of the pursuit of marriage as a sensible MAIN ambition in someone's life.

Prince Charming and Snow White/Sleeping Beauty is a dangerous myth -- for both men and women.

Anais Nin, on the other hand, just gives one pointers on where to look for the g-spot. No cultural danger there.


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## flyingspaghettimama (Dec 18, 2001)

As I recall, Delta of Venus has a fairly graphic depiction of father/daughter incest and rape as a good thing. It was something that made me really, really upset as a teen ... interesting story, interesting story... EWWW! Is it normal or not? Is this OK or not? It still stands out in my mind decades later. 9 1/2 weeks (the movie) was also something that really disturbed me, mostly due to the outright abusiveness between the man and woman - once again, not knowing how normal it was. My parents did not have any rules about what we read or watched as young teens, and certainly didn't talk with us about any of it unless we brought it up (we didn't). I really don't think an 11 year old should be able to watch Hellraiser IV. Then again, really maybe nobody should watch Hellraiser IV.









I am not one for censoring materials (being a librarian), but I also think there's a time and place (why I don't read my five year old Harry Potter) for selecting materials; and parents need to not only be receptive but also seek out opportunities to talk with their children about these things if they choose to make them available. Like, say, why incest is sad and why an author might want to depict it as fun and harmless. Hmm. That will be an interesting one!

I also agree about Harlequins - there is a lot of rape and forcible seduction - if a teen girl is going to read this, she also needs some very strong counterexamples, because this is so often depicted in our society as "normal." I thought that whole Britney Spears teen-slut-virgin thing was really weird too. Bob Dole...

I dunno, get some lesbian fiction and women-positive sex fiction to leave around, if you really want to leave something out! It's just sad for girls and boys that age to be exposed so early to society's messages of "what's sexy." Rape, incest, underage sex, and forced sex. Great. Anais was not the rebel she thought herself. Have you ever read her diaries? What a freakin' self-absorbed bore! Maybe leave one of those out with the Delta of Venus.


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## PGNPORTLAND (Jul 9, 2005)

hi, its interesting to me that everyone has decided nine and a half weeks is about an abusive relationship. to me it depicted an S/m relationship and actually that movie helped me to feel more normal about feelings I was having at a young age. but perhaps its not the best example. I agree leave books on the shelf. my father had a book called dirty little limericks and also got playboy every month. despite all the arguements about playboy it is a better example of full, womanly bodies than most teen girl magazines. At least most of the women in playboy have womanly bodies. my mother believed that if your kids want to read it doesn't matter what it is they are reading so we read whatever we wanted including scary stuff like stephen king, smutty garbage like VC andrews, and wonderful fiction like " the world according to garp" by john irving. To this day, my brothers and I are avid readers.


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## applejuice (Oct 8, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *3girls1boy*
We have a copy of "Nine and a Half Weeks" and also "The Delta of Venus" and "Erotica" by Anias Nin on the book shelves in our living room. Kids have never shown any interest in our books before, but I am wondering if I should take them off the shelves now that oldest DD is approaching 13.
(mom to DD 12 adn a half, DD 9 and a half, DD 7, and DS 4)

Unless you are prepared to talk to her about the subject matter in those books, I think you should put it away for a while.


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## johub (Feb 19, 2005)

I would leave them there too.
I once bought some books (that I had heard were good) that were so offensive to me that I couldnt read them. And I did get rid of those because I would not want my dd to read them.
But ordinary erotic stuff, I think it is fine. I read that kind of thing when I was 13. And I'll tell you , that is all probably better than the VC Andrews trash that was popular when I was in Jr High.

Joline


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## Charles Baudelaire (Apr 14, 2003)

Really simple.
If you don't want them to read those books, remove them.

I would. Personally, I think they're inappropriate for kids and kids are already sexualized enough by their peers, commercials (thanks, Paris Hilton...), the magazines, movies, and media. What they really don't need is to have erotica -- even well-written erotica like Nin -- at home, in my opinion.

