The_Babysitter_and_Sex

“The Babysitter” and Sex In “The Babysitter”, Robert Coover portrays the fictional fantasies of a family, a babysitter, and her boyfriend. The father has dreams of being with the babysitter, as does the boyfriend and his friend. The mother worries about her weight gain and how the husband feels about the babysitter. The babysitter hopes for a nice bath and washing the boy, while the children want to tickle the babysitter. Like most authors, the goal for Coover is to sell his short story. From an economical standpoint, Coover utilizes explicit sexual images throughout the short story to challenge the standards of the time, entertain the reader, and sell his work of literature, “The Babysitter”. Coover first began his writing career in the sixties; America was transitioning from an “era [that] has been popularized as an age of innocence and prosperity during which traditional family values, civility, and old-fashioned patriotism flourished”. (Phillip J. Landon, The History Channel Presents The Fifties) The people of this time began to confront the ideas of the prior generations and segue into a time of social revolution. Civil rights movements, black militancy and women’s liberation were amongst the various issues dominating public attention. (G. Ray Funkhouser, The Issues) Coover did not go unaffected by the changing social climate of this era. “The Babysitter” exemplifies an experimental writing style that Coover perfected called metafiction. Metafiction is the “fictional writing which self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact in order to pose questions about the relationship between fiction and reality.” (Iddo Landau, Metafiction) In “The Babysitter”, Coover takes several parallel storylines and twists them in ways that force the reader to consider different perspectives concerning the situation. (Gale, Contemporary Authors Online) Coover exploits this strategy to show the interment desires of everyone in the story. The sexual imagery implemented in the short story serves as a proverbial punch to the gut for society. The extremes of human desire, and what humanity is willing to their sexual desires, is highlighted with Coover’s explicit descriptions of the babysitter as she is sitting on the couch in a blouse and skirt or when she is kissing ‘him’ and ‘he’ is holding the babysitter’s breasts. (Coover 207, 214) However, the blunt appliance of sexual imagery acts as a hook for the reader. Due to the graphic nature of the novel, the reader wants to finish the short story to know the full extent of the sexual fantasies. The Merriam-Webster dictionary describes entertainment as something that provides amusement or diversion and that is the purpose of Coover’s work. Despite having a subliminal message that human sexual desires can be somewhat grotesque, in “The Babysitter”, Coover uses the multiple storylines and sexual imagery to keep the reader entranced. When he writes phrases such as “well, man, I say we just go and rape her” and “I dream of Jeannie with the light brown pubic hair” the author causes the reader to wonder, is there anything the author will not say' (Coover, 219, 220) The inkling of that question that arises in the back of the readers mind keeps them turning the pages. Coover also uses the challenge of attempting to unravel the true story or reality in the short story as a second way to compel the reader to pursue the end of the story. The reader wants to know if there is a single true ending to “The Babysitter” or if there are multiple endings with no real conclusion. The writing style of Coover combined with his use of sexual descriptions helps build interest in “The Babysitter”. The conclusion of this type of “self-advertisement” fits the modern slogan of “sex sells”. The use of the erotic imagery in “The Babysitter” grabs the attention of the readers, and the continued use of phrases with implicit sexual statements like “they can tell she’s naked and about to get into the tub” draws the reader ever more into the storylines. (Erik Cagle, Sex, Stars and Cartoons Sell) (Coover, 224) Studies show that an appeal to sexual images can lead to intent to purchase even though a statement is off color. These studies also show that the public enjoys “mentally stimulating” ads, which allow them to comprehend messages that are more complex. (Sanjay Putrevu, Consumer Responses) Coover uses this knowledge as a marketing base for his short stories and as a way to keep the reader engaged. Where other authors have action scenes, Coover has sex scenes. Coover is able to change with the times as he invents for himself a set of tools that will allow him to market his writings to the changing demographics of the public. His shock and awe technique with explicit imagery snags the attention of any reader and challenges the standard of the time for writing. With the development of a new writing style, metafiction, Coover finds a new way to entertain the reader and sell his work. He uses sex in his stories as a way to “wow” the reader and by doing this, Coover utilizes a slogan created twenty or more years after his initial writings- “sex sells”. Works Cited • Sonya Grant Arreola et al., Childhood Sexual Abuse and the Sociocultural Context of Sexual Risk Among Adult Latino Gay and Bisexual Men, American Journal of Public health, Washington: 2009 vol. 99, Iss. S2; pg. S432 • Galaif, Elisha R., et al. “Gender Differences in the Prediction of Problem Alcohol Use in Adulthood: Exploring the Influence of Family Factors and Childhood Maltreatment.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol 62.4 (2001): 486. • Wilson, Debra “Health Consequences of Childhood Sexual Abuse” Perspectives in Psychiatric Care; Jan 2010; 46, 1; Research Library • Saterstrom, Selah, The Meat and Spirit Plan. 2007