I came across a blog post in my reading the other day that mentioned condoms in porn. Now I can’t remember where I found it, but it reminded me of a subject that sort of nags at me whenever I start thinking about it – condoms in fiction.
Some time back, a couple of years ago I think, I submitted a story for critique on ERWA’s list. I got lots of helpful comments which helped me improve on the story and answered some of my questions about readability. I was completely shocked that I also got at least one response criticized the fact that the sexual encounter between two presumed strangers did not include condom use. Condom use in this particular story never would have occurred to me.
And this is how I discovered that some readers, and writers of course, actually prefer it when fictional characters use a condom. Or, maybe I should say, they find it disturbing when they do not.
Personally, I don’t want to read about that. I see no reason to mar a perfectly good fantasy by bringing in a condom. It’s fiction, and one of the wonderful things about fiction is escaping some of the unpleasant aspects of real life.
I would feel the same way about a story that made us stop and go to the bathroom with the characters every few paragraphs. Yes, that would be far more realistic, but do you really want that to be part of your reading experience?
There are exceptions, of course. Sometimes condom use has a real place in the story in that it changes something. Like in the movie “Must Love Dogs” where they are about to have sex, but stop and wind up driving all over town in the middle of the night looking for a condom.
I can understand that some readers get freaked out and are pulled out of the story when the condom is left out, but I would think of that as a personal quirk.
If the situation in my story had happened in real life, I would say condom use was a must. Then again, if it were a true story, most of what this guy did would be considered very risky. Allowing a strange woman, in a strange town to lure him out the back door of a bar and down the alley without any clue as to why or what was going on was probably a lot more dangerous than failing to use a condom. But again, that’s the beauty of fiction.
If I were reading a story like that and THEN he suddenly got all safety-conscious and did use a condom, it would seem very out of place and jar me right out of the story.
So, what do you think? Do you need condoms in your erotic fiction?
Eh... I almost never put condoms in my erotic fiction, but quite often, they're fantasies about M and me, and we're fluid bonded (I think that's what they're calling it now.), and currently monogamous, so it doesn't much matter.
ReplyDeleteHowever, my opinion goes a little something like this:
If it fits, add it. If it doesn't, who cares? Fiction is fiction, and if your reader's too stupid to realize that one shouldn't always emulate fiction in their real life, then they've got bigger problems than safer sex.
I have seen call for submissions that require condom use, so I guess there is a market for that kind of story, but I was under the impression that it was usually in books that are promoting a certain cause or issue, such as safe sex.
ReplyDeleteI occasionally add in safer sex things but not always. For me it really depends on the story itself.
ReplyDeleteShannon,
ReplyDeleteI think that is really the key.
If it fits into the story, I don't really see a problems with it (from my perspective as a reader). If it really flows with the story, I not even notice.
I think that's part of what get to me about the subject. It doesn't really matter if it's condom use or something else. It's the idea that we should "insert X here" in our stories to please someone's sensibilities or whatever, even when it doesn't fit and doesn't make for good writing.