I have been reflecting on the sex in my books and I worry about the amount that I have placed in them. I delicately contemplate each sex scene and ask myself if it’s really necessary. Every sex scene is carefully assessed. Either it has a plot purpose, a relationship purpose or it is used to shock and push boundaries. I ask myself these questions because I don’t want to branch too far over into romance/erotic novel genre. My books are first and foremost Gothic Horror.
So, then we must define Gothic Horror. Horror is intense, overwhelming, painful feelings caused by frightful, shocking, terrifying, revolting, shuddering events. Horror novels are then anything that induces this experience. Gothic is a subgenre of horror characterized by gloomy, grotesque, macabre, morbid and often times supernatural elements. Gothic was actually born of both romantic literature and horror. Fairytales such as Grimm’s often times have the flavor of Gothic horror as well. The style slowly developed from these early elements of romance and macabre fairytales throughout the Victorian era. Romance bloomed from courtship tales of the Medieval period. These stories always focus on the relationships in the story while other elements of the plot take a backseat. Though now are typically very everyday normal type stories where there usually is unexpected love, romance of the earlier type were peppered with heroic deeds, chivalry, adventure and courtship that usually had a mythical bent.
Gothic horror blends the deepest shocking fears of the horror genre with the romantic relationships of the characters such as in the romance genre. The most infamous tale would be Bram Stoker’s Dracula where the terror of the monstrous vampire is mixed with the elements of romance between John Harker and Mina. Also, there’s the element of seduction of the vampire himself.
This brings us to erotica. In the Victorian era sex was even more taboo than it is today. Sex had to alluded to, disguised, played with analogies and hidden between the lines. Sex was also sinful and frightening which made it easy to merge with Gothic Horror. The element of the forbidden, the taboo of desire, the titillation of fright all blend easily together in the gothic genre. Erotica is any work that focuses on the sexual relations of the characters to titillate the reader. The sex acts are detailed, sensual, revealing and seductive to arouse the reader sexually.
So, with that being said, I have taken the time to be careful when bleeding into the different genres. My tales seem to draw from numerous elements including myth, old medieval style romance, fantasy, mythology and even some fight scenes that breathe some action into the story. When expressing so many elements it’d be all too easy to leave the gothic element out all together. So, then each and every scene has to be assessed for the crux, the point, the aura. One cannot allow the relationships to overshadow the macabre. The sex though is at times lengthy and focused on, cannot be the point of the story. The sex and the relationships have to be surrounded by gloomy darkness. Shadow, fear, melancholy and morbidity have to weave the story together. The story has to have a sense of dread and creepiness that keeps suspense and shock at each unexpected turn.
Another aspect to writing about sex is the influence of American culture. America has a very tumultuous relationship with sex going back to the times of the Puritans. Christianity has dubbed sex as evil, sinful, shameful, disgusting and only necessary for procreation. This bleeds over into all aspects of American sexuality. Also, patriarchic culture tells us that sex is for men. Women don’t enjoy sex and merely endure it out of duty to the man. We are objectified for men’s sexual pleasure. Rape culture also equate sex and violence. The worse the woman is treated, the more she is demeaned, the better. Movie ratings in the US are harsher on sex and nudity than violence and disturbing content. Gods forbid if a woman has an orgasm on screen, but I can’t count the times I’ve seen violent and graphic rape scenes on television. It’s okay to watch a woman be violated, but when they wanted to show a little cunnilingus in The Notebook it was an issue.
My own path with sexuality has been to rid myself of all these notions. I own my sexuality. Nudity and sexuality can also be very separate despite what the broader culture tends to think. My path began as being raised with a feminist bent. Even though my mother’s sexuality was based on what she was taught in the church and the patriarchic ideas at home, she still had other very feminist ideas that planted seeds in me. From there, I discovered Wicca which embraces the feminine, nudity and sexuality. This helped me to heal the wounds created by patriarchy and Christianity. I have a vibrant and exciting sex life which reflects in my writing. However, I have experienced rape and sexual abuse in the past which also reflected in my writing as well. My writing displays some ideas and concepts from the broader culture on purpose, but for the most part is more of a reflection of my own empowering view of sexuality. The women are on equal ground with the men. They enjoy their sexuality and are empowered by it. They do not play a passive role. Sex, whether for love or just fun is viewed mostly in a positive way.
