teenagers-are-for-real-susan-hinton

Michael Cart’s “The Sixties and Seventies” reading for Tuesday and our class discussion about Hinton’s role in the society portrayed in The Outsiders brought me to S.E.’s 1967 article in the New York Times, entitled, “Teen-Agers Are for Real” (see link at the top of this post). In this editorial, Hinton argues for a YA-fiction genre stripped of glitzy portrayals of romance or sensationalized gang activity. She quotes, “Teen-agers should not be written down to; anyone can tell when his intelligence is being underestimated. Those who are not ready for adult novels can easily have their love of reading killed by the inane junk lining the teen-age shelf in the library” (Hinton 28). Her ideal novels are written by teens for a realistic interpretation of what the age group actually experiences. At the time of this interview, that included cars, romantic relationships conscious of the social ladder, and unflinching portrayals of violence.

Despite S.E.’s insistence that she was more of a participant observer to the class conflicts in The Outsiders, I see the author in her characterization of Ponyboy. Like him, she wants to be a mouthpiece for her generation and sees it as her duty to record the class struggle that segregates daily life in her community. This may help us accept Hinton’s insistence that she didn’t fit into the Greaser/Soc dichotomy. Rather, she remains one step removed from the world around her and provides us with a broader perspective than would have been possible in the thick of it.

Hinton, Susan. “Teen-Agers Are for Real.” New York Times, 27 Aug 1967, p. BR14.