How women’s roles in erotic writing have increased as social attitudes change

For many women today, erotic literature is not a taboo subject. It is discussed openly between friends, lovers and colleagues. Women’s magazines advertise erotica and recommend bookshops and websites from which to buy it. This is mainly due to the relaxation of social attitudes over the last century. Gone are the days of “Lie back and think of England.” It is now widely accepted that sex is for pleasure as well as procreation, and it sells.

The increase in female erotica readers and writers has been substantial, or perhaps women have always been involved in erotica, but because the current attitude is relaxed, they now feel they can be honest about it. Either way, social change means that it is open to discussion.

Going back to the Victorian period, it was almost impossible to find any female erotica authors. Women were portrayed very differently then. There was a divide between women on the streets, the prostitutes, and the housewives. The housewives were seen as pure and clean, and their bodies were not for pleasure, but for reproduction. So the married women would be unlikely to read or write erotica as they did not see sex as pleasurable, and the prostitutes would not be educated enough to read and write anyway.

After the reign of Queen Victoria, the Edwardian period began. It was during this period that women’s rights were examined. Technology advanced, and in the years following we were graced with radio and then television. World War One meant women’s rights were once again looked at, as they’d helped tremendously in factories and so on when their men were away fighting. U.S. women got the vote in 1920, and the U.K. followed in 1928. This was a step in the right direction for women’s equality.

Following this, there were peaks and troughs in economy. This affected the populations’ attitude. If they were in a depression they would be thinking of where their next meal was coming from, or if they were prosperous they would be concentrating on having fun. (more…)