"Decades later, quite a few romance readers and authors are still quick to disassociate the genre from pornography, which is not only a losing battle in a world where Nora Roberts counts as porn, but is an act of cowardice. True, not all romance novels depict sex, but what is a more impactful focus: splitting hairs about the definition of “pornography” even though conservatives don’t care and are operating in bad faith, or aligning with sex workers to fight the right-wing backlash we are currently in the midst of? "
Oh yes. Latest case in point--the Spoutible Romancelandia kerfuffle. I saw that one blow up in real time, but to me what was most telling was that the same pale-shaded ladies who just loooved the site because it was "safe" and "comfortable" also associated romance writing and romance writers with porn. Said ladies had no problems with leaping onto Twitter and pulling one of the most toxic of pile ons (which made me wonder just exactly would happen over on Spoutible if they decided to turn on one of their own). It was enough for me to write off that platform because while I write reasonably tame science fiction romance, the Cartland-esque sneers that I should go promote my work on a porn site told me all I needed to know about the tone of *that* platform.
Then again, I almost think that *those* ladies would find Cartland...problematic.
As for Jackie Collins? My late father-in-law faithfully read every single one of her books. I borrowed his books. He was from the Greatest Generation, World War II vet who fought in the Philippines. She was hardly the only potboiler writer of that era, but I'd say that she was one of the better ones.
"Decades later, quite a few romance readers and authors are still quick to disassociate the genre from pornography, which is not only a losing battle in a world where Nora Roberts counts as porn, but is an act of cowardice. True, not all romance novels depict sex, but what is a more impactful focus: splitting hairs about the definition of “pornography” even though conservatives don’t care and are operating in bad faith, or aligning with sex workers to fight the right-wing backlash we are currently in the midst of? "
Oh yes. Latest case in point--the Spoutible Romancelandia kerfuffle. I saw that one blow up in real time, but to me what was most telling was that the same pale-shaded ladies who just loooved the site because it was "safe" and "comfortable" also associated romance writing and romance writers with porn. Said ladies had no problems with leaping onto Twitter and pulling one of the most toxic of pile ons (which made me wonder just exactly would happen over on Spoutible if they decided to turn on one of their own). It was enough for me to write off that platform because while I write reasonably tame science fiction romance, the Cartland-esque sneers that I should go promote my work on a porn site told me all I needed to know about the tone of *that* platform.
Then again, I almost think that *those* ladies would find Cartland...problematic.
As for Jackie Collins? My late father-in-law faithfully read every single one of her books. I borrowed his books. He was from the Greatest Generation, World War II vet who fought in the Philippines. She was hardly the only potboiler writer of that era, but I'd say that she was one of the better ones.