No Glove, No Love.
I have this dilemma. I originally wrote the first sex scene in my book without the use of condoms and without the “safe sex” talk. Did I need to? Surely, I do not, I thought, after all this is fantasy, not reality. Anyone who was reading it would know it was fantasy. Besides, my characters were going to be written “clean”, that is, no diseases – so why not bareback sex?
Pregnancy? Pfft. Got that covered too. She’s got an IUD. So who needs condoms?
Well, would any responsible, guy – who was really interested in a girl – communicate or put on – a condom? Sure he would. The book is fiction. Not reality.
When my readers read it, I want them to feel as if they are drawn into the story. Almost as if it is reality. And in reality, well you need condoms or the talk. Something.
My editor made me add it in, anyway. “Val wouldn’t do that.” I could hear her voice. And she was right. Val wouldn’t do that. He’s a really nice guy, even if he has a penchant for the darker side of sex.
I was talking with a fellow erotic writer on twitter who gave me the inspiration for this blog. She feels that it isn’t necessary to write condoms / safe sex into her stories. She feels that if violence, murders, rapes and other crimes against society are committed in novels (and they aren’t promoting to their readers to committ these crimes) why can’t you write naked sex? A book isn’t telling you to commit a crime, nor is it telling you to go have unprotected sex.
But it’s ok to kill someone in a novel. It’s drama. It’s crime. Things people love. Sex, even in this day and age is still kind of a taboo subject.
I think we as writers, should promote safe sex. Even if it is 3 lines in a chapter, they don’t have to use condoms if you write it correctly. But at least toss the notion out there. People want believeability. They want to believe in your story, your characters. So toss a box of Trojan’s your character’s way. It’s a good idea.
What do you think, dear readers? Should safe sex be a standard in erotica?
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