Paper short abstract:

This paper challenges the highly fictionalized and politicized notion of children’s innocence by comparing it to the erotic folklore of children, while also looking at traditional Romanian practices to normalize the sexuality of girls and boys.

Paper long abstract:

For many years now, Romania has been holding the record for the highest number of teenage (15 to 19 years old) pregnant girls, but also that of underaged (under 15) pregnant girls. UNICEF, who identified poverty and poor education as important causes of this phenomenon, recommended national campaigns of sexual education. This never happened in Romanian schools due to the opposition of the Church and of other organizations attached to what they call “traditional values”, claiming that, by prohibiting access to that information, they actually protect the innocence of the children. This paper examines the Romanian erotic folklore of children while also looking at the traditional practices of adults to normalize the sexuality of girls and boys. Besides offering a clue about how this “innocence” really looks like, my paper points to the fact that much of the traditional ways of controlling and shaping the sexuality of children reflect local adult fears and old superstitions. However, the idealized and fictionalized innocence of children has become a rhetorical spear head in the euro-skeptical discourse, and also a cardinal theme of local far-right politicians.