Feminist erotica

In an earlier post I bemoaned the subcategories of erotica as being porous and vague, and in not quite capturing Erotiquette, the story of a feminist on an often confronting sexual journey. I have now decided that a suitable label, if one needs a label, might just be feminist erotica.

If one types "feminist erotica" into google, one of the first things that comes up is a book by a group of female comedians, subtitled Satirical Fantasies of Love, Lust, and Equal Pay. It includes things like going into the boss' office, he locks the door, and then promotes you over and over again. Yes, this is quite hilarious and very clever, and acts as a necessary commentary on gender equality, but elides the possibility that women can read erotica and feel both sexy and empowered. Good Reads has a list for feminist erotica, with the criteria that sex must "empower, not demean" the female character. The list includes anything from Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover (written by a man) to Gemmel's The Bride Stripped Bare. I suppose this is a small beginning for the recognition of "feminist' as a legitimate erotic genre.

But I was really intrigued by an article in an Indian publication for women called Tweak. From 2021 and titled "Because feminists can like reading erotica too", the article poses the question: "We know feminists who write erotica, and we know feminists who read erotica, but where is the genre of 'feminist erotica'?". The author, Rishika Singh, notes their frustration at finding so little "feminist erotica that doesn’t glorify abusive relationships", a perplexity only amplified by the contrasting healthy growth of feminist pornography.

I have a lot of sympathy with Ms Singh's points. The concept for Erotiquette grew out of my own frustration at the difficulty of finding decent, well-written, smart erotica for women. Whether or not I was successful in my aims, we certainly need more recognition for those who are. My wish would be for all those women writers to come together and legitimise this as a new erotic genre, to show that women can be powerful in and empowered by a whole range of sexual journeys and fantasies. And still be a feminist.