By Jason Foster
Over the years, you may have come to associate Valentine's Day with many different things - red candy hearts, school dances, gift baskets and date nights out with your loving partner, date nights out with yourself and a vodka cranberry or three, or maybe even those little valentines cards you would hand out in middle school, as a half-hearted gesture of communal acknowledgement of the day. Whatever your association may have been, as we grow older, the one thing that many people synonymously associate with the day is an intimate, personal thing: sex. A romantic, passionate night with a partner, an equally vigorous, fulfilling night with a stranger, or maybe even a date with your left hand. Hey, no judgment!
To get into the mood, or to keep it going, pornography has become a prevalent part of many people's private lives. But, of course, since the industry is such a profitable one, many problems present themselves when looking into the specifics of production, distribution and consumption. Studios often use cherry-picked, conventionally attractive looking models with conventionally arousing sexual characteristics, unrealistic among us common folk. Because pornographic content is not exactly a commodity, as well, audiences can range in age group and maturity, leading a startling amount of young people who may not have ever had their first kiss yet to get their first exposure to sexual content through this skewed, unrealistic medium. Many people, for these reasons and many more, find themselves uncomfortable with filmed pornography. This is why, recently, a new trend has been emerging - bringing this form of entertainment from a modern one, back to a more traditional format.
Romance novels, romantic movies and romantic plotlines, whether cash-grabs of commonly desired actors or not, are some of the most popular types of media in our society. Traditionally, however, these stories are PG-13, wholesome, heartwarming.. and very overtly formulaic. As they have always been, romance books are as popular as ever. However, a different type of *romance* book has become popular as well, in part due to the popularity of 'Booktok', a TikTok subsection whose consumer libraries seem to be very different from a typical peruser of the classics. I'm talking, of course, about smut - books which contain written sex scenes, and books which are simply meant to be written pornography.
There is, of course, a difference between these two. A romantic book with fourteen chapters with an intimate, emotional payoff of a sex scene in chapter twelve is very different from a forty page novella entirely focused on the sexual exploits of a promiscuous protagonist. However, because reading is seen as more of an 'intellectual' activity than scrolling through an unfiltered, particularly raunchy web page, the problems and potential ethical concerns with smut do not often get discussed.
Firstly, the 'literature' is often overlooked. It's no secret that people enjoy quick gratification, which usually results in them skipping to the 'good' part of the book, while simply skimming the rest. As authors, we would *like* the rest of our work to be read, but people are often not so patient. Romance authors, especially those writing for a big distributor of romantic novels, are acutely aware of this fact, and tend to write their smut scenes in a separate chapter, or separate from the overarching plot. Unfortunately, this means that these scenes often feel like cash grabs, and even more unfortunately, it works. As more and more people become comfortable with the idea of smut and written porn, more and more corporations keep realizing the profit available in volumes with less plot, and more porn. This feeds people's need for snappy gratification, and legitimizes the people you'll see in Booktok circles who choose their reading material based on 'spice' ratings of different books. The literature element in most new books containing sexual content is thus gone, superficial and painful to read, and completely ignored by most readers, which makes this form of smut just as bad as regular, cherry-picked, purposely 'to the point' pornography.
Next, the realism of this type of literature. You might think it would surpass the 'realism' often shown in video form, and you would be mostly correct, but just *barely*. The relationship types often shown in romance books, made by Harlequin in particular, are centred around the usually troubled relationship of a man and woman. The man, usually a millionaire, hunky farmer, or cowboy, pursues a woman, usually conflicted in her choice of lovers, or by the events in her life. Let's skip past the non-sexual 'plot', as most readers do, and focus on the elements usually involved in the smut included in these types of stories. Often, these scenes are gratuitously detailed, focusing on the physical attributes of both characters, and include long stretches of pure verbal silence, with no communication beyond that of classic pornographic lines, curses, and the occasional whimpered 'yes'. This type of scene has no more sustenance than a video form would, as the appeal of the realism involved is lost, when the characters forfeit their inflections and unique traits to conform to the 'pornstar' persona the author thrusts upon them.
What truly makes a romance novel enjoyable is being able to connect with the characters, being able to empathize with the protagonist and celebrate when she ends up with the noble man who treats her well, rather than the one who exploits and takes her for granted. Sex scenes are meant to be a moment of emotional payoff, not only for the audience, but the characters, as well. Characterization should not end with sex scenes, but instead should be enhanced with them, with specific character traits shining through. As well, in reality, communication is extremely important, as it is itself intimate - sharing desires, boundaries, likes and dislikes shows vulnerability, and another person who listens to and respects these boundaries is much more desirable than someone who doesn't care to ask. In laymans terms, it is much more rewarding to read a scene with personable characters who know what they want, and are *getting* it, than with generic characters who are put into a bed and act as though the author is playing with them like Barbie dolls in order to earn their paycheque.
Lastly, and most importantly, is the depiction of meaningful consent in this type of content, or, rather, the lack thereof. As with communication, in reality, consent is an extremely important, non-negotiable factor of intimacy. Often, in these types of stories, a single 'yes' at the beginning of the scene is used as a blanket statement for the whole encounter. This does not work in reality, however - using an analogy we are all no doubt familiar with, just because someone may have agreed to Orange Pekoe tea is no indication they'll enjoy Chamomile, or Earl Gray. They may want their tea with sugar, honey, milk, or over ice. Every single act, whether you move up, down or underneath your partner is different, and is differently liked and disliked by different people. These types of smut books which value freakish character stamina, arousing, bland dialogue, and reader gratification therefore completely miss this, focusing instead on the sex appeal of the scene, rather than the traits and relationship dynamic of the characters involved.
Alas, you or I cannot fix the industry, but we can be mindful about the type of content we choose to consume, and how we choose to view it ethically and objectively. So, while you're cuddled up in bed this Valentine's Day, if you choose to enjoy a good book to get the fire burning, just remember what, exactly, it is that you're reading, and bear in mind what your own feelings are towards the type of content you're reading. Are your desires as the consumer being fulfilled, or are you reading the same old bland content written over and over again to turn a profit? Be mindful, friends, and happy Valentine's Day!