FWIW, I read all of the books that my mom _thought_ I had no interest in -- including Anais Nin, Jacqueline Susann, and many others -- when I was your kids' age. I'm sorry I did, really - they were far too mature for me and made me believe everyone else was having sex but me. I look back now and I'm kind've embarrassed that I was reading that stuff at that age. When our dd gets to be old enough, we'll take anything we don't want her to read off our shelves as well.

Just a thought.

Quote:


Originally Posted by *3girls1boy*
We have a copy of "Nine and a Half Weeks" and also "The Delta of Venus" and "Erotica" by Anias Nin on the book shelves in our living room. Kids have never shown any interest in our books before, but I am wondering if I should take them off the shelves now that oldest DD is approaching 13.

My first instinct is just to leave them there and not worry about it, but I'm wondering what others would do.

Jeanne (mom to DD 12 adn a half, DD 9 and a half, DD 7, and DS 4)


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## PikkuMyy (Mar 26, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mommyofshmoo*
I think I would put away any books that were about emotional abuse or S/M relationships, etc. untill the kids were a bit older. If nothing else, friends who noticed these books around the house could use them to make your kids really embarrassed.

Those books abviously belong to adults and I don't think teenagers want to be faced with their parent's sexual tastes in the living room.

I agree, particularly about the S&M and abuse.

And on that note, I was babysitting and the parents of the child I was caring for had The Story of O on their shelf, which I feel is certainly not appropriate for a young teen to be reading. They had a 14-year-old daughter as well as the son, whom I was caring for. I don't know if the girl looked through their books (the parents kept many of their books on a shelf in a hallway), but I sure did after he was asleep! And when I came across that book, I took it down out of curiousity. OMG!!!! Anyway, I read some of it and then......

wait for it..

Left it on the chair in the livingroom when I went home!







:














:







Ack! I was so embarassed because of course they'd know it was me looking at it. But then I thought about it some more and realized, wait! They're the ones who actually own the book! What should I be embarassed about?


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## Emzachsmama (Apr 30, 2004)

Well to be honest I would probably move them into my bedroom. There are just some books I consider to be not for kids and I wouldn't want them to have such easy access to them.


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## sohj (Jan 14, 2003)

...as I sat in the audience at a production of Midsummer Night's Dream that was being performed in a community garden near me that has an amphitheater. Kids are allowed, as, if they get bored with the action on stage, they can go over to the sand pit/kids' playing area of the same (fenced-in) garden. My pixie (3 years and 4 months old) spent nearly all of the time on my lap staring at the action...and when he wasn't there, he was still paying _rapt_ attention to the stage.

In case you aren't familiar with the play, it is, frankly, a sex comedy. Here is a link to the plot: http://www.shakespeare-literature.co...s_Dream/0.html







:

And, being an East Village (and Blunt Theater Company) production, it meant that Oberon was a Club Dude and Titania was definately no one you'd want to have on the door when you're trying to get in looking less-than-fabulous. Puck and the faeries were pretty racy. Some of them were fire-spinners, too. ( http://www.homeofpoi.com/ ) The scenes of affection were, well, _very_ affectionate. All in all, Shakespeare would have been pleased. Good spectacle.







The actors were generally pretty good, too. We've seen other productions by them in previous years.

That said, I recalled that thread in the context of what kids seem to see a lot of. During the play, Sam asked me what Demetrius was doing when he started sloppy-kissing Helena's arm. I said he was making a big deal about kissing her to get her attention and was kissing her arm because that was the only bit he could reach because Lysander was holding most of the rest of her out of reach. He "got" that. He talked about it later. He had somehow figured it out that at that point, Helena was "loved too much". Which is true, there was a magic spell. And the whole thing made him laugh, which is good -- because sex and "loving" is often really, really funny. That was an easy explanation. At least for me. And it was "true", in the context.

