tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396437919069310850.post5355154967507001585..comments2023-05-30T08:29:42.770-04:00Comments on The Erotica Readers & Writers Association Blog: Erotically CorrectCroco Designshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04417265522875605547noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396437919069310850.post-72052663646017859172013-05-02T08:01:06.524-04:002013-05-02T08:01:06.524-04:00Hello, Deb,
Sorry your comment got trapped by the...Hello, Deb,<br /><br />Sorry your comment got trapped by the spam filter and thus delayed.<br /><br />It doesn't really matter whether one is talking about sex between two teens or a teen/adult affair, you can't touch either of them. And though some people will be appalled, I think both scenarios have tremendous erotic potential.<br /><br />I'm not talking about pre-pubescent children, mind you. But I feel that a relationship between, let's say, a thirty year old guy and a sixteen year old woman should be allowed grist for the fictional mill.<br /><br />I was fifteen when I had my first sexual experience. My lover was twenty one. Lisabet Saraihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162514190572269660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396437919069310850.post-72107104231208069802013-05-02T07:57:33.210-04:002013-05-02T07:57:33.210-04:00Hello, Donna,
I use the term "erotically cor...Hello, Donna,<br /><br />I use the term "erotically correct" in the sense of genuine. There are of course many erotic fantasies that happen to be politically correct, but quite a few of the most potent are likely to trigger outrage, at least among some people.<br /><br />Anyone who is interested can read now read my review of the book that triggered this post, Minority Affairs, over at Erotica Revealed:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.eroticarevealed.com/current_reviews.php?panel_id=1" rel="nofollow">Erotica Revealed</a><br />Lisabet Saraihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162514190572269660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396437919069310850.post-29540443793532895702013-05-01T13:16:03.108-04:002013-05-01T13:16:03.108-04:00I have a question regarding the "underage sex...I have a question regarding the "underage sex" mentioned in the OP. Specifically how is "underage sex" defined? Is it two minors of a similar age (e.g., two sixteen year olds) having consensual sex? Or is it an older (legal adult) partner and a minor partner?<br /><br />Thank you in advance. Anyone with an opinion, feel free to answer.The Boca Debhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17414637572417663973noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396437919069310850.post-12953629675242127432013-04-24T17:53:46.625-04:002013-04-24T17:53:46.625-04:00I love your phrase "erotically correct,"...I love your phrase "erotically correct," because obviously, whether we are allowed to write about it or not, our sexual fantasies are nourished by taboo. I find it very interesting that as soon as we gain freedom in some area--as in the ability to publish erotica widely as we can today--other ways of control pop up to encircle the danger. Basically as you and others point out, it's that only a certain kind of erotica is "allowed," and, more frighteningly, thought and deed are seen as one in the same. However, I do believe that writing intelligent, carefully crafted erotica is still a rare and brave act, regardless of the theme. To declare "I'm smart and I think about sex" is still radical!Donnahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13615190390845433428noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396437919069310850.post-5596647408021106712013-04-23T09:06:06.693-04:002013-04-23T09:06:06.693-04:00Thanks to all of you for your great comments!
