This is one of those statements that come up – again and again (sorry, bad pun)
The old ‘Hey pRon is awesome I likes it, you know you likes it… why you gots to call it erotica? Why ‘pretty it up?’. My deal is if you like porn, you go on with your badself. I have NO issue with it at all. But the PORN = EROTICA case does not float with me.
At. All
I think it is insulting, most likely all the way around, regardless of if you are in the porn industry or write erotica. And EROTICA does NOT equal EROTIC ROMANCE. Or am I wrong? Do tell me…
This is the post I am still going huh, what? over.
My Comment, which as of right now doesn’t show on the blog because it is moderated, is as follows:
Porn is all well and good. Some will think it’s bad, some love it, some have no issue with it. Your view is your view and it is awesome the internetz provide us with a chance to voice that.
Erotica and Erotic Romance does not equal porn. There is much more to it, starting with plot, character development, emotion….
You could NOT take any porn movie and call it erotica. It is not a way for Jane General Public to make porn A’OK. If you watch a porn movie, you can’t say a blanket statement that you have read erotica. My question would be have you done either? Because if you watch a porn and read an erotic or erotic romance novel it fairly jumps out at you that they are not the same thing.
Tossing in the term romance (which as a hella lot of subgenre’s all on its own) is beyond uninformed. Romance does not equal erotica does not equal porn does not…. you are completely comparing apples to oranges. It seems you are doing so while saying ‘not that I have read it’. An informed opinion won’t hurt you – promise.
I know lil to nothing about comics but I am going to assume comics does not a graphic novel make… and that there are different audiences, skill and themes involved.
Going by what you say Batman = Garfield = X-Man = Snoopy… they are all stories told with pretty pictures so they must all be alike and speak to the same audience. There are no genres or intelligence involved.
::blink::
Even knowing NOTHING about it, I would not make such an assumption. Or are you going for – stupid, blanket statements bring traffic and the ‘haters’ out? If this is an example of your writing, fuck it, it isn’t that good. And if you want to create change or make an impact – start with being informed.
===========
What is your take? Am I completely wrong? Lil wrong? Do you agree? I would go as far as to say some erotica goes into pornolious territory but to say erotica/erotic romance is nothing more than ‘prettying’ up porn so lil women can feel ok reading it… feels wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Then 
again I hate blanket statements.
It is very rare that an action, feeling or reaction is ALWAYS. Or maybe that is just me…
Pron, erotica, and erotic romance are three different things. However, things may be labeled interchangeably; erotic romance may be labeled erotica, and vice versa, which leaves an author with a sinking feeling of “cannot win”. Because you’re going to fail audience expectations. Erotica may or may not be romantic or have a romantic happy ending, which further muddies the waters.
But romance, however erotic it may be, still isn’t pron and erotica isn’t, either. Even hard erotica is about the character’s journey. Of course, then you end up having to define pron and that’s tricky territory.
Ignorance FTW! *applauds*
Good grief. There are so many things wrong with that crazy person’s post. I don’t even know where to begin!
I guess all love scenes and references to sexuality are “porn”? Sooo…by that logic, most PG-13 and R rated movies are also full of porn. And so are most soap operas. And most cable TV. And even a lot of prime time network TV. And Animal Planet! OMG! Meerkat pr0N!!!
And let’s not forget Shakespeare…National Geographic (the magazine…boobies!!)…most classic literature…the Bible *gasp* THE SONG OF SOLOMON!
Oh wow. I have seen the light. Feminism, here I come. But first I must stop at church to confess my sins.
I vote for ignorance as well.
When she was an impressionable preteen, she read what she thinks–looking back however many years–a “mainstream romance novel” where there was bestiality. Dog only knows what exactly she read.
Look, many years ago I read Princess Daisy by Judith Krantz. Just ’cause there’s sex0ring and a sorta happy ending, I wouldn’t call that one a mainstream romance novel.
There are romance elements, true, but somehow there was too much wonky there–the rape, on the page, of the heroine by her half brother, for example.
Seems to me that if that’s all the “knowledge” she has of the incredible diverse genre that is romance, it’s no wonder she would make such asinine statements.
Still, pr0n and erotica ain’t the same; erotica and erotic romance ain’t the same; pr0n and erotic romance ain’t the same; etc. etc. etc.
Yes, there is poorly written erotic romance about–but then there’s poorly written everything about, and it doesn’t make everything trash, does it?
Oh yes, you tell ’em!
I write highly sensual romance (mainly the historicals) and erotic romance, and I have friends who write erotica, too. The differences are easy to understand, but some people just close their minds to them and think that sex equals pron. Just daft.
SmartBitch Sarah commented on the post in question.
I regularly read the Occasional Superheroine’s blog. I’m a comics fan from way back and she normally has the inside scoop on what’s new in that world. So I was a little surprised at her view of romance as a literary genre, and even more surprised by her take on erotica. She’s normally very pro-female. Not to say that only pro-females have a positive view of romance, but that’s been the case in my experience.
I guess it all depends on whether someone is a fan. I love anime, but only “well drawn” anime. Love Samurai Champloo, but hate Naruto, for example. But, then, I’m normally watching for the art and not the characters’ fighting techniques.
I suppose if the bloggess were a romance genre fan, we wouldn’t be having this conversation, because erotica is very likely not porn to a romance fan.
What irks me is that she acknowledges that her only first hand knowledge is one book read more than two decades ago, yet she feels that qualifies her to make statements of fact — vs saying, “I believe/I think/it’s my understanding…”
There is no shame in admitting a lack of knowledge followed by expression of an opinion or long held belief. Laying down said opinion as authoritative knowledge to her readership? Ummm NO.
I should have asked you gwen… I spent forever trying to remember why the fuck I ended up on that blog.
I don’t read it.
I am assuming SB posted about it and I followed a link… I tend to open windows and read them whenever. Oh and I kept falling asleep yesterday….