I have written some pretty graphic rape scenes in the second and third books in the series. These are valid in the greater context of what my book says about society. It was cathartic and writing about the aftermath was also therapeutic. I wanted it to be from a different perspective than what one might think unless they have been victimized. Also, I flipped the script which I don’t want to give away to show something very different. However, I wanted it to be as realistic as possible so people can really understand what something like this is really like. It fits neatly into the storyline and to the horrific atmosphere because what is more horrifying than such a violation. The struggles of the characters involved show a terrifying reality mixed with the supernatural that is relatable to too many people. It is frightening just to think about and I made sure it would be through the eyes of the victim unlike a lot of the books material. We think of the vampires, witches, werewolves, etc as the monsters, the villains. I write from their perspective. However, on this one, I wanted it to be through the eyes of the victim to make sure it would bring about the feelings and understanding I was aiming for.
Though there is some horrifying rape scenes, most of the sex as I said before is written from a very different and positive viewpoint which is where I’m at in my life. The sex is typically an expression of the love between characters, a part of the development of those relationships or just a really good time. I do try to push the boundaries of our cultural norms and make some people who are unlike myself either uncomfortable with the material or uncomfortable with themselves for enjoying the material and maybe even open up a view minds in the context of sexuality. Most of these things don’t seem taboo to me, but to the broader culture are.
On top of all of this, I have written my vampires to be extremely sexual creatures. I broke them down to base instincts, to feed and to fuck. At first they can’t even control it. They have to learn to hone their skills to master their desires. They are driven by these forces to the point of despair. I had decided this based on research into the history of vampirism. There is a very old and strong connection between sex and death when it comes to vampire lore. I thought it was all to fitting to write these monsters in this way. Besides, there is very little more frightening than the thought of complete loss of control of oneself. So, my vampires of course have plenty of sex and end up being too much of a focal point. I have to make sure that it does not. The sex has to be seen as a driving force of the plot. Their sex drives overcome them and we have to watch them tame the urge. It interrupts plans, creates plot twists, drives drama between the characters and even brings some humor into the midst of the dreariness and trepidation.
However, it goes back to my main goal. I want each sex scene to be something to develop the plot but not be the plot itself. In dime story romance novels and erotica the main focus is on the sex. We want to be turned on because it’s pretty much porn. We as delicate little women folk in a society of patriarchic misogyny believe we should hide our sexualities and so therefore we pretend the porn we read isn’t porn, but it is. We need to be able to say, “hey, I enjoy sex. I’m a woman and I enjoy reading about sex. I enjoy watching hot scenes in movies and shows. I get turned on by this stuff,” and not be embarrassed about it. However, this is the rub. A lot of the garbage out there is just as stereotyped and disempowering as gonzo porn. Women often take a weak roll and the man is overhyped alpha manliness who storms through the door and just fucking takes her. She swoons. Oh no, it’s just so overwhelming. Oh the rush, the surge because of his manly thrusting. Blah, blah, blah. I think most of these people who write this awful shit have never even had any good sex in their lives.
There are people who would rather skip my sex scenes and just read about the horror and the violence. To these people, I really question your point of view on life that you enjoy violence and hide your face during sex and nudity. Those sex scenes are important in my books. They don’t make my book primarily erotica and we as a society need to move forward and be more progressive when dealing with the subject of sex if we want to move forward with our views on women and the LGBT community as well. These outmoded views directly effect the way we treat women and LGBT in our society. They reek of white male privilege and disgust me. So, if you don’t want to read about wonderful sex then you’ve come to the wrong place. Though my novels are gothic horror, they are full of sexual activities to the detail and some of it is taboo for the broader society. People should enjoy sex and celebrate sex. The body is a sacred temple. Enjoy your body as well as your soul. The world would be a much happier place if sex was seen as something more positive (my opinion).
