Resumen
This manuscript examines how YA graphic narratives represent sexuality
with particular attention to the loss of virginity as experienced
by girls and young women. It draws on the notion of sexual scripts,
which are the socially learned strategies that signal what makes a
situation sexual. Sexual scripts matter because of the expectations
that are placed on, especially, teenagers. Through the lens of sexual
scripts, we study four graphic narratives that portray young adult
women losing their virginity, however they conceptualise that. The
focal narratives are Daniel Clowes’ Ghost World, Sarah Oleksyk’s Ivy,
Ariel Schrag’s Potential, and Julie Maroh’s Blue is the Warmest Color. By
looking at the texts through the theory of sexual scripting, these
sexual relationships show that these contemporary females are more
agentive than those seen in traditional media portrayals. However,
they still adhere to many of rules of gendered sexual scripting, such
as having men’s pleasure foregrounded. Ghost World and Ivy showcase
heterosexual encounters in relationships that leave the young
women unsatisfied. Potential and Blue is the Warmest Color contrast
heterosexual relationships with loving lesbian relationships that provide
a stronger emotional connection and greater physical pleasure.
Thus, more opportunities for subverting potentially harmful ideologies
still exist.