[t]he repetitive tropes that place girls and women in positions of vulnerability and their boyfriends in positions of power, without raising any questions about this arrangement in the text and thus subliminally advocating its acceptance does harm. The defense that women are dealing with these issues in real life is not a reason to portray unhealthy relationships as healthy nor the women themselves as helpless victims too oblivious to recognize the violence in their own relationships.

Part of the reason that many YA books are currently a vehicle for the perpetuation of rape culture is not just because the portrayal of relationships are riddled with socially accepted violence but also because we as a society have swallowed the defense of "this is the way things are."

Yes, yes, yes. With regard to the scifi/fantasy question, it reminds me of SFF authors talking about gender politics in their novels. In some books I've read, the authors regurgitate horrible gender politics, and are lauded for 'dealing with issues' when in fact their work presents these ideas uncritically as "how life is".

Thank you for posting, and for the Bitch magazine link - it was excellent reading.