Erotic Literature; what's said and unsaid. An in depth Interview.
- tamarweir8
- Jul 25, 2025
- 11 min read
Written by: Tamar Simone Weir
I love asking people about their passions..... To see how they become ignited while speaking about what turns on their flame. And as you all know from reading my blogs, or maybe you are just starting to find out now, I am very passionate about all things sensuality, juiciness, and sex. I recently went to a friends house, and to my surprise discovered that her housemate is in grad school. She is focusing her thesis on erotic literature..... I couldn't let this amazing opportunity to dive deeper into the erotic with a fellow erotic appreciator and feeler pass me by, so I asked to interview her and we got into a beautiful discussion. I will highlight some main points of our discussion, along with the questions I asked to guide our conversations. I hope these questions can help illuminate some juicy findings from our literary conversation, and that they ignite more passionate thinking and feeling for you all <3
What inspired you to begin studying and researching erotic novels and literature?
Victoria was inspired to study this work when in her undergrad education she learned, that in the 1600's up until the 1800's, novels were seen as not real art, as they were knew on the scene. They formed in England in that time period (although the specifics are debated within the academic community). Everyone thought they were feminine, and that men should not engage, but that at the same time by reading books it would make women loose, bad, and corrupt. Hearing about this heated discourse around these novels, allowed her to understand that literature is so dependent on time period, place, current debates etc. Romance and erotic fiction is still seen as feminine art forms and as not real art. Because of that she was interested in looking at that academically. What you privilege with your study is like acknowledging this active art that is not respected even today... Novels were once not respected and then they got more masculinized and now everybody's like that's the best art form ever!! That is what got her into this topic at first, looking at the underlooked and understudied. We both agreed that it is significant, because what you decide to focus your time, energy, and research on, gives that topic a place within the discourse of the people around you, and giving it a place creates deeper meaning.
How do you think your various intersecting identities play into the way you read, integrate, and feel when you are investigating erotic works?
Victoria feels that she reads the work with the identity of being a white cis woman, who is able -bodied and straight. She brings those identity markers that hold privilege as she reads erotic/ romance novels. Victoria notices that in the novels she investigates, they are very exclusionary in the sense that the novels themselves are all about white and straight people. Many novels as a whole take the privileged experience of white straight people and create an illusion that this is universal, and the communities around these kinds of novels has also been very white and exclusionary from what she understands. She tries to keep in mind that those identity markers bring her closer to the oppressive societal ideas of desirability. Romance novels are so concerned with that concept, one that society continues to uphold through the structures of beauty and heteronormativity. Victoria highlights how another scholar named Ria Cheyne writes about disability in romance and genre fiction. Ria discusses how novels decide who deserves a desirable future, so when Victoria dissects these novels, she thinks it's important to keep in mind and to analyze the harmful stereotypes that are embedded into the genres that model desirability and what is the erotic.
Victoria states how a lot of the groundbreaking erotic analyses are all done by really brilliant black female intellectuals, and she is indebted to their work. Those identity markers remind Victoria of the ways that these spaces have been in the past, as she is trying to make them less like that in the future. The way that Victoria integrates and feels the erotic work as a woman connects to the ways she feels our sexuality is not centered. She remarks that it is so fun to read these novels that are so much about the female perspective, what is hot from that perspective, and that helps Victoria integrate and feel them. As I listened to Victoria share about her thoughts, I reflected on my own feelings about how society dictates and states who deserves and can receive pleasure through the erotic. The larger concept of desirability, and what societally we think a body can do, or should do is projected on to other people, and in the ways that people write the work. I noticed that it must be uncomfortable to be embedded in the research of reading these works as it so closely connected with what our society is allowing through the power of words. In terms of being in the thick of the process of reading and feeling, we both agreed that its a lot more fun to read work that feels liberating rather than constricting when it comes to sexuality and stereotypes.....
What do you think about the erotic / romantic genres of novels today?
Victoria thinks that the two genres are blending. SO many romance novels are like also erotic and so much of the erotic novels have a lot of romance. She loves it. A friend of Victoria's influenced her in choosing this topic for her thesis as well, because her friend is really into a popular romantic novel series. Victoria exclaims that the reading process takes her back to when she was 13 and reading Twilight, the feeling of being giddy and staying up late to discover what happens to the characters is fully encompassing. There is something about the romance genre, that creates this feeling of "I have to know what happens." Victoria loves the ways that romance novels bring people together in conversation, and shares a story about how her co workers and her got into the best romance novel recommendations the other day!
