Pleasure, Pain, and the Power of Being Thin: Female Sexuality in Young Adult Literature

Analysis of Young Adult literature spanning 1975-1999 reveals an imbedded link between body image, weight, and sexuality: thinner young women are portrayed as powerful and in control, while larger women are depicted as sexually passive and irresponsible. Young Adult fiction, often maligned or ignored by literary critics, is an important body of work that should be studied by women's studies scholars, literary critics, and educators.