ON THE OTHER HAND, we seem to have to keep revisiting the gun problem. I use guns occasionally, but I don't own one at the moment. I only use them for killing animals (hunting or annual butchering). I don't do handgun target shooting (most ranges I've been to use a human-shaped target anyhow, so I wouldn't go there). The pixie sees LOADS of kids who are re-enacting the violence they see on cartoons. (We don't have a television, btw.) Even a lot of so-called "light" cartoon fare is really pretty violent. Parents get their kids swords, water guns (some of them are _extremely_ realistic), and various space weapons all the time! Kids run around the playground yelling "I'm gonna kill you!" or some varient. And he sees photos in the newspaper. Plenty of war photos on the front page -- not to mention the soldiers (National Guard) on so many of the area trains and the police on patrol.

In other words, in this world that we are living in, guns are not just guns by themselves. The context of how the gun gets used or who is using it matters. And not just to me. I've had to try to find a way to explain the context because _he is asking me about it_. It's not that I'm dragging it in out of my own issues.

We've been trying to explain what that is all about. There is no easy way to do it. I'm pretty straightforward, but the whole state-violence and intra-state-violence (ie: war) is a big, complicated thing. And yet, and yet, War seems to be an acceptable thing to let kids play at and this other thing is totally a taboo to even read about.

So, bearing in mind what I was reminded of by loraeileen's post about some of the contexts of the Nin stories, which would take a LOT of explaining now that I remember them better, I still think that leaving erotica on the shelf is fine.

There is a huge taboo against the sexual act and all the physical bits and pieces that lead up to the sexual act (which, when its good, is fun and funny); but, we seem, as a society, to train our children to be warriors. Yet, also as a society, we expect them to grow up find someone and have sex (usually without any "training" except stuff like "save yourself for the right one otherwise you won't respect yourself") in order to have children...who will, in turn, also be cannon fodder.

Seems like something is wrong there.

And, I'm not entirely sure how my mind connected this discussion to that train of thought while I was sitting there at the play, but, it did. Maybe someone else can explain my mind to me.


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## Zipporah (Feb 22, 2005)

I was a kid whose reading level was far ahead of my social development, and i read many of my mother's books containing sex scenes, after i pestered her so much she gave in. She thought i wouldn't understand them, but i did, much to my detriment. I already had issues with male attention and self-worth, and too-early exposure to that kind of sexuality was really a bad addition to the mix. I feel that it was a major contributor to my ensuing promiscuity. I pretty much became sex-obsessed for most of my teens (i am now horrified to admit i lost my virginity at 14 to a 30-something guy who honked at me from his car when i was walking down the street







: ).
I think you should reflect long and hard on what you know about your children's personalities, the particular issues they have, and their general environment before allowing them to be exposed to this potent power of sexual fiction/erotica. Especially the kind that is deliberately "perverse", e.g. Anais Nin, Story of O, 9 1/2 Weeks. If you find you do consider your children healthy and mature enough for overtly sexual material, i would rather recommend such things as written for teens, like "Forever" by Judy Blume, "Flight of the Albatross" by Deborah Savage -- anything portraying the vulnerability, tenderness, sweetness of the teenage sexual fumblings, rather than imposing sophisticated and jaded ideas which trouble the young mind.
Of course, this is JMO.

ETA - I do, though, absolutely recommend the preface/introduction Anais Nin writes in "Delta of Venus" -- it is a "manifesto" against the uglification and degradation of sex, and supporting the indulgence of the entire self, all senses, into the sexual experience. It is very beautiful and moving, and an important message in these days of supreme uglification..


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## Quirky (Jun 18, 2002)

ITA with Zipporah's post above. Granted, the OP's dd is 13, and not 8, as I was when I started reading the hardcore porn at my babysitter's house. (Parents didn't know we were reading it, babysitter thought I wouldn't understand - umm, I was reading at a high school level at this point.







