I guess if I were to further specify the nature of my original question it'd probably go something like this.
There's nothing new under the sun, I get that. Sex has been around forever in literature. It does seem to me that within the last 20-30 years though, that sexual scenes have become more commonplace throughout. It's not a complaint mind you, just an observation. Is this unique to me and my recent foray into more recent works like Game of Thrones (which apparently introduced GrimDark)? When I compare that to the SF predecessors of LOTR, the Shannara Series, and the Chronicles of Narnia, the number of sexual scenes seemed both far more prevalent
and more graphic.
I have seen sexual themes explored in other genres as well. That said, there are of course many classics I've not explored yet, so cannot speak to how graphic, explicit, or frequent sexual scenes are in older publications where I've not read them yet. I'm also primarily a SFF reader, so that has been my primary genre of more recent exploration. That said, I'll also note that it would equally be naive to suggest or imply that sexual themes haven't been explored in other genres throughout history. Toward that end, I am wondering if people reading in other genres outside the rather wide swath we now categorize as SFF are seeing more scenes (and more graphic scenes) becoming commonplace? It seems like some of you have already gotten the gist of the original theme/purpose here in your answers, because you also started getting into your explanations as to why things are getting more descriptive and frequent in other genres:
I honestly believe that sex is just a lot less taboo than it was 20 years ago, especially in young adult fiction (I've noticed less romanticisation of sex, too. A lot of sex...is just sex, now.)
Of course, that's not to say sexual content is prevalent everywhere - I've read a lot of books recently which contain no sex at all, or at least the skip-to-morning-after kind of sex scene. Writers seem to have more freedom to write about sex and a lot of them are choosing to.
I'd argue that books aren't so much getting more graphic as that graphic works are becoming better known as they are getting adapted into other mediums some of which have become more graphic over the last couple of decades.
Take Game of Thrones: For a book published over 20 years ago, A Game of Thrones isn't too graphic at all; having said that, the television adaptation is definitely too graphic for even an HBO show from 1996. It's the greater spread and acceptance of graphic material in the wider public consciousness due to the widening range available on other media that's made things more noticeable, not that books themselves have become more graphic.
I feel like the proliferation of graphic content speaks to the lessening of taboos in certain cases. There is a long and colorful history of things being omitted from manuscripts during publication (abortions, homosexuality, etc.), or being kept "vague" because the book would have no hope of being published if they were outright about it. I think it's great that certain themes are allowed to be explored more fully these days. It helps break stigma in some cases. Just looking at the other side of the coin.
This leads to a sort of follow-up series of corollary questions that may well be worth adding to the discussion. Specifically:
- If so, would your impressions be that this is due to a greater socialization and societal acceptance of sexual diversity (one would hope)?
- If not, what genres are you not seeing these sorts of themes, and why has that not been explored (in your own opinion)?
- For those of us who have read across time periods within a genre or within the parameters of a cultural space recently (having read both the earlier and later work within the last 12 months), such as one where you could compare something like the LOTR or Shannara to Game of Thrones, are things more explicit and frequent, about the same, or have there been other changes you've noticed over time?
The reason that I've added the cultural element here is to recognize that various cultures both historically and even between each other have varying degrees of sexual permissiveness. Of course, that leads to it's own set of rabbit holes to explore, such as:
Are some cultural barriers also present in how these themes are explored? (Say more explicit and such in France or Italy versus the UK or the US? Heck, we could even go to African versus Asian differences toward sexual