Are These Teenage Extramarital Affairs Happening in 2018?

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NL Hartje
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Are These Teenage Extramarital Affairs Happening in 2018?

Post by NL Hartje »

With recent news headings highlighting teens running away with teachers/neighbors etc, do you think Natalie's relationship with Mr. Glover is more believable in 2018 than in the 1950's scene of this book? Or was it just as prominent then? Has it always been a theme with young girls?
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Post by BDTheresa »

I believe teenage extramarital affairs is more prominent now than then (1950's scene of the book). I recently read about a young boy who married an old billionaire woman.
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Post by Nanig83006 »

It may have always been a thing, but more known now because of different sources of media. In my opinion, this is a theme for both boys and girls, we just hear about the girls more often. During my time in high school, a male teacher was caught having an affair with a girl in my year. Two years after I graduated, a female teacher was caught with a male student. I'm not sure if schools (or just my school) are hunting grounds, but it's safe to say that kids in abusive situations make easy targets for predators.
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Post by Eryn Bradshaw »

Honestly, I think that extramarital affairs are probably about the same throughout time. There's always been adults who target teenagers, it was just less heard of in the past. A teenage girl who sleeps with an older gentleman would be quickly swept under the carpet, otherwise she wouldn't be eligible for marriage. I do think we hear about it more now though. The teens who have these extramarital affairs with adults aren't ostracized, they are taken to therapy, they get the help they need; and adults who have participated with the teens get sentenced to jail time, removed from their jobs, etc. And with all that happening, news outlets get hold of the story and report on it.
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Post by lesler »

I think the affair is the same amount of likely today that was in the 1950s. Online media makes it seem like it happens more today, but things were kept better secret back then.
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Post by rcarr13 »

I agree with what others have said. It's probably something that has always been happening. We just hear more about it now. At that time it was more likely to be kept a secret because family and friends were concerned for the teen's reputation and future which could be damaged if the community found out.
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Post by Mary Garrison »

This makes me think back to the Little House on the Prairie books. Back in that time it was very common for a young lady to get married at 14-16 years old. So it might have been just as common back then, I'm not for sure though.
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Post by Cristina Chifane »

Young girls frequently get infatuated with one of their teachers or someone in their circle no matter the year or century. The problem is how the other person responds to these signs because in many cases he may feel an inner satisfaction for attracting a young girl's interest and things take another turn. I don't know what happens next to Natalie in the novel, but it would be interesting to understand Mr. Glover's influence on her life.
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Post by MsTri »

I too think that it's probably always been prevalent, it just wasn't as well known in the days before CNN, the Internet, and so on. Does anyone remember Mary Kay Letourneau, who married her former student, Vili Fualaau, after giving birth to two daughters and going to jail for it? As huge as that was, we probably never would have heard of it had it happened in the 50s or even 60s or 70s.
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Post by folkshot »

I think with social media (and media in general) being what it is now, it's probably just more reported and discussed to a broader audience now than it was back in the day. It's probably sixes as to whether or not it actually happened more in the 50s than today. Girls married younger than they do today so a young woman being involved with an older man was probably not as big a deal.
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Post by Chigozie Anuli Mbadugha »

I definitely think teenage extramarital affairs are commoner now than in the time this novel was set (1950s) although information dissemination is much faster now with social media and all.
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Post by Jkhorner »

I think it is wise to take our cue from King Solomon's words: "there is nothing new under the sun." As to the prevalence of teenage affairs, I can't begin to know the answer, but I agree with many of the other commenters that nowadays the affair is far more likely to be aired publicly, and therefore it appears to happen more often. In the 1950s, Americans were still in the habit of hushing up sexuality of any sort -- especially if the activities proved to be unsavory. An affair might look different today, but fundamentally I believe the issue has been around since the beginning of time.
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Post by NL Hartje »

BDTheresa wrote: 02 Apr 2018, 03:01 I believe teenage extramarital affairs is more prominent now than then (1950's scene of the book). I recently read about a young boy who married an old billionaire woman.
Well, that seems quite the opposite of the stereotype. :eusa-think:

Considering finances, I certainly feel like the pull to money and material lifestyles are more targeted at youth today than in the past. Maybe this is adding to the appeal of the older lover?
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NL Hartje
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Post by NL Hartje »

Nanig83006 wrote: 02 Apr 2018, 08:43 It may have always been a thing, but more known now because of different sources of media. In my opinion, this is a theme for both boys and girls, we just hear about the girls more often. During my time in high school, a male teacher was caught having an affair with a girl in my year. Two years after I graduated, a female teacher was caught with a male student. I'm not sure if schools (or just my school) are hunting grounds, but it's safe to say that kids in abusive situations make easy targets for predators.
I agree with you about schools being easy hunting grounds. I had a similar situation in my high school, a girlfriend of mine was sleeping with one of our teachers. Even as her friend, I couldn't understand it. She came from a family of simple means so maybe it was partially the allure of power she saw in the teacher?
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NL Hartje
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Post by NL Hartje »

Eryn Bradshaw wrote: 02 Apr 2018, 09:31 A teenage girl who sleeps with an older gentleman would be quickly swept under the carpet, otherwise she wouldn't be eligible for marriage.
You're right, maybe the different societal norms and standards kept these little secrets closer to home in the past.
“So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads.”
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