Monday 25 March 2013

Orton and the Romcom...

Business is booming in the field of romantic literature...and by that I mean steamy stories which contain a whole lot of toe tingling sex! (At this point I will freely acknowledge that men both read and write these volumes too, but the reality is, the books are predominantly written for women by women.)
 
I'm not going to mention that series, you all know the one I mean. I've never read it so wouldn't want to be unfair and make comment, but largely due to it’s phenomenal success, the world has woken up to the earth-shattering notion that women like to read dirty books.
 
I'm in danger of going off on a rant here. When I first saw the term Mummy Porn used to describe a book about BDSM, I just about spat out my pipe. I mean, how bloody patronising is that? That men read smut has been generally accepted for centuries but when a woman reads it, society has to dress it up as somehow twee and light. Airy fairy fuckery to wile away the hours between feeding the kids and doing the dishes.
 
I write Yaoi. Explicit sex between men. And you know what? I am happy to admit that it's filthy. There's nothing sweet or touching about Judas MacGregor getting it on with some horny Japanese twins. My readers tell me those scenes are hot and that's exactly what I intend them to be. If anyone dared to call my work Mummy Porn, I'd send the boys round--and not in a good way.
Seemingly acceptable for women to like a wee bit of the old hearts and flowers routine, but not detailed debauchery, books aimed at the fairer sex, that have a high level of erotic content, are labelled as romance.
 
To me, this is simply another way of putting a skirt around the fact that some women enjoy pornography. So women’s reading habits are something to be ashamed of? A dirty little secret that should be hidden behind a chintz screen?
 
Granted, a lot of erotica has a romantic plotline, and don't get me wrong, I am not criticising those works at all. I'm also certain that a lot of authors are happy to have their books so titled, and good luck to them. More power to your talented elbow, I say!
 
I'm merely wondering why books which contain no, or very little romance, but a lot of raunchy action, are also placed in this section
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Is the reason for this solely because the target audience is largely female?
 
Well we can't have the little lady rooting around amongst the lads' mags now, can we?
 
Occasionally people lament the lack of love in the stories I produce with my partner in crime, Yuramei. Fair enough. If they found the books in the romance section perhaps an assumption concerning the content is understandable. But frankly, more often than not, that's where you will find them. With few retailers having a designated spot for Yaoi, books by Katsura and Yuramei, and many other predominantly female writers of that genre, will be placed under "Graphic Novels/ Romance".
 
The fact that we're not strictly a graphic novel, but illustrated prose, doesn’t worry me much. It's the romance handle which I find most difficult to sit with.
 
I’m probably not alone in being a woman who doesn’t require a prince charming between the pages to help me enjoy a good story. I’m more likely to go for two big thugs, hard at it with not so much as a need for a cursory introduction
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The relationship between my anti-hero, Judas--and the guy he rescued from addiction and prostitution, Vinny--is probably as close to sentimental as you'll get from me. Similarly, the bond between Mikhail Majewski and Fergus Campbell, albeit based on mutual attraction, is not the focus of the entire story. The series is a black comedy set in the world of organised crime, generously interspersed here and there, with graphic scenes of gay sex.
 
If you’ve ever read the play, Entertaining Mr Sloane by Joe Orton, you’ll find that a goodly amount of the plot revolves around Kath and her brother Ed, competing for the attentions of the eponymous young chancer who’s ensconced himself in their family home. That both Kath and Ed are after Mr Sloane for sex is no secret. Orton cleverly conveys, through dialogue laced with innuendo, just exactly what's going on the minds of these middle aged siblings
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The play still packs theatres almost half a century after it was written and thankfully, you'll never see it advertised as a “romcom”.
 
But maybe if it was penned today--with far more sex as our censors are not as strict as those in the nineteen-sixties--and by Josephine Orton, you would.
 
Katsura and Yuramei's unromantic work can be found at: www.bigdealcomic.com

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