)

The hardcore S&M stuff and depictions of abusive relationships (and let's not forget what happens at the end of Story of O - snuff basically) really did a number on my views of sexuality and my self-esteem and oversexualized my brain at a too-early age. I won't bore you with the details but suffice it to say I wish I could do a lot of things differently.

I love erotica (well, I did back before nursing took my libido away







) but I wouldn't want my kids to read what I get a charge out of now, because I as an adult know the difference between fantasy and reality in a way that I didn't know as a young child.

As Zipporah said, you know your kids best, but I do think there are some depictions of sexuality (even normal sexuality, and I include S&M here as part of the normal) that are too advanced for children/adolescents. I would never, ever depend on my child not to "get" what the story means - I think kids understand way more than adults give them credit for. I know I sure did.


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## Lula's Mom (Oct 29, 2003)

ITA with Quirky and Zipporah. I could have written Zipporah's post (though not as well!) :LOL I read that kind of stuff (Lolita, Story of O, Clan of the Cave Bear, Penthouse Forum!)when I was a very young teen, and it didn't serve me well. I knew waaay too much too early. And contrary to what some PPs have said, reading about it didn't help me put off trying it! No, erotic books definitely gave me a lot of ideas that I DID act on. In retrospect, I was way too young to do some of the stuff I did. The books made it sound so fantastic, so amazing, so _sexy!_ But I didn't have the adult perspective I needed, to deal with it in real life.

I think those books have their time and place, and I'm not one to censor. But I will delay my daughter's exposure to that kind of sexuality. She'll get enough as it is, just from living life in this country... I think I'd be more comfortable introducing it a couple of years later than the OP mentioned.


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## UUMom (Nov 14, 2002)

I''ve not taken anything off my shelves, but I recall there is an incest/pedophilia chapter (a father and a little boy) in Little Birds. Don't know if that is an issue for you.

ETA- I have not explored my feelings totally on this, but I think I would not want my small children reading Anais Nin yet. I wouldn't have a problem with my oldest dc reading her, however.


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## Zipporah (Feb 22, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *UUMom*
I''ve not taken anything off my shelves, but I recall there is an incest/pedophilia chapter (a father and a little boy) in Little Birds. Don't know if that is an issue for you.

ETA- I have not explored my feelings totally on this, but I think I would not want my small children reading Anais Nin yet. I wouldn't have a problem with my oldest dc reading her, however.

How old is your oldest, UUMom? I'm just curious b/c of some of the rather "shocking" material Nin put into her erotic stories. Like "Delta of Venus", which the OP says she has, contains stories about rape, incest, sexual exhibitionism/voyeurism, prostitution, pedophilia, necrophilia, D/s, plus a few things which are no longer a big deal but would have been considered shocking/titillating in her day (homosexuality, interracial sex etc.). And none of them are dealt with in a negative way -- all these things are highly eroticized, which can have quite an impact on a kid's developing sexuality. Obviously you know your own kids, but personally i would not want my kids reading this stuff at all until they are grown up and have established their own healthy sexuality.
I would be interested to hear from others who would allow their kids to read this material about what their reasoning/rationale would be.


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## UUMom (Nov 14, 2002)

My oldest is a little over 16 & 1/2. It's not that i would hand these books to him...yet I would imagine that most teens around this age have probably read erotic or worse.

I thought i was pretty strict in this thread, as all of the folks before me said not to remove the books from the shelves. I







said I wasn't sure.


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## LotusBirthMama (Jun 25, 2005)

Tee, hee,tee,hee....

This thread reminded me that when I was about 11 my mom saw an ad in the back of a magazine. You bought a subscription to a romance novel company and for each 4 books you got a little knife. After you go the 6 or so knives you got a wooden knife block to put them in. She ordered the books to give to me and my twin b/c she knew how much we loved to read and she WANTED those cute little knives! OMG! The books were sooooo graphic. I too had a pretty adult reading experiance but these were just sex on every page...

I spent many a dark winter night with one of those dog earred books in my hands









My sister and I like to tease my mom about the porn she bought her impressionable daughters!


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