Is the line between Erotic vs Romance Fiction story different by Generations?

[W_L]

I was reading this article on The Guardian and thought I'd share it with folks on GA as it relates to writers and readers.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/article/2024/aug/06/my-weeks-of-reading-hornily-steamy-book-sales-have-doubled-and-i-soon-found-out-why

I found this particular paragraph intriguing:

Quote

“The younger somebody is, within reason, the less shame, stigma and narrowness they have around sex and romance.” The other is fascinating: “Millennial and gen Z readers worry way less about whether they can relate to the characters,” she says. “I see that much more in boomer and gen X readers: they can’t relate to a character because they’re gay, or they’re black. But it doesn’t seem to matter if they’re a werewolf.”

The article writer Zoe Williams also mentioned a book I read recently, Sem by Cora Rose, which is m/m romantic fiction between a big viking-esque seemingly straight guy and an effeminate short gay school teacher. I don't have a size kink either like Zoe, at least I don't think I do as I've dated guys taller and shorter, but I thoroughly enjoyed the relationship and the escapism from the book, along with the previous title Whit in the series by Cora Rose. In reading romance, you can escape into the roles beyond what you are naturally. Also, I am not averse to stories with a lot of sex or sexual situations, there should be no shame in BDSM, leather/rubber/fur, or whatever in a story as long the individuals are consenting and non-coercive (unless it's a roleplay situation). 

I am a Millennial, and I do agree the characters don't need to be just like me to be related.

To me, erotic fiction and romance nowadays are just a matter of how much the story works on the plot and character situations. If you can create a fun plot with good characters, then having them engage in random sex can be plausible and fine up to a level. At a point, romance can be very erotic.

I wonder if these descriptions hold true for our writers and readers as well. Do our generations affect our outlook on what is erotica (to me purely sex with no situation/plot) or romance?

Edited August 6 by W_L

[Mikiesboy]

I agree characters don't need to be like me for me to relate.  I know boomers who read and watch all sorts and can relate to people of colour, Gay people, Trans people and werewolves etc.

I don't like to pigeon-hole whole generations, I think it depends on the person, not their age, what they relate to or not.

[Jason Rimbaud]

This is an interesting article. Because for movies/shows the characters don't have to be like me at all. Gay, straight, or any other letter in the alphabet, if the writing is good, the plot compelling, I'm all in.

But for fiction, I have a hard time reading any story with a female protagonist. There are exceptions, Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb and her amazing "In Death" series featuring one of the baddest female detective's in all of fiction, Eve. But more often than not, if I open a book and see the main protagonist is a female, I stop reading and move on to something else. 

And it's not that I don't think women can be good authors, some of my favorite authors, especially on this site, are female. I have some kind of mental block that just refuses to read about female protagonists. 

Yet some of my favorite movies feature female protagonists. Ripley in Aliens, Alice in Resident Evil, Samantha in A Long Kiss Goodnight, Morgan in Cutthroat Island, Thelma and Louise, maybe I have a thing for Geena Davis, every movie with Katherine Hepburn, she was always the star no matter where she was billed. 

I don't know, I don't think it's the fault of the authors either, there is something preventing me in relating to female characters in fiction/books. It is something I have brought up with my therapist because I fear that unconsciously I have some kind of bias towards woman and I don't want to have that. I guess I'm a work in progress. 

J

 

 

 

 

[Krista]

On 8/6/2024 at 10:30 AM, Mikiesboy said:

I agree characters don't need to be like me for me to relate.  I know boomers who read and watch all sorts and can relate to people of colour, Gay people, Trans people and werewolves etc.

I don't like to pigeon-hole whole generations, I think it depends on the person, not their age, what they relate to or not.

Thank you. Couldn't have said it better myself.

7 hours ago, Jason Rimbaud said:

This is an interesting article. Because for movies/shows the characters don't have to be like me at all. Gay, straight, or any other letter in the alphabet, if the writing is good, the plot compelling, I'm all in.

But for fiction, I have a hard time reading any story with a female protagonist. There are exceptions, Nora Roberts writing as J.D. Robb and her amazing "In Death" series featuring one of the baddest female detective's in all of fiction, Eve. But more often than not, if I open a book and see the main protagonist is a female, I stop reading and move on to something else. 

And it's not that I don't think women can be good authors, some of my favorite authors, especially on this site, are female. I have some kind of mental block that just refuses to read about female protagonists. 

Yet some of my favorite movies feature female protagonists. Ripley in Aliens, Alice in Resident Evil, Samantha in A Long Kiss Goodnight, Morgan in Cutthroat Island, Thelma and Louise, maybe I have a thing for Geena Davis, every movie with Katherine Hepburn, she was always the star no matter where she was billed. 

I don't know, I don't think it's the fault of the authors either, there is something preventing me in relating to female characters in fiction/books. It is something I have brought up with my therapist because I fear that unconsciously I have some kind of bias towards woman and I don't want to have that. I guess I'm a work in progress. 

J

I've read a handful of articles that ask why straight men play female characters in RPGs, especially open-world with romantic plots like Mass Effect, Dragon Age, etc. Also, online RPGs where you interact with other human players, you still have this straight male population that play female characters. We always make this big attempt in explaining why people do 'anything' that may seem 'odd' for who they generally are.

As long as you're not hurting anyone in the process, it is your time to spend. We don't have a lot of free time, don't waste it by attempting to force yourself into reading/watching what you already know you don't have a preference being engaged with.

It would be a shame if people 'stayed in their own lanes' when it comes to how they should think based on generalizations, or social expectations. 

You don't like reading about female protagonists, I don't like Science fiction at all. I don't have the patience for a lot of the world building that goes along with the writing. Some of my favorite films and video games would be generalized as Science Fiction though. I'm not worried that I can be entertained by or engaged with one and not the other.  As long as you don't bash the authors who write female protagonists, be it male authors or female, it's fine. Just as I don't bash authors for writing Science Fiction, just because I have little interest in the genre. 

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I wonder if these descriptions hold true for our writers and readers as well. Do our generations affect our outlook on what is erotica (to me purely sex with no situation/plot) or romance?

As for being a reader here, when I do sit and find the time and the story, I do not read erotic scenes. I don't read them in my own writing either, not past the editing just to make sure I've not squished anything, or made up a new and very unlikely based on human flexibility sexual position.  So, for me if the story is less plot/character driven and is more sex or sexual relationship driven, I don't stick with it.

Edited August 10 by Krista

[wildone]

21 hours ago, Krista said:

. I don't read them in my own writing either, not past the editing just to make sure I've not squished anything, or made up a new and very unlikely based on human flexibility sexual position.

And you have done that before, right  

[Krista]

29 minutes ago, wildone said:

And you have done that before, right  

Yes, you have lectured me for being cruel, and went on to explain the position the guys were in would have squished 2 sets of testicles and it wouldn't have been an enjoyable experience.  Hush... you.