The definition is: "cast of story is mostly teenagers."
Is "teenager" someone whose age ends with "teen" — thirteen–nineteen? Would a story of 18- and 19-year-olds have the "teenagers" tag?
Or is it characters under 18, thinking 18 is an adult?
On SOL, it's always been 14 to 18, quite literally 'teens'. For most coming of age stories, this allows the story to cover the typical range of ages of siblings, unrelated to any adults they may interact with. Thus it's essentially a cover-all description, meant to cover any relationships involving teens, either serious intimate relationships or one-night stands. But it's non-exclusive, so you'd also list whatever other particular tags happen to apply. Though of course, if there's no actual sex described (i.e. no subtle 'behind closed door' episodes). Thus for slowly developing romantic involvements, you could either include them or not just to highlight the relationships covered.
Which is precisely what confuses most new SOL authors, the fact the tags are alternately specific and non-specific.
Which gets tricky during Coming-of-Age stories in the late 70s (1970s), where for many of us, we could legally drink for slightly less than a year, then couldn't since we were no longer 'old-enough to drink'. It never stopped us, as in my case, it was easy enough to drive across the border to Wisconsin and order anything we wanted to take home anyway.
Strange times. In the U.S., the 'national' laws didn't always cover those states which didn't elect to adopt them, while others followed them religiously. So mostly, for those COA stories which did cover that period, they'd simply adjust the specific ages or resident stages so it wouldn't screw up the stories.
Which gets tricky during Coming-of-Age stories in the late 70s (1970s),
Also back then, it was common for a high school girl to be dating a college guy.
when I was growing up in the 70's at 18 you were still considered a teenager but at 19 you weren't...this was in a small town in western Canada and other places may have been different
SunSeeker
from Wikipedia:
Teenager is a numeric term for a person from the ages of 13 to 19 years.
from Wikipedia:
Teenager is a numeric term for a person from the ages of 13 to 19 years.
While technically accurate, that was not how the term was used in the 60s through the 80s (at least where I as living). You ceased being a 'teenager' when you turned eighteen.
Of course, language evolves, but people in my generation typically mean 13-17 when using 'teenager'.
but people in my generation typically mean 13-17 when using 'teenager'.
And I wonder if SOL has that same meaning.
In the 60's when I was growing up in NJ, teenager was used for anyone that was over 12, but not yet 20. I remember the roller rink in Warminster, PA, had signs for certain evenings that said, "Teenagers only!" If you were 20 it was no admittance.
In the 60's when I was growing up in NJ, teenager was used for anyone that was over 12, but not yet 20.
I graduated from high school in 1987, in Wisconsin. I almost never heard anyone refer to legal adults (18+) as teenagers until the last decade or so.
I graduated from high school in 198y, in Wisconsin. I almost never heard anyone refer to legal adults (18+) as teenagers until the last decade or so.
Exactly right. It's an attempt to extend 'childhood' into the 20s. All part of the infantilization of America.
My opinion, for what it's worth, is to focus on why someone might search for a specific tag, and why someone might exclude a specific tag:
Readers who either search for or exclude tags like "mt/Fa" are almost certain to be thinking about a real age differential, like a 14-year-old student with a 40-year-old teacher.
If your story is about a group of high school students who are all 14-19, you can consider them all to be teenagers, and not use the Ma and Fa tags. For example, sex between a 17-year-old male and an 19-year-old female is best indicated with "mt/ft" and "teenagers".
If your story is about a group of college students who are all 18-25, you can consider them to not be teenagers, and only use Ma and Fa tags. So, sex between an 18-year-old female and a 20-year-old male is best indicated with "Ma/Fa".
This means that the 18- and 19-year-olds can be counted as teenagers or not, depending on the story.
And again, if you're dealing with, a family of both high school, college and university students who they're NOT having sex with, then don't flag anything as there's nothing to tag, and you'd only be misleading your readers. In that case, you'd deserve any 1-bombs they'd give you as a result, as they'd have been well-earned.
Remember, label both squicks and quirks, but not when using the exact same codes!
Thus, if the teens are engaging in sex with other teens and the older kids are having sex with other older students, you'd then list it as (mf/MF) or even (mf)/(MF), so there's no confusion. If fact, a header notifying reader of that distinction certainly wouldn't be misplaced.
Sometimes these codes are close calls, yet don't go overboard trying to cover your ass if you're likely to piss of readers! So tread carefully, for there be trouser snakes, laddie!
they're NOT having sex with, then don't flag anything as there's nothing to tag
I clicked on the "teenagers" tag (in the count part of the definition).
When there was sex in the story, tags like "mt" and "ft" were present. But when it was a no sex story, those other tags weren't there. So based on the small sample I saw, the "mt" and "ft" tags were used for sex while the "teenagers" tag simply identified that the story's cast was mostly teenagers.
That's when I asked myself what's a teenager in regards to the tag?
I will define the "teenagers" tag for SOL. Use this definition of the tag or don't. I guess I will until I'm told otherwise.
The teenage tag on SOL = 14–17 year olds.
How did I come up with that? The "a" in "Ma" and "Fa" is 18 and older. Basically an adult (hence the "a"). Most (if not all) states in the U.S. define an 18-yo as an adult.
So since SOL has "a" and "t" in its gender codes, and "a" is adult, that means "t" is a teen. So if 18 and older is an adult, under 18 is a teenager. But 12 and under don't have the "teen" in the age so they are not teens. Now 13 does, but SOL prohibits under 14 for sex so I came up with 14–17 for the teenage tag.
Again, if you separate the 'teen' tag from the actual sex acts (story based rather than sex act based) then teen should refer to ANY teen, regardless of age. Again, for a Coming-of-Age tale, it'd include ALL the teens, not just those you could legally describe having sex. Thus, teen is a more generic classification and thus should be treated separately. Thus a non-sex, family drama would feature the "teen" tag too.
then teen should refer to ANY teen, regardless of age.
In the absence of a definition, I had to come up with my own.
Here's my logic:
1. The "a" in Fa and Ma refers to adult.
2. The "t" in ft and mt refers to teen.
3. The "a" is 18 and above.
4. the "t" is 14–17.
therefore
"teenagers" is 14–17. 18 is an adult.
"teenagers" is 14–17. 18 is an adult.
Agreed. In my opinion, adult always trumps teen.