@ E...Thanks to all of you for your great comments!<br /><br />@ Ed - You have an excellent point. Breaking taboos just for the sake of effect doesn't offer the sort of insight that I'm talking about. And to the extent that more "serious" erotic authors avoid non-PC topics, the world will be flooded with these cheap tales that don't go below the surface to consider what the taboos *mean* when they're broken.<br /><br />@ Aurelia - publishers like Republica and Freaky Fountain, who were brave enough to bring out quality books that pushed the envelope, have gone out of business. Very sad. <br /><br />@ Amanda - I sometimes wonder if the legal argument is just an excuse. Sure, kiddie porn is definitely illegal, but as far as I know there are no laws, at least in the U.S., against written portrayals of incest, or race games, or golden showers. Of course there is always that murky claim that something is "obscene"...<br /><br />@ Kathleen - not to worry. Any amount of blood seems to be okay!<br /><br />@ Bob - I hear you! And you do (write intelligently).<br /><br />@ Emerald - We need to refute the claim that by writing about something, we are advocating it. I agree that I'm uncomfortable writing, or reading, a rape scene in an erotic novel - but that's the way it should be. These topics *should* make you squirm. That's part of the point.<br /><br />@ Kalita - I get complaints from some readers simply because my consensual sex is too graphic or too rough. You've got to shrug it off and find your readership.Lisabet Saraihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05162514190572269660noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396437919069310850.post-28763704148796858312013-04-22T22:43:47.568-04:002013-04-22T22:43:47.568-04:00Incidentally, my above mentioned novella sold bett...Incidentally, my above mentioned novella sold better than almost anything else I have written!Kalitahttp://kalitakasar.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396437919069310850.post-53068120144059380882013-04-22T22:34:44.148-04:002013-04-22T22:34:44.148-04:00Great post, Lisabet. I think you've said what ...Great post, Lisabet. I think you've said what a lot of us have been thinking but afraid/unwilling to say.<br /><br />I've had one novella of mine literally shredded by some critical readers because it contained scenes of reluctant consent, white slavery and other such taboo subjects. My publisher got brave and put it out there, and I had to cop the flack. *shrugs* I maintain to this day that the scenes depicted were not rape they were RC. And the white slavery was contextual to the setting of the story.<br /><br />Ravishment fantasy, IMO is not rape for titillation, anymore than having a graphic murder depicted in a crime novel is meant to turn the reader on to go out and kill someone. Fiction is fiction, true, but it should also imitate real life and those taboo scenarios and fantasies occur in real life. Why disallow them then, in fiction?Kalita Kasarhttp://kalitakasar.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396437919069310850.post-23548652169353742272013-04-21T22:40:30.035-04:002013-04-21T22:40:30.035-04:00Thanks for this, Lisabet. Inklings of it have occu...Thanks for this, Lisabet. Inklings of it have occurred to me too, and I have encountered the same question in response of, "What exactly do/am I advocating then?" I don't really know. I do know that it has occurred to me that if professional writers of erotic fiction are not "allowed" to write/publish work on these themes or subjects, does that result in some sort of disservice (somewhat aligned with what Amanda said about the quality of erotica available to those who experience fantasies in these areas)? It's not as though these things disappear from our psyches or consciousness because most publishers will not allow them in their published content.<br /><br />It's an interesting subject and, I think, one worth considering. I appreciate your doing so and inviting others to as well in this post.Emeraldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00819037087504004841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396437919069310850.post-90439847767977213562013-04-21T17:54:42.857-04:002013-04-21T17:54:42.857-04:00Thank you, Lisabet.
"Squandered Sins" i...Thank you, Lisabet.<br /><br />"Squandered Sins" is one of my personal favorites because I was able to put myself into the hero's shoes, a simultaneously uncomfortable and exhilarating POV, but then isn't that the formula that fuels good erotica? We all have notions that stoke shame. Well, I have more than my share, being brought up in an Irish Catholic family.<br /><br />Taboos fade, but PC issues are a particularly resilient pain-in-the-ass. I might entertain the sensitivities of folks who have an actual claim to offense, but the ones who annoy me to the point of homicide are the self-appointed cross-carriers who loudly claim offense on behalf of others. I'll include in that category those who invoke the welfare of children when they condemn a book or a movie or TV show.<br /><br />The best defense against the cry of offense is to write intelligently. How profound is that? Duh.Bobnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396437919069310850.post-2574749681383974292013-04-21T16:28:35.481-04:002013-04-21T16:28:35.481-04:00And to add my previous comment, I jumped into erot...And to add my previous comment, I jumped into erotica through my work in fanfiction. Now there's a hotbed of transgressive acceptance, so you just get used to it being okay. Then you come into the places where they give you money, and suddenly all those things that were perfectly fine are considered taboo. In fanfiction, all you need to do is put in a warning, and the people who don't want to read it ... don't read it. Novel concept, I know - no pun intended.aureliatevanshttp://aureliatevans.