I guess one thing I've learned since I was a teen is that it's not true that high school boys "only have one thing on their mind"... I don't know where this comes from. I mean, sure, hormones are raging, etc... but a lot of all the frenzy surrounding sex comes from boys' friends -- not from inside them.
All boys think about sex -- that is true. (And girls think about sex, too -- btw!) But, boys are capable of deep love and intimacy, of developing bonds that go beyond teenage movies where boys make fart jokes and try to get laid.
Whenever I've written a teen hero, I found it easy to remember boys I loved -- who meant something more than fumbling around in the back seat of a car. They were three dimensional people with a lot on their minds and so much life ahead of them.
Anyway, boys are capable of deep feelings -- not that all of them have the emotional vocabulary to express them, yet -- and I think this often gets overlooked.
So, what do you think? Do boys get a bad rap?
Hugs,
Heather
Heather Davis is the author of
Never Cry Werewolf
Coming in APRIL 2009 from HarperCollins
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3 comments:
Heather, I couldn't agree more! The male characters I write always have a good handle on what-is-real and what-is-really-important, which is what I consider true "hero" material.
Indeed! Yep, I agree. Boys think about sex, but that's not ALL they think about...
It's just not "cool" to talk to deeply about your feelings the way girls do. (But that doesn't mean then don't have feelings, too!)
You are so right, Heather. They can't be fit into one tightly defined category. But then that's true about everyone, right?
And ditto what Tina said about a true hero having a firm grip on things. I'm sure my guy heroes are thinking about sex... but it just doesn't come up unless they've got real feelings for the girl (even if they don't admit to those feelings!)
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