Reflecting upon the most influential writers over time and what genres brought them the most audiences, the romance division tops the charts. Authors such as Andreas Capellanus in his work The Art of Courtley Love, distributed in the late 1100’s, brought about the ideas of what made love and sex worthy. According to Capellanuse, “Love is an inborn suffering proceeding from the sight and immoderate thought upon the beauty of the other sex, for which cause above all other things one wishes to embrace the other and, by common assent, in this embrace to fulfill the commandments of love. . . .” Capellanuse’s work drew many criticism’s in the early years, as sex was exclusively private and men dominated over women making his work appear too outlandish to be true. The ever influential Shakespeare wove in sex to his works in every which way possible. He stretched the power of his lexicon and made inferences which pushed the barriers of acceptability. For goodness sakes his reference to suckling thine testicles is blatant in A Mid Summer Nights Dream, “My cherry lips have often kissed thy stones, Thy stones with lime and hair knit up in thee.” Shakespeare also references the battle for the oral pleasures in A Taming of a Shew, “What, with my tongue in your tail.” The point of this boils down to critics of the modern day romance genre suggesting author’s push the limits.
Critics believe that authors, such as Anne Rice and Erica James, jumped the shark. Being aware of innovating disrupters suggests they merely reawakened the genre which already had strength and long living roots. Multiple writers join in the pool each day. Some are still breaking out of their shells while others have developed deep rooted fandom. Each of these authors belongs to a fraternity (or sorority of you play the feminist game) which is so ingrained in the soil it is time to stop the negative view of the genre and enjoy the ride.
The book burners and and parent groups horrified and shocked at the selections picked by schools need to actually read a few of these works themselves. Works such as the Handmaids Tale or Jane Eyre all introduce some sort of romance and relationship intimacy. Even the suggested Young Adult novels which are pushed as rewards for reading begin our youth on the journey of romance. Works by. Cassandra Claire even push the limits by writing in characters off the heterosexual path. The bottom line is they are all good works which have served to expose readers to a wholesome organic body of literature which does include the taboo of sex. Why fight what has been swirling around in the world for centuries?
The time has come to recognize most works subtly introduce some sort of intimacy and carnal desires. Readers and writers alike need to know when to call the shots and read what they enjoy, without a pointed finger or negative push back. Bottom line romance is here to stay and the choice of each individual flatlined at just how sexy can you take it?