Directions of Desire: Reading the Adolescent Body

Abstract

In Queer Phenomenology, Sara Ahmed discusses the spatial dimensions of orientation, asking not only ‘What does it mean to be oriented?’ but also ‘What does it mean for sexuality to be lived as oriented? What difference does it make what or who we are oriented toward in the very direction of our desire?’ (1). This article uses Ahmed's idea of sexual orientation as a form of way-finding to consider how masturbation might be considered a form of orientation that is particularly relevant for teenagers learning to understand their pubescent bodies and their desires. The concept is developed through an analysis of how Emilia – the teenage protagonist of the Finnish novel Huhtikuun Puutarha [April garden] by Leena Leskinen – uses her desire to find her way. The novel contains several erotic descriptions of sexual acts, designed to titillate the readers of the novel. Drawing on research within the field of embodied cognition, the article concludes with an examination of how the written word stimulates the body. The aim is to see how onanistic reading is promoted in Finnish YA fiction and to suggest that erotica for teens has many benefits.