“He Couldn’t get close Enough”

Abstract

This chapter discusses novels that provide insight into a larger consequence of cultural demands about adolescent women and intimacy, namely that by discouraging young women from exploring or expressing their sexual desires before they are “ready,” cultural demands deny them the possibility of fully engaging in the sort of emotional intimacy deemed necessary for sexual relationships. These novels include Sarah Dessen’s Someone Like You, Kristen Tracy’s Lost It, Sara Zarr’s Story of a Girl, and Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight saga.