Wednesday 17 June 2009

Women: we're not even good for sex, apparently

One Kate Copstick, new owner of the British publication Erotic Review, has launched an attack on women authors. Copstick has declared she will only employ male writers, because women not only can't write about sex, but don't know how to enjoy it. She says:

Women get all wishy-washy and focus on emotions rather than the engorgement of blood vessels ... It's almost like writing about food ... Ladies who lunch, should not really write about food because they don't really love food," she said. "They don't salivate at the thought of a great steak.?

As the author of the linked article points out, Copstick implies women can't just enjoy sex for the good old physical sake of it. Not true. But there's so much more that irks me about this article. First of all, there's the suggestion that a person has just one sexual personality - you're an emotional type or a physical type - rather than having different preferences or moods at different times, or maybe even being capable of engorged blood vessels and emotions at the same time. Then, there are the ideas that there's no room for emotions in 'good' sex, and that men can't or don't want to experience emotional connection with their sexual partners. Irk irk irk irk irk.

7 comments:

A Nonny Moose said...

Woman sex writer says women can't write about sex?

Irony.

mangere ms said...

well amused as I am about the sex comments, the additional food comments made me feel really inadequate. My most frequent favourite activity and I don't really enjoy it because I am a woman who has lunch?

Bobbie said...

Sex can be all things as you say Anna. It depends on circumstance,wether it is sex for fun or as part of a relationship. Maybe we should send this women Kate a taste of erotica, sex writing that will put her one dimensional crictism where it belongs - in the bin.

I feel in the realms of sex and sexuality the time to be passive about comments such as what Erotic review's Kate is stating should be shown for the falsehoods they are.

Unknown said...

Has this woman ever been on the internet? The sheer volume of woman-penned smut available out here makes her, and her statements, seem more than a little ignorant.

Bobbie said...

Why is women writing about sex smut? We all have sex, we are sexual creatures by genetic imperative. What is the problem? Why is it not okay to write about it? Why deny what is part of our essential selves?

i found what the woman from the erotic review wrote offensive. Women can write about sex and write about it well. I see no problem in it. Denying our sexual nature and our sexuality as women denies our right as women is express a part of ourself. By buying into the argument that we cannot write about sex is buying into a male misogynist fantasy concept that male sexuality is the only valid form of sexuality. I frankly do not believe that is the case.

Unknown said...

Niche - I didn't mean any value judgement when I used the word "smut" - does it have negative connotations? My knowledge, it fails here! I meant that there is a good deal of erotic fiction written by women available online, and I'm amazed that someone "in the biz" would not know about this - or, knowing about it, would ignore it.

Bobbie said...

Ahh I misunderstood then.