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396437919069310850.post-50994846067859884552013-04-21T13:49:24.827-04:002013-04-21T13:49:24.827-04:00Erotica is the most heavily self-censored genre ou...Erotica is the most heavily self-censored genre out there, because the thought police are a real danger, not an imagined one.<br /><br />My Night Creatures is awash in blood. I await news from a potential publisher. We'll see if it passes.Kathleen Bradeanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06347913255760493335noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396437919069310850.post-52807946808971007602013-04-21T13:03:17.429-04:002013-04-21T13:03:17.429-04:00fiction to me is fiction & should not be censo...fiction to me is fiction & should not be censored in any way. the fact that a bunch of literal-minded oafs with no imagination are the ones deciding what we can publish disgusts me.Amanda Earlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09059621442042833693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396437919069310850.post-69385509040720494472013-04-21T13:02:19.166-04:002013-04-21T13:02:19.166-04:00the problem is that a lot of the taboo fantasies p...the problem is that a lot of the taboo fantasies people have are not represented by mainstream erotic publishers because of the legal ramifications. so what we end up with is poorly written work that is the only option for those who enjoy such taboo fiction. the need for good underground taboo fiction has never been stronger. i have my own taboo fantasies & i find myself looking into the bowels of the internet to find them. it's frustrating to have no outlet to write & to read such. Amanda Earlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09059621442042833693noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396437919069310850.post-76390576817597185032013-04-21T12:31:45.456-04:002013-04-21T12:31:45.456-04:00I also feel this self-censorship writing erotica. ...I also feel this self-censorship writing erotica. I also repeat that fantasies and reality are distinct. I also know that literary establishment accept only some erotic stories, while others (that no PC) go into internet free as anonymous stories of second, third, fourth level.<br />In fact we can writing no PC erotic stories, but we cannot claim they are accepted, disclosed and sold by literary establisment.<br /><br />What do we want? Do we want that establishment accept some extreme sexual practices stories? If is this, we should explain to establishment why it should accept these stories.<br /><br />Explain why is a cultural initiative much large and hard.<br />Elisahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15275860455671107147noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396437919069310850.post-14403286907324049312013-04-21T12:12:45.300-04:002013-04-21T12:12:45.300-04:00What a great blog. I passed it around the web.What a great blog. I passed it around the web.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396437919069310850.post-5862432147109147412013-04-21T11:57:44.078-04:002013-04-21T11:57:44.078-04:00I'm a reluctant advocate for ravishment fantas...I'm a reluctant advocate for ravishment fantasy (reluctant advocate, not reluctant fantasizer). I struggle a lot with the assertion by the dominating publishers that if I want to publish fantasies that some argue a majority of female readers have and enjoy, I have to do it through back channels, often by self-publishing, since no one else will take it. Thus, feeding into the shame game against any unacceptable fantasy, in spite of the fact that no one's getting hurt and no crime is being committed.<br /><br />I think that if some publishing companies rose up to the occasion and screened transgressive erotica for the same quality and literary merit as their erotic romance, there could be a place for it.<br /><br />In the meantime, I'm left wondering whether I'm the one in the wrong here, just because my BDSM isn't codified and I occasionally have a good day at my characters' expense.aureliatevanshttp://aureliatevans.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7396437919069310850.post-84772335082754530652013-04-21T09:49:15.038-04:002013-04-21T09:49:15.038-04:00I think a lot of the challenge is that a taboo tac...I think a lot of the challenge is that a taboo tackled well can be amazingly erotic, but a taboo tackled simply for the "ooh, look at this, it's taboo, isn't that hot!" might temporarily satisfy but at the cost of pulling down the genre.<br /><br />Incest erotica is probably the best example. "Ooh, she's my sister!" can get a rise, and a lot of poor quality porn stops there. However, the powerful stories go beyond that and address the emotions of violating the taboo, the push-pull of the attraction, etc.<br /><br />Of course, I say this as an author who's writing erotica about sexual addiction. How much self-censorship does our genre get into there? (rhetorical question).Big Ed Magussonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00470692461167173003noreply@blogger.com