Ok seriously... I created an account just to post this. Are you seriously telling me that none of you had sexual thoughts or even sexual experiences at that age?
I'm guessing a lot of the people who are calling it gross, uncomfortable, indecent, or what have you are people with children themselves or who have children who are close and dear to them in their lives. They don't want to think about the fact that their kids, at age 12, have almost certainly had some sort of sexual experience. I'm 26 now, and kids were experimenting sexually in my elementary school long before fifth grade. Hell, I lost my virginity in the second grade to a third grade girl in the bushes beyond the soccer field behind the school at lunch hour. She was the initiator. I was not the only one. Not everyone went that far, but almost everyone was getting SOMETHING. Keep mind, kids are more sexuality educated and liberal now than when I was in school.
I think all of this is unwanted information for some people. They want to preserve that view of childhood as innocence and incorruptibility, and the thought of children engaged in the ultimate adult act does not jive with that view. Regardless of what they did during their childhood, they want to write it off as "that was different."
Some people might say "but that's now, the '50s were different times!" WRONG! My mom grew up in the '50s, was born in 1950 to be exact, and while I never enquired after her sexual exploits while she was in her tweens for obvious reasons, I have heard the stories from my uncles, who were a few years older. Specifically, there was a girl they used to go see when they were anywhere from 10-12 who would let them, in plain terms, run a train on her. They'd just take turns letting her have it. She just liked sex and was happy to get it from anyone her age who was willing and able. Now they may have grown up in a poor part of Montreal (I myself grew up in Vancouver in an affluent suburb,) but the fact remains, even in the '50s kids were experimenting sexually.
I think King was depicting realism with this scene in addition to any magical motivations that were there. I think that the people who call this smut need to get over themselves and accept that kids do this.
I'm guessing a lot of the people who are calling it gross, uncomfortable, indecent, or what have you are people with children themselves or who have children who are close and dear to them in their lives. They don't want to think about the fact that their kids, at age 12, have almost certainly had some sort of sexual experience. I'm 26 now, and kids were experimenting sexually in my elementary school long before fifth grade. Hell, I lost my virginity in the second grade to a third grade girl in the bushes beyond the soccer field behind the school at lunch hour. She was the initiator. I was not the only one. Not everyone went that far, but almost everyone was getting SOMETHING. Keep mind, kids are more sexuality educated and liberal now than when I was in school.
I think all of this is unwanted information for some people. They want to preserve that view of childhood as innocence and incorruptibility, and the thought of children engaged in the ultimate adult act does not jive with that view. Regardless of what they did during their childhood, they want to write it off as "that was different."
Some people might say "but that's now, the '50s were different times!" WRONG! My mom grew up in the '50s, was born in 1950 to be exact, and while I never enquired after her sexual exploits while she was in her tweens for obvious reasons, I have heard the stories from my uncles, who were a few years older. Specifically, there was a girl they used to go see when they were anywhere from 10-12 who would let them, in plain terms, run a train on her. They'd just take turns letting her have it. She just liked sex and was happy to get it from anyone her age who was willing and able. Now they may have grown up in a poor part of Montreal (I myself grew up in Vancouver in an affluent suburb,) but the fact remains, even in the '50s kids were experimenting sexually.
I think King was depicting realism with this scene in addition to any magical motivations that were there. I think that the people who call this smut need to get over themselves and accept that kids do this.