Tuesday, May 17, 2011

So, What's The Difference?

   Since I took this writing thing serious, I started paying attention to what people were reading. I really started paying attention when I signed a publishing contract. Particularly the women. Hell, I already knew pretty much what the guys were reading. So, I started watching.
   In doctor's offices, at the airport, anywhere people had to wait, most of them were reading books. At work, you found books in drawers, in break rooms, in cabinets. You could find a book pretty much any where you could put one. And I started seeing a trend.
  Oh, you had your mysteries, your harlequins, chick lit, some sci-fi, but I noticed a whole bunch of these book covers with all these bare chested guys in these compromising positions with scantily clad women. So, I started investigating. Most of them were written by women and they called it erotica. I see this stuff on bookshelves in stores. So, okay I'm going to check this out.
  Making sure no one sees me, I snitch one of these books. First chance I get, I check this out. What I read, I'll tell you this, back in the day we used to call this something else. You could only buy these books in certain book stores and they were mostly written by guys. This stuff you had to hide under the mattress and only bring it out when your parents weren't home. Because if you got caught with it, you had to go talk to the priest. They used to throw it in the trash, burn it and make you feel like Satan was waiting by the door to take you away because you read it.
   Now, look at them. Now, women write them. I don't mean a few women, I mean a lot of women write them and they're all reading them. But, now, they call them erotica. What's the difference? What's the difference between what we read then and what they read now? Nothing...Nada...Zilch. Except, now women write it and read it and trade it and talk about it.
   So what's the difference?.......................................................Just Sayin'

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