I have a theory about the whys historical and other fiction became more "graphic" about 1960. Until then, there were not too many published women authors, and those that had been published had been held in by Victorian stays. Then along came Kathleen Winsor (Forever Amber 1944) and Serge and Anne Golon (Angelique 1964) who began to tell stories from more of a woman's perspective. A man could write that a woman's clothes were torn off and she was raped, but a woman would write it from a totally different viewpoint - the experience, humilation, pain, etc. And I think you can see where I'm going with this, my supposition as to why fiction in general has become more tell all. Puma
I think women have a deeper motivation for writing rape in such a way. Not for titilation, but because writing 'she was raped' is a bit disingenious and a desire to show how destructive such a crime is.