She shares that one of her favorite book stores in LA is called "The Ripped Bodice" and is purely dedicated to romance novels! She loves how this space creates community by having events, and encouraging people to be in discussion together. Victoria is looking at both of the genres, and trying to decide what will be her focus in the future, but this summer she has been reading more erotic fiction. Although in the past she has read more romance novels, she feels that romance today has a lot of fantasy elements that break societal norms which she loves and thinks is very JUICY.....
I definitely agreed that there is something addicting and energetic about a good romance novel that just completely transports you and sucks you up into a different dimension. Romance or erotic fiction can be so intimate and I think so many people are starved of intimacy in their lives, so to me that feels like a relevant reason as to why these genres are so alluring. Although, each person's situation and own personal life might influence what their response is to these works... Another amazing part of these erotic and romance novels is that you get to live and absorb the new relationship energy by proxy, which is extremely fun. It feels almost real, and then you can put the book down with no larger stakes while still experiencing that rush!!
We agreed that most people could use to read a bit more erotic and romantic novels, especially since there is so much more nuance, variety, and potential for joy and satisfaction. Everyone needs a lil more romance in their life, and it's beginning to feel like there's a little bit of something for everyone to enjoy.
How do you feel reading erotic works has impacted your sexuality/erotically?
For Victoria, reading these works especially the stuff that is new and popular has made her feel more comfortable talking about sex, the erotic, what turns her on etc. When she is at a party, and people ask her what she studies, she confidently says porn, and just laughs because her levels of confidence within herself has increased. With her partner, they are now reading erotica together out loud which has been a fun and sexy process. The impact she has witnessed in herself so far is the overall comfort she feels in talking about her own sexuality and preferences with pretty much anyone now, which has allowed other people to open up to her as well. Depending on the vibe (never wanting to push), she is open and ready to talk about all those juicy topics if they are open as well. I have also noticed that with my own work and school right now, I am being opened up in many ways. I study the erotic in my own work, which has opened the doors for larger conversations with people where the overall attitude is one with a sex negative culture but here we are trying..... People ask me what I'm studying and then are not able to receive the answer.. I'm like always surprised that they are surprised that i'm not studying something that's been studied a million times.....
How would you describe the difference between the two words, sexual and erotic?
Victoria feels like erotic is so much more expansive than sexual. Sexual is wonderful, but the erotic is so much deeper. Eating a nice piece of fruit, or going for a really good swim, the erotic is more about the experience and feeling. Victoria really resonates with Audre Lorde's, Principles of the Erotic, where she talks about how the erotic is a deep understanding of our capacity for pleasure and enjoyment. Once we realize that, it allows us to seek more enjoyment and know what we can have, what we are worth, and what we want. This ties to our work, communities, and activism. Victoria really appreciates Audre's look on the erotic in that way. Victoria has also been reading a book called "Erotism" by Georges Bataille, where the author discusses how the erotic and death are connected. The author says we live these separate lives, we have our separate experiences, but how in death and in the erotic we can feel more continuity and connection. Victoria likes that idea too about how the two are related, and creates a feeling of transcendence. Victorias words made me think about death doulas, and how birthing can be very erotic and a lot of feeling/sensation there. Similar to death being a portal, birthing can also be a portal, and I see the erotic links between the two. I think in erotism, its beautiful to highlight death and birth as these are seen as the beginning and the end, and it is just such a cyclical part of life where we experience beauty and pain all in the same lifetime.
What do you think society has to gain in appreciating and celebrating erotic works?
Victoria feels that in studying the erotic it is a way to fully experience life, even the painful parts of it. An appreciation of pleasure in the small things too, it can be something as small as taking a shower. It can help us understand ourselves, our shame, guilt, and looking at those things creates liberation.
Romance helps people see the ways that they want to be loved, and if they haven't had those experiences in real life, reading about this can give more insight into how it feels to receive those things. Thinking of my own response to this question, I find myself struggling to answer, it gets me emotional thinking about all the sexualphobia, erotic phobia, & whorephobia. Even within myself I have these biases that have lived inside of me from so much societal conditioning, that I continue to unpack on the daily. People have so much resistance to the erotic, because I feel that it can open up portals for feeling. It's hard, and I empathize, society has so much to gain in valuing people's erotic experiences. I think society is scared of erotism as a whole, and this is different than the sexual, it is even more nuanced. We know society hates the sexual, but when it comes to the erotic it is harder to even describe because it encompases so much, but even within that society is so anti erotic!! Victoria exclaims how in a capitalistic society the erotic being about pleasure, sensation, and experience is the opposite of what we are encouraged to do/seek. Instead of being productive, making money, and making your time "count" erotism goes beyond and through that bullshit!!
Do you notice any main themes of eroticism and sexuality present in the many books you have read and analyzed?
Victoria has recently been reading some of the so called classics of erotica. One in particular is called "The Story of the Eye, published in 1920's. The second, "Story of O" published in 1950's. Both those novels talk about the unconscious and how it impacts our experiences of the erotic. They also go into BDSM and the elements of what we get from submission, abandoning oneself and the positivity of that power. Victoria is also reading the Sleeping Beauty series by Anne Rice that goes into the sleeping beauty story but told in a BDSM universe which is fun, & highlights the power in submission. The more general themes she has found in the romance novels she has analyzed are, finding your voice, overcoming trauma, going through the exploration of their erotic experiences.
How do you think romance is connected to eroticism, and how is it distinct?
Victoria feels like eroticism is so personal. Romance is a more specific thing. Eroticism is more multifaceted. Victoria feels you can have one without the other, but then as she answers this, she rethinks that as lots of times they are so connected. I was curious about this distinction because some people have specific definitions of these things, and are more rigid about what is sex, what is erotic, what is this and that. But then other people see all of this as combined and within the same umbrella.
Victoria feels that there is so much that can be romantic outside of romantic partnerships/relationships. Doing something by yourself can be so romantic! Victoria concluded that she doesn't really know what the difference is between the two, and I agreed that it's okay not to know, our definitions are constantly expanded and shifted, nothing is universal!
What is your take on the argument that erotic art or literature is distinct and different than pornographic content?
Victoria hesitates to draw distinctions between what is literature and what is not because there are so many brilliant people who maybe she is not drawn to initially but someone else might write the most brilliant essay about it and then she can change her mind...
Victoria thinks that people have used the term pornographic to demonize erotic and romantic literature... Erotic literature is pornographic, but also she feels that there can be porn that is literature. There is not a clear distinction between them. But typically, people refer to pornographic literature as less respected than erotic literature, but Victoria doesn't agree or feel that that's the case.
I also was curious to ask this question as there are so many sex negative ideas and whorephobia in our culture that people will go so far as to defend things and create stories of how something is not pornographic to validate the work. Pornographic as a concept and word is not a bad word, although it is othered in the world of the erotic. I believe that if someone feels it creates more liberation for them to create a distinction between the two and can also acknowledge that they live on the same shelf together then we can have deeper conversations. I do feel that watching versus reading erotic work is a different experience. But I think that it is interesting to analyze the hierarchy present within the categories of fiction writing, whether it is erotic, pornographic, sexual sensual, romantic etc. How much of something has to be in something for it to be erotic vs pornographic vs romantic?..... Lady Chatterley's Lover written in 1928 is very erotic and at the time people exclaimed that it was so pornographic. Its definitely not as explicit as any of the sexy scenes you will find in Brigerton, but they banned the book because of the "pornographic content."
Victoria believes that a lot of the work that is written now would be called erotic more than pornographic because of the time period in which they were written. And we agree.... that the main reason people are watching Bridgerton is because of the sex scenes. Cmon ya'll.....
From your research thus far, what books or authors would you recommend people be open towards reading, what literature would you recommend to the masses?
Victoria was so excited to answer this question as she developed an extensive list!!!
-Anything written by Audre Lorde
- Pleasure Activism by Adrienne Maree Brown
-The color Purple AND Now Is The Time to Open Your Heart by Alice Walker
-Any Mary Oliver poem!
-Mina Loy's poem "Parturition"
-"A Court of Silver Flames" by Sarah J. Maas
-"Sleeping Beauty Series" by Anne Rice
-Heated Rivalry by Rachel Reid
-Fantomina by Eliza Haywood
MORE recommendations to come as Victoria continues reading and deeply diving into all the novels out there, from the past, present, and into the universes of the erotic.....
Evelyne Axell’s Paintings
Comments