As people choose their Halloweenie costumes, some will be
drawn to the salacious. Halloweenie. Get it?
What is it about sexually-charged costumes that attracts men
and women to choose them (not for trick or treating, thank goodness; the
phenomenon seems limited to house parties)?
This is also a topic for discussion on a couple of the
writing groups I belong to as well as the subject of multiple blog posts. What
is the line between pornography and erotica? A lot of us have wrestled with
that and settled it in our own writers’ minds.
What is it about titillating text that causes us to buy it
and read it? When folks ask me what I write, I tell them “naughty and nice”
allowing their brains to fill in what that means to them.
The whole question has come up again (so to speak) because
of the phenomenal success of Fifty Shades
of Grey by E.L. James. New York Times Best Seller List? That is
unprecedented for a book, much less three, in the genre.
In one of my critique groups I was challenged on one of my
naughty books they were helping with. “Is that what you want to be known for?”
I was asked. My response that I just want to be known was met with little
support.
Clearly people who don’t read much erotic romance have
pre-conceived notions of what it must be. Dirty for the sake of being dirty.
All about physicality rather than emotionality. Commercial. Provoking acts of
exploitation and abuse. You get the idea.
I avoid pornography. But not because I am offended by sexual
acts. I’m a farm girl, as I tell my husband. Lucky him that I think pretty much
anything goes if it’s not hurtful and mutually agreed upon. We are sexual
beings. We are meant to have sex.
Pornography, however, is boring. How many ways can they
stick it how many places? I mean really. I want characters who are impacted by
the act, not just holes in a mattress. What are the implications of the sexual
act(s)? That’s why we read these materials.
I don’t read widely in erotica and erotic romance, either.
But I do read some, mostly as mentor texts for my own writing. I find that
while I just love writing sex scenes
(and practicing before writing), I really don’t enjoy reading them so much. Weird, huh? I expect love scenes to be
integral to the plot, not just pasted in for titillation.
Here’s a recent blog by Maree Anderson on the same topic
that I know you’ll enjoy: http://www.mareeanderson.com/porn-erotica-erotic-romance
See, I have a problem with people making judgments about others because they like romance or erotica. It's fine if they don't want to read it, but why do they care if other people enjoy reading and writing it? Keep doing what you do. What matters most is your opinion.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree. I choose not to read hard-core horror. That doesn't make it bad, immoral, or stupid. It's a choice I make, and I don't give a whit whether others make the same choice. Sadly, I feel we may be a minority. Thanks for coming by. I hope you'll check in again. I post on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Sharon
ReplyDeleteYou're so right about their pre-conceived notions. I think a lot of people have preconceived notions about what romance in general is like - and it's stuck in the 1980s (her heaving bosoms, his mighty sword, etc.) Maybe people think the erotic versions are like this only crammed with gratuitous sex. And that's just silly.
ReplyDeleteYes, Libby. I have friends embarrassed to admit they write romance because of the brush the genre is tarred with. As to the gratuitous sex, I can get better sex at home than in a book. I am looking for relationships and implications. And there are the books where sex is the thing--it's just not the majority. The woman's journey has become much more the theme in current books.
ReplyDelete