So, a rapist won the US election, backed by a party that was fairly explicit about its plans to limit the rights and bodily autonomy of women (and many other groups, for that matter).
I’d like to think that my wonderful readers did their utmost to make sure that didn’t happen, and I’m sure that many of you did. For those that did not, and actively voted for this, please understand you have failed as ethical kinksters – and ethical humans – and my writing is not for you. The right to enjoy my dark fucked-up fantasies is contingent upon working to keep them in the realm of fantasy.
These events raise an ethical question for me, in terms of my writing. I write systemic patriarchy stories. I write forced breeding stories. I write gender degradation fantasies.
This is already a question I have grappled with, and come to terms with, and if you haven’t already read my widely publicised discussion of that, you can read it now by clicking here.
Briefly put, I do not subscribe to the idea that erotic fantasy, consensually engaged in between adults in fora specifically dedicated to erotica, causes or encourages bad behaviour in real life, any more than slasher horror creates real-life serial killers or heist films create real-life bank robbers. Humans are actually quite good at separating fantasy from reality.
Beyond that, I think that real-life tension and stress – including oppression – specifically creates kinks, or aggravates them, in the people most opposed to that oppression, or most directly affected by it, and that it’s healthy and cathartic to explore those experiences through the medium of kink and fantasy. To some extent refusing to explore these problematic and fraught areas in erotica harms the very same people who are already being harmed by real-life oppression.
So I’m still going to be writing breeding stories, patriarchy stories, noncon stories, and the rest. (And I’m going to continue giving 5% of my profits to registered secular women’s charities.)
HOWEVER that does NOT mean that there is no limit.
Specifically, I’m looking at the range of absolute ass-clowns who have decided to publicly adopt the line “your body, my choice” in relation to the reproductive rights of women.
I’ve been using that as a tagline for the “Pregnant in Modwina” serial since I started it in April 2021. It appears on the large-format covers that I use for Early Access, and on BDSMLR and some other sites.
It’s a fairly obvious play on the “my body, my choice” pro-choice slogan, and I don’t suggest that anyone has been inspired to use it by me. (I certainly hope not.)
But the reality is that it’s now being used as hate speech, in the real world, to harass women and to argue for the removal of their rights.
I don’t write, or promote, real-world fascist slogans or hate speech. So I’m going to be dropping that subtitling going forwards. There is one recent chapter of Pregnant in Modwina that’s currently in Early Access, and which will appear on BDSMLR in about a month, which still has that titling, and I’m not going to fix it because editing things that are queued is an absolute pain. But I’ll find something else to use going forward.
I might also just slow it down with the forced breeding stories generally, for a while, and give myself time to think about how to keep them firmly separated from the horrible contemporary politics of the United States. Other stories may go on hiatus, if necessary, until I can work out a direction for them that I’m comfortable with.
In the meantime, there’s still a ton of hot hypno, demotion fetish, humiliation, incest and orientation kink fiction coming, so don’t worry that you’re going to miss out on your daily dose of filthy smut.
(And that feels like a lot of words, given that I’m not actually *doing* very much different, but please take it as an issue that I’m aware of, and in the active process of thinking through, and wanting to share that process with you, my readers.)
I am open to comments on this which are directed to a polite and respectful discussion of how to engage with current events ethically. I’m not interested in a discussion of whether it was ethical to vote for Trump – it wasn’t – and comments to that effect will be deleted without reply. Don’t mistake this erotic fiction site for a political forum. Threats or insults may also result in being blocked from the site generally.
- All These Roadworks, 10 November 2024
Thank you. As someone who actively tried to make sure this didn’t happen, I’ve been devastated and confused.
Look man, the things you write, they sound like they’re causing you mental health problems at this point. Lots of internalized guilt. Have you thought about maybe writing more wholesome stuff for a change? Just to see if it would help. Go full Hallmark if you feel like it. Hell, maybe you’d even get a few sales.
In any case, everyone needs to take care of their mental state, and that includes you.
[EDITOR: Remainder of comment by Trump voter deleted.]
Writing what I write is fantastically good for my mental health, and I’m surrounded by people including family, domestic partner, poly partners and friends who are supportive and proud of my success. I don’t have any personal guilt over writing it, but I do engage consciously with the context of the world around it.
What’s stressful is seeing a coordinated program to limit the rights and humanity of the people I love (and, to a lesser extent, myself) being enacted by a country that should know better, and I’ll happily say that my mental health would be better if the election had gone in a different direction.
Regardless, I’m safe, productive, and ready to fight.
https://i.ibb.co/S0RHbp3/IMG-8647.jpg
I definitely feel where you are coming from, and its something I war with myself. Ultimately, I feel like 95% of people in our communities are people who grew up concerned that we were monsters before finally figuring out that these kinks were pretty normal and not at all concerned… and as part of that, I think all of us spent a lot more time thinking about what “informed consent” actually means than the average person.
Similar to another commenter, I think it might be a good idea to try and write a story where there aren’t any subtexts of force or going against someones will. Thats the stuff you are known for so much but I think it would be a good idea to try and write one where they are in a consenting relationship. They could even still have similar kinks just with everyone involved consenting.
If it were possible for me to get off on writing all or even the majority of my stories as consensual, I probably would. It’s a more crowded market, but it would let me sell on Amazon, which would probably generate me more money overall.
But I can’t and I don’t. Almost every kink you see in my stories, so far as it’s possible to be fulfilled consensually and ethically, is something I get in real life. I have wonderful girlfriends and play partners who are very eager to have their asses spanked and their breasts whipped and their pussies slapped. If I want to collar and leash a consenting pretty girl then I can. I have partners for erotic hypnosis. I have subs eager to serve and submit to a responsible and attentive dom, for the mutual pleasure we bring each other in that play.
I don’t need to write that stuff as fantasies because I can just do it. I write the stuff I can’t.
But in any case it’s quite clear that my paying audience is primarily here for the darker stuff. Generally speaking, in terms of book releases, the darker it is, the better it sells. And that suits me just fine. There’s a strong market for that, and it’s not just straight men buying it, it’s cis women, it’s trans women, it’s people of all genders and sexualities who are consensually consuming it to explore some dark fantasies that they have absolutely no intention of re-enacting in real life. And that’s as it should be. It’s healthy. And I don’t have any guilt in continuing to serve that market. It’s not a question of “if” – only “how”.
First, thank you both for what you write, and the ethics you put behind it.
Second, […]
[EDITOR: I’ve deleted the rest of this comment because it was well-intentioned but inflammatory, and I don’t want to moderate the replies to it. But thank you.]
Thank you for these reality checks as always. It really creates a safe space to engage in kink especially when I feel so unsafe living in a conservative US state as a woman. But we’ll continue fighting the good fight, even if the election turned out bad. Thanks for the support and safe space! Gives me some faith in humanity back.
Even the erotica writers are telling us we fucked up on this one, America.
Genuinely though, as a woman of color who enjoys your writing, it’s refreshing to hear your opinion on this. Even if it doesn’t seem like you’re doing a lot, even making a small change is major.
I really appreciate how thoughtful you are about this. I think you’re doing it right.
Thank you for speaking out and for considering carefully the ethics of the situation. Like others I’m in shock that the US seems to be heading down a path towards popularism and totalitarianism.
I am such a big fan of your work and of your sentiments. I think you’re spot on with the people oppressed by the fantasy generating and consuming it (as that’s the boat I’m personally in). I really appreciate you and I’m so happy you’re conscious of the effect of the outside world on your fantasy world. You’re awesome and one of my top examples of a responsible erotica writer when the topic comes up. Thanks so much ❤️
Thank you so, so much for your consistent moral clarity on the difference between fantasy and reality. I’ve been a silent reader for a while but I’ve always appreciated your public posts about where you stand and your thoughtful efforts to engage responsibly with perceived implications of your work. It genuinely means a lot to me that you constantly and unassumingly do this, when it seems that a significant portion of people in this world seem to dream of dehumanizing others outside of play and are working to make their power fantasies a terrible reality.
I imagine it will be a challenging next few years for your work, along with so much else. It seems that there may be legal attempts to attack pornography and related erotic content creation among those in power and perhaps inevitably some self-policing even in socially progressive circles to scapegoat medias roles in “causing” regressive political desires among young voters. Thank you for never, ever letting your audience doubt where you stand as a creator. I hope we as a community can weather these storms with active and responsible civic engagement for everyone’s shared rights, without forgetting the simple human pleasures that erotica can bring.
As a very queer afab American, not gonna lie things are getting pretty scary over here… that being said, your stories are an escape, a way to process these kinks and feelings etc in a healthy, safe way. For example, I could never handle being pregnant or giving birth to a child but I have a breeding kink (esp non con breeding kink) a mile wide. We don’t have to examine that *too* closely 😅 lol but the point I’m trying to get at is that Pregnant in Modwina is probably my absolute favorite story of yours by far, and I think with these reality checks and disclaimers you are absolutely fine to keep doing so if you feel comfortable.
The way I see it, people are still gonna be making that sort of content anyway so it’s nice to see an author who is actually very aware of how their content affects people and does their best to respect the communities affected by the current political climate. But still, it’s up to you and I’ll respect your decision.
And yeah I might be a little sad to see a hiatus or even full stop in my favorite stories but I’ll survive and keep supporting you as much as I can either way (so far have got a few months of premium but not able to financially keep up rn, will again in the future tho!!)
Thanks for this perspective. I’m not anticipating canning anything entirely. I just need to find a place where I feel comfortable and sexy in writing the story, not gross and stressed, and I’m confident that whatever path I find for that is also going to be a path that pleases readers. I’ve got a little grace on Pregnant in Modwina anyway because, other than the chapter that’s currently available to members and in the queue to everyone else, I don’t have any more of it on my writing schedule for at least the next month and a bit.
As a European male I cannot comment on voting for or against Trump. It is your country and I for sure do not have any rights to tell you who to vote for. Although I cannot understand the result of the resent election. But for me it was rather clear as America is not far enough to vote a black female as their president.
However, I am married for over thirty years, have to wonderful daughters and also since August this year a perfect grandson. That said, I really enjoy your stories as it is fantasy. And that is what it is, not more and not less.
Personally I would kill anyone doing the things I read and write myself to my wife or daughters. But enjoying some fantasy without questioning everything what might be behind this or that is fun. And I like fun.
I hope you continue to write those stories. And please do not put too much thoughts about who might be offended by what you write. If they don’t like it, they do not need to read it.
Greetings from Austria, Europe
I ready about a study that peoples that are able to explore their erotic fantasies in fiction are generell mentally more healthy and stable.
It seems like these unable to do so are more likely to become “problematic”.
So dont ever believe that you yourself are the Problem.
Frankly i give the fault for this election to the wacky strategy and the trend that more and more peoples have currently the desire for strong authority figures, which sadly are more often than not these who can present themselfves better.