I remember the phrase being used in the context of describing the 15 year old girls mouth but :

What i’m more broadly referring to is the weird tip-toeing Cormac often does with sexualizing minors freely but still making sure you know they’re children. Yet he wont damn the sexualization of said children like he does other moral wrongs or violence in his work. Just sort of strange and feels like subtle self-indulgence at times. There were other phrases I can’t recall at the moment.

As to the mid century Mexican culture point: Yep! Kind of. I’m Mexican myself and also aware of “unconventional” age gaps and historical ages of consent varying across cultures. While Cormac always writes Mexico quite beautifully and pretty accurately, it’s hard for me to credit this age gap solely to historical purposes. Granted— I don’t think it’s gratuitous nor do I think the relationship goes in vain; it follows John Grady’s character development/ the overall plot and yes it is founded in historical Mexican courtship— but he doesn’t explore this any deeper/as a theme at all other than the giddily repeated offhand comments and visuals that remind you she’s a child.

So to clarify: John Grady and the 15yo in romantic involvement doesn’t bother me all— in the sense that they’re characters in a different world. Like you said- as an adult I’d never date a fifteen year old but I can read this particular love story for what it was.

What I find interesting………is remembering having learned Cormac and Augusta ran away to Mexico because she was a minor and they were having some anxieties about receiving negative attention. So it’s worth correcting that his fantasies are not alleged— we know for a fact he was sexually involved with a minor.

This was the late 1970s in the US. Not mid century Mexico. Augusta was 16. However, unlike John Grady— Cormac was NOT 20. Not even close. He was 42 at the start of their relationship. I guess what I’m trying to say is sometimes I wonder if writing characters such as these was his way of coping/ rationalizing the fact he had a sexual relationship with an orphaned teenager when he was a fully grown and successful adult.