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"Remembering" by Michael K. Smith (incest) 10, 10, 10
"Remembering" by Michael K. Smith (mksmith@metronet.com). Please believe me when I tell you that I wrote the "Comment on Authors' Rights" that appears at the end of this issue BEFORE I read this story. In that Comment I describe a story entitled "Raped Teen Burglar" by an author named TEX, in which that author offers a reality check: maybe raping a teenage burglar wouldn't be so much fun after all. In this story Michael K. Smith suggests (to me at least) a similar reality check: maybe incest isn't all that it's cracked up to be. Don't run away! Neither the story nor this review will be a moral lecture. In the story a woman describes to a psychiatrist her sexual experiences with her brother, who first raped her when she was thirteen and he was eighteen years old. The brother did most of the things to her that happen in other incest stories; but although she became a "willing" participant for the next four years, her reaction is different from that of the "victim" in most incest stories. I do NOT think that a person is necessarily a pervert if he or she enjoys reading (or even writing) incest stories in which everyone enjoys the "family fun." I am even willing to imagine that the world may be full of boys and girls (and subsequently, adults) who have been subtly coerced into having sex with a parent, sibling, or relative, and who have maintained their normal emotional stability and have gone on to become valedictorians, CEOs, PTA presidents, and other all-around well-adjusted people. I just don't know any of them. However, I HAVE worked with high-risk (dropout-prone) adolescent girls, and it's astonishing how many of them have been involved in what we call incestuous relationships. Again, I don't have a major problem with fantasies; but I think we should be a little careful even there. If I at my 40-plus age see my sexy brother, think back to my childhood, and fantasize about how neat it would have been to do sexually intimate things with him, I see no problem with this fantasy. On the other hand, if I find myself fantasizing about how cute my daughter looks and thinking that maybe it would be fun to "initiate her into the joys of womanhood," I should consider the possibility that I may have a problem. Even this fantasy would quite likely be harmless - as long as I am a person that can keep my fantasies separate from my real life; but not everyone can do that. Unfortunately, it's the person who can't keep them separate who is least likely to wonder whether he or she has a problem. I think we readers and writers on this newsgroup should be aware that sometimes our stories may indeed CAUSE PROBLEMS for some readers. It's naive to deny this. People who fantasize about chocolate cake are more likely to eat chocolate cake; kids who fantasize about playing basketball are more likely to play basketball; why should maladaptive sexual practices be any different? This doesn't mean that we should ban advertisements of chocolate cake, abolish basketball on television, or suppress the publication of provocative stories; it merely means that we should acknowledge that there could be a problem. One "solution" is to provide children and adults with accurate, sensible information - probably as a part of a wholesome relationship between parents and children. Another solution is to help children (and adults) learn to deal adaptively with their fantasies. Another solution is to post and read stories like this one that offer an occasional reality check. Ironically, of course, this story would be banned from the school in which I teach. If I tried to discuss it in class, I would be fired. My mother used to have a friend who was a religious fanatic. She used to lug with her a shopping bag in which she carried religious tracts on various topics. She would "accidentally" leave her pamphlets in buses, in restaurants, in bars, and in other places, so that naive finders would get religion. Maybe I'll try that with this story. Ratings for "Remembering" Athena (technical quality): 10 Venus (plot & character): 10 Celeste (appeal to reviewer): 10 |