All Comments on 'Romance Writing: Just Women's Porn?'

by Selena_Kitt

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  • 8 Comments
madengineer3madengineer3over 15 years ago
Excellent! A good analysis,

This essay is not "hot" in the classical sense. It is, instead, an analysis or exposition of the basic human desire (and need) to communicate on the most basic of levels. It avoids most of the trite, simple, wrong answers. I believe the author has hit the nail on the head. I think Jung would be proud of this work.

SoCalOvidSoCalOvidover 15 years ago
Ha,ha!

Some live is fire<br>

Some love is rust<br>

But the finest, cleanest kind<br>

Is Lust!<br><p>

Stolen from someplace in my past. LOL!

JacquelineGeorgeJacquelineGeorgeover 15 years ago
So far, so good...

Selena, I agree with so much of what you say, but let's dump this word 'porn' right away. It is so negative, and is misused by the uptight folks of this world to imply that all sexually provocative writing is trash. Let's call it all erotica instead, and recognise that while there is carefully crafted, literate erotica around for both men and women, (like yours and mine!) 90% of sexy writing is crap.

No surprise - that applies to most fields of human endeavour.

I agree that 'romance' writing is designed to stroke female sexuality. Men don't take to it readily simply because they prefer to be stroked in other ways, but that's not a criticism of either genre.

I love the fact that women are now out of the closet and enjoying sexy books, but my personal challenge is to write books that couples can enjoy together. Good stories that they can share. After all, they make love together, why not get hot and horny together?

Jacqueline George

AnonymousAnonymousover 15 years ago
You make sense

I believe, as Confucius did several thousand years ago, that human needs like hunger and sex must be satisfied, one way or another. Whether a piece of writing is erotica or porn is simply a matter of viewpoint. Men enjoy good-looking girls and sex, and so do women,who may close their eyes when having sex(I am not sure whether it is the case in the USA,but in China, it is).

txcoatl1970txcoatl1970about 15 years ago
Adding My 2c re: Porn = Fantasy

I appreciate the thrust of your argument, that porn really can embrace both the emotional and erotic sides of sexuality. Porn is fantasy, first and foremost. Men and women have different expectations of sex, relationships, etc and their fantasies' structure/fulfillment often differ, imagine that. Porn can inspire and delight the viewer, and thus, ameliorate the grind of reality. However, there's a stubborn subset in America that refuses to let porn be considered good, clean fun for emotionally-grounded adults. You called the romance writers on how they start squirming when you call their works "porn for women". For them, porn=exploitation or degradation. Period. They write romance as "good clean fun" and a moral exemplar that just happens to feature sex. It's fantasy folks, and thus PORN.

You called them brilliantly on that. As always keep writing Selena.

talldarkfellowtalldarkfellowover 10 years ago
Sigh. Some good points, but ...

As a male who discovered a lot about women by sneaking romance novels off relatives' shelves during my adolescence, I can sympathize with your desire to expand the scope and definitions within the genre where sex is concerned, but I find some of your rhetorical tools a bit questionable.

Aphrodite? Making turgid semi-psychological points while referring to a mythological personage doesn't so much bolster your argument as make the reader question how firm a grip you have on reality. I know you were (probably) just personifying a social concept, but it comes across as new-age silliness.

Most of the romance writers seem (to me, anyway) to have nothing against sex, per se, but would prefer not to get too explicit. Unlike most of us who come here to Lit, a lot of readers prefer innuendo in their romance, rather than those poop-flinging hot monkeys.

I know you find it hard to believe people are sincere about that, but if someone wants to get off the bus before what you think is the best part of the tour, calling them chickenshit, with intellectual flourishes, doesn't seem to be very productive.

As for the "shadow" theory, it just sounds like a dressed-up way of saying "I'm rubber and you're glue ..."; one of the most hackneyed argumentative devices in modern debate.

JonasRobinsonJonasRobinsonover 5 years ago
Great Essay!

This was philosophical and to the point. It had a poetic feel to it. I admire your courage in admitting to what many women won't admit to. You're right, we all have that shadow and we cannot deny it.

AnonymousAnonymousabout 3 years ago
Selena, you are entirely wrong in your convoluted reasoning!

Romance-writing attempts to create beauty of relationships.

Eroticism-writing attempts to provoke sexual arousal.

Both of the above are worthy endeavors, as they, to quote your own essay, “educate, inform, titillate”.

Porn, on the other hand, does not create anything of value, it is just pure smut, like your “Baumgartners” saga.

By the way, I am a male, if you care to know

Anonymous
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