Sex and the Story

I Have a Terrible Sense of Humour

This particular piece of rmabling thoughts was initially inspired by a comment in another article here on AC.

Persephone in Pink: "I have a question: why is it not okay to write about sex, even if it's between a man and woman who love each other"

For those of you unaware of his stance on the matter, the individual Persephone was asking this of insists that any story submitted to one of his "publications" be absent of sex in any form. He claims that this is because he is a conservative Christian, and that a story doesn't need sex in it to be good. He also claims to be attacked by people because of this viewpoint, ignoring the many compelling, real reasons why he has earned the ire of others including myself.

Now I actually agree with the letter of what that individual says, a well written story doesn't need sex to be good. Where we disagree is in the spirit of the matter, to him sex in writing is apparently abhorrent, while I think of it as a spice, not always needed but when used properly it takes the dish to a new level. But enough of cooking metaphors, this article is about the role of sex in literature and so first we must define how it can be portrayed.

In my opinion there are three ways to portray sex. First is through implication, there is no description of the act itself, only the build-up before we cut away from the scene. When we return to the characters later they are either not long finished the act, or a noticeable period of time has passed.

Second is the erotic, when this method of portrayal is used we see the act of sex itself but it is displayed in a romanticised way. Generally the descriptions are vague or idealised, with euphemisms used for genitalia. It also often ignores the more messy and primal aspects of the act, focusing more on the emotions the characters feel as they copulate.