I was joking about being triggered in this thread earlier but I am having flashbacks to a serious conversation with A Very Concerned Lesbian in 1989 who saw a gay erotic comic strip with characters "HAVING SEX WITHOUT CONDOMS!!!!!"
I assured her they would have access to the very latest experimental treatments should the worst happen.
It was never about sex or BDSM or feminism. It was a fricking romance novel w some ruff stuff. Which, as has been pointed out, is OK cos it leads to Twew Wove!!! ( with money, power and the lifestyle that gets)
A bunch of women at work were describing the film in a very defensive manner as tho they knew there was something wrong w this. Once they could just sigh and simper amongst themselves about how much they enjoyed it cos it was so "good" their whole manner changed. I don't mind a guilty pleasure but at least it should be something worthy of the guilt.
PS Anne Rice is not w/out bias as she wrote a ( kinda sucky IMHO) porno trilogy w loads of S & M , gay straight sex, orgies et al. " The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty" plus it's sequels. Her beat off books just never did as well as "Da 50 Shadows of Groot". ( I'd ecktually like a book like dat)
Well the real irony with Anne Rice is she forced those books (written under a pseudonym) out of print for a time (it could have been during her horrible Catholic period,) ad I believe actually did imply she thought they were not good for people to read and romanticize. But, that changed (again, probably when she fell out with the church-thank god.)
I dunno. I see your point Sabre, but I also feel I can't really judge anyone else's guilty pleasure unless it's something I find truly reprehensible ("I watch snuff films, but it's just a guilty pleasure!")
I don't know if it ever panned out, but in light of the 50 Shades success, the Beauty Trilogy was supposed to be re-released with a mass marketing campaign. If I am not just making things up in my own head, she said there was a special deal with Target. I can't even begin to think of a conservative housewife picking up a copy because she heard it's similar to 50 Shades. She will have QUITE the experience. I doubt 50 Shades had anyone rectally impaled on a statue's phallus. Or butt plugs with horse tails. Or eating fruit from... Well, I doubt it was there.
Pretty pretty please don't you ever ever feel like you're less than f**ckin' perfect!