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Doktor Zoom's avatar

Of course, if a teenager actually reads Gender Queer and isn't a fuckheaded Louisiana Republican, they'd also see that the (consensual, adult) dildo play is a huge letdown for Kobabe, who had imagined hot gay sexx but instead asks their partner "can we do something else?"

So you get a little reminder that consent is a thing, and you can change your mind if a sexual situation doesn't feel right. In the larger story, it's a key moment in Kobabe's realization that no, they aren't actually so much trans and gay, as they'd thought going into it, but instead nonbinary, and asexual to boot.

But you'd need to read with the discernment of a fairly smart 17-year-old.

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CakesWeLike's avatar

It's also better that kids get their sex education from sources like this (you know, since their sexually repressed Christofascist parents won't talk to them about it) than from porn videos. It's been pretty well documented that exposure to porn from a young age creates unrealistic expectations about the sexual experience, and leads to concerning ideas about consent.

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