Connecting with the Universality of Human Sexuality

I have been reflecting lately upon how audiences at ‘women’s’ erotica readings – my own and others’ – have changed in the last few years.  It used to be that the majority of the audience members were women – and those who appeared to be straight would come to readings from the mostly straight anthologies, whereas female/female couples would come to the lesbian-themed readings.

Now, audiences are so diverse that no assumptions can be made.  The last public reading I did had women of all sexualities present, men who attended with female lovers or on their own, and transpeople with various configurations of friends and lovers.  There was a tantric practitioner present, and people who practice BDSM, and people whose tastes might be described as ‘vanilla’.  There were people in their early twenties through to people in their late fifties, and there was a couple – in the front row – who were in their eighties.

That audience filled me with joy and gratitude.  It seemed to me that their enjoyment of the material was based on the quality of the writing rather than whether the content matched what they like in bed – and how could it?  With so many people present, but just three authors, the material could realistically only match the preferences of a few.  But, there was a buzz in the room.  And camaraderie – a unity, even.  And, it was hot.

I asked Suraya Sidhu Singh, editor of Filament Magazine for her opinion.  She wasn’t surprised by my observations.  She told me that some of the straight guys who work on Filament have fed back that they find themselves aroused by the magazine’s erotic images of men.  Female subscribers have described the same about their straight male partners.  Rather than questioning the sexualities of these men, Suraya’s perspective is that they are all the more straight for responding to images intended to arouse the very people they like to have sex with – i.e. women.

Could this burgeoning breed of modern erotica play a part in broadening people’s appreciation of the erotic – regardless of the stamps that society might apply?

When I considered pulling all of my published short stories together, I realised the material was so diverse that no publisher would know what to do with it as a collection – because you can’t market to *everyone*.  So, I decided to publish it myself, and I’ve included the gay material that I had previously planned to publish in gay erotica anthologies under a male pseudonym.  This is because I don’t want to trick anyone who only wants to read gay material written by men, but also, I don’t want to segment myself to comply with constraints that increasingly appear groundless.

Could erotica be involved in the breaking down of divisions that no longer serve us?

I think it can – and I propose that this is the mechanism:  If we can enjoy an erotic story and experience arousal regardless of the ‘action’ described – because the writer is able to weave characters that make us connect with our common humanity – then, people with other sexualities or genders are going to feel less alien.  If they feel less alien, they’ll feel less frightening.  And if someone is just like you or me after all, how can we harm them or hate them?  Really, how can we help but grow in awareness and respect of our interconnectedness?

Well-considered erotica exposes our shared humanity, and in doing so has the power to erode barriers based on received ‘wisdom’ and misinformation.  Healthy and connected sexuality has the power to heal in so many ways, and intelligent erotica may just be a conduit.

Editor’s note: Scarlett’s stunning handmade book is called Scarlett’s Allsorts: The Complete Works 2004-2010 and is now available via her website. It is being offered in a limited edition of 50 copies and is selling at a hell of a lick. Find out more here >>