EDITORIAL: Sexist Smut

🎊Good-bye 2017🎈Hello 2018 🎉

A new year is almost upon us.  Out with the old, in with the new. Or as Edith Lovejoy Pierce more eloquently wrote: 

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.”

A whole new year of books awaits us. Some authors are still penning them. Others have the publish button at their fingertips. And then there are the words not yet written, the scenes still to come to fruition.  

In 2017, one word was looked up more than any other: feminism. "The theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes” and “organized activity on behalf of women's rights and interests” perked the interest of more people than any other.  It's an important word, though often misconstrued. It's undoubtedly a good thing that more  people are seeking out it's correct definition. It's past time that women took it back from its critics who sought to disparage it in an underhanded attempt to halt a theory from becoming practice. 

Women writers hold at their fingertips the power of the pen, the power to help shape the advancement of women, the advancement of equality. 

“For masterpieces are not single and solitary births; they are the outcome of many years of thinking in common, of thinking by the body of the people, so that the experience of the mass is behind the single voice.” —Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

One of the great things about the romance market is that it allows women to embrace their sexuality.  There's no better way to give a big F-U to the outdated Puritan values that brainwashed generations into the very incorrect assumption that women were not and should not be sexual beings than to read a clearly distinguishable romance book in public. And it's not just about sending a message; romance reading has allowed women to explore their own likes and tastes when it comes to their sexuality. Through books, woman can gauge their own limits, explore their own fantasies, and take tips back to the bedroom where they are equal participants in the action. 

But..... (you knew there had to be one coming) like most things, the genre isn't perfect. And one of those imperfections is a word that's been seeping into the romance and erotic fiction lexicon. 

It's not feminism, of course. In fact, used in the way it's being used in romance books, it's not helping feminism in the least. So before it starts spreading like manure, let's take a closer look at it. 

Imagine if I said the word of the day is 

breeding

noun  breed·ing

Don't worry, I'm never going to really proclaim that a word of the day; this is just a hypothetical exercise. So take a moment, close your eyes, and picture what comes to mind when you hear this word. 

😚 If the cover of a contemporary romance novel comes to mind, then Houston—we have a problem. Because in the words of the noble Inigo Montoya:

"You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means." 

According to Merriam-Webster's dictionary, breeding is simply:

"—the process by which young animals, birds, etc., are produced by their parents

—the activity of keeping and caring for animals or plants in order to produce more animals or plants of a particular kind

—the way a person was taught in childhood to behave : good manners that come from being raised correctly "

Notice all those references to the reproduction of animals? And yet this word keeps creeping up in erotic romance.

I've been over here scratching my head trying to figure out when "breeding" became sexy or romantic for quite some time, and as we head into a new year with new opportunities, it seems now is just as good as time as any to bring it up.

For decades, women have been able to vote, own property, and hold important positions in government, and yet we are still being depicted in fiction as nothing more than a warm body for a over-possessive chauvinistic douchebag to dump his over-entitled seed so he can propagate more sexist renditions of himself.  A man who thinks of "breeding" his woman is a man who views impregnating a woman as a means of suppression, domination, and control. 
He is in layman's terms...a pig. 🐷

Why in the world is he being portrayed as a romantic hero? 😦 You can bet your barn that a guy like this in real life not only wants to keep you hog tied to his pen while breeding his babies, but he's also gonna want to take away any other choices you're entitled to. 

If these types of  "romantic heroes"  were truly such swoon-worthy book boyfriends, they'd be more focused on empowering the woman they claim to love than impregnating her in an archaic approach to claiming ownership.  

To be clear, I have nothing against a romantic story where the a couple have a baby together. This is not an anti-pregnancy post. Motherhood can be a wonderful and rewarding experience.  What I object to is when a woman's body is being used as a method of female subordination and an innocent child becomes an instrument used to keep the mother suppressed. 

Still not convinced? Think it's simply harmless smut?  Well let's consult the Urban Dictionary for their definition then.

" —To be pregnant. Word dates back to slavery days when the master would breed his slaves to   get more slaves. 

—An intercourse between HIV positive and negative without condom. Sometimes the ejaculation of HIV positive one to negative one's orifice; usually anus.  "

Wow, now the word becomes associated with STDs and the propagation of slavery.  Are you getting turned on? Does it make you fall in love with the hero?  Personally, I'm thoroughly disgusted that this term is being tossed around in modern romance.

Come on, readers! Why are we blindly accepting this kind of sexist pillow talk?

The next time you encounter the word breeding, whether you're reading it or writing it, and it's not referring to your four legged pedigree who's in heat or something of that nature, take a moment and consider the wider implications of it's misuse.  

🐶 2018 is the year of the dog, but that doesn't mean romance heroes should act like one.  Oh, and spoiler alert: 2019 and 2020 are the years of the pig 🐷 and the rat 🐀. Let's not emulate them either. 

Instead, let's work together to create another year where the advancement of women is front and center, where blank pages are filled with positive presentations of women, and where opportunities exist for women outside and alongside the role of motherhood.  We aren't animals to be bred. We aren't subordinates to be controlled. We are humans to be valued.  

So the next story I encounter where the "romantic hero" proclaims he's going to breed the heroine I'm not going to picture him like the hunky dude who's displayed on the cover. Oh no, I'm going to picture him like this...

🎶 Happy New Year Everyone! 🍻

🍸Let's party and toast….

To a sexy, not sexist, 2018!!! 



~Check out last year "resolutions"~

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