This is the second part of a 2-part series (click here to read the first blog in the series).
Erotic romance is generally romance with the sex left in – the love story is primary and the eroticism is subsumed within the protagonist’s relationship. Pure erotica is different, because sex/eroticism is the central focus. These books explore sex in the context of the individual characters and their lives, rather than within the confines of a particular relationship. Commonly, they follow the erotic escapades of an adventurous main character. Short story compilations are also a popular style for erotica, offering readers a glimpse into a diverse range of interesting sex lives.
Many erotica novels are written memoir-style – following the story from a single perspective and often in the first person. Diary accounts are common and often recount true stories… or fantasies pretending to be true. Memoirs, written by men, can sometimes end up reading like boastathons. Some smug prick bragging on about all the pussy he’s banged, as if he were a conquering hero triumphing through the streets of Rome. And some erotic books can read like someone’s epic wank-bank data-dump. But of course, there’s plenty of male-written erotica that manages to avoid these downfalls.
Even compared to their counterparts in erotic romance, erotica heroines have especially interesting sex lives. They go through multiple sexual partners and do different things with different people. Different kinds of sex, different variations of BDSM, different types of role to play. In the best stories, these diverse experiences pile on top of one another… colouring, enrichening and adding layers… building the character alongside the erotic atmosphere. Both contradictions and consistencies add to the eroticism… which gradually thickens like incense in a dungeon.
Erotic stories often contain sub-stories within them, as the protagonist hears whisperings of other people’s sexual exploits. This increases the diversity of the erotic adventures explored and provides readers with more dirty ideas and inspirations. Short story style erotica can go even further in this respect. The more colourful the variety, the more scope there is to compare and contrast experiences.
Where erotic romance combines love and sex, erotica disentangles them. This is subversive, because almost all traditional societies, religions and cultures strongly insist that the two should be inseparable… and they make this an important matter of high moral principle. Only love can justify the vulgarities of sex. When I was at school, the head-teacher came in, at the end of our sex education lesson, and solemnly informed us that sex was physically impossible without love! (in 21st Century Britain!)
But erotica speaks the truth: love and sex can go together well, yet one does not require the other. Having said that, most erotica books are not devoid of emotion. On the contrary, sex is combined with all sorts of emotions and happens within the context of all manner of social relationship.
It’s been said that erotica combines sex and fear (as opposed to sex and love). There’s some truth to this, with sadistic writers putting their heroines through all sorts of terrifying experiences… and readers sharing the protagonist’s shuddering anticipation of what might happen next. Fearful anticipation is a key part of BDSM – that faint, little tingle in the loins… the tickle of nervous excitement bubbling below the surface.
Stories, in general, escalate… as do BDSM games. For hardcore BDSM erotica stories, this inevitable escalation can build a real atmosphere of dread and foreboding. It’s therefore unsurprising that many erotic stories are set within sinister, gothic atmospheres… or that they often use the same kind of shock tactics as slasher-style horror-films.
In some erotic tales, the profound feelings a sub feels towards their Dom should not really be described as love. Perhaps respect and fear can produce feelings of equal intensity? Sometimes, we meet subs who primarily attach their love to a state-of-being, rather than a person – they love being a possession, more than they truly love the possessor. Naturally, the love of voyeurism is also a common fetish amongst erotica heroines.
Sex and politics is a common combo within erotica (as is sex and philosophy). Some high-minded erotica elucidates complex intellectual arguments on matters of psychology, religion and politics (Sade even manages to do this within books that read like epic wank-bank data-dumps). Erotica actually has an advantage over other literary genres when it comes to philosophising. Sexual psychology profoundly influences individuals and societies, so writers and thinkers who shy away from deeper explorations of these matters inevitably end up missing significant parts of the whole picture.
In the case of female erotica writers, historically, the act of publishing their works was politically significant in itself. The fact women began openly admitting they enjoyed sex (and not always in the context of a loving marriage) was subversive and revolutionary… and erotica continues to play a distinct and important role within feminist politics.
One interesting recent development is the emergence of educational erotica (the sex and education combo). The real-world practice of BDSM has come a long way over the past decades, with the ‘kink community’ collectively developing a code/system/etiquette to enable ‘safe, sane and consensual’ practice. This approach thoughtfully considers complex issues – such as consent, gender relations and confidentiality – so that BDSM fantasies can be lived out in an ethical manner.
This kind of ‘good-practice’ is conspicuously absent from much mainstream BDSM erotica, which often turns its readers on with stories of rape, coercion and abusive relationships. Some people, within the kink community, fear that such stories are socially-harmful, because they glorify immoral and criminal behaviour, without teaching readers how to do BDSM properly.
Various books have emerged that strive to sexually stimulate readers, whilst simultaneously teaching them about BDSM etiquette. Because the writers often have considerable practical experience, their stories tend to portray D/s games in an especially realistic way. And some of them really do provide a good BDSM education – illustrating useful examples of how things should be done, as well as highlighting what to avoid… or be wary of.
However, it’s intrinsically difficult to smoothly combine sexy erotica with informative, educational content. So some of these books can feel a bit too bland. Over-emphasising what a nice, ethical guy the Dom is can really blunt his edge. And the tone of such novels risks coming across as patronising or preachy. Personally, I prefer to get my moral schooling and my sexual kicks in separate places, but I appreciate the importance of what educational BDSM is trying to teach… and it seems to work well for some readers.
I’ve been thinking about what makes for a classic erotica novel – how do canonised books (such as ‘Story of O’, ‘Venus in Furs’, ‘Justine’, ‘Delta of Venus’, etc.) distinguish themselves from the crowd? Generally, they’re considered special for the normal reasons: because they provide interesting and original insights on significant intellectual, philosophical, moral, psychological and political matters… and they’re exceptionally well-written. Compared to the average, classic erotic books are less likely to be focused on romance. They also tend to be much more brutal, hardcore, shocking, violent and morally dubious/repugnant than less-respected books within the genre:)
Within erotica, one significant development, of recent decades, has been the rise of the sex-blogger. Across the world, vast numbers of people (mainly women) write blogs about sex, including short or serialised erotic stories recounting sexual escapades, both real and imagined. The rise of self-publishing, online platforms and social media has also been highly significant.
The online environment has affected erotica in various important ways, making it more democratic and enabling many writers who wouldn’t have got past the traditional literary and media gatekeepers. It has also allowed connection and dialogue between erotica writers and readers… and facilitated the development of a ‘global erotica community’.
It is likely that these trends will continue developing and will play a significant role in shaping the erotica of the future. With erotica stories increasingly being told through multiple mediums, all at once (books, blogs, social media channels, etc.). I make this observation partly because I think I might be (accidentally) riding this particular trend. It kind-of seems that my erotica story is being told through all these mediums in an integrated way. I didn’t plan to do it like this. Although I strongly suspect: someone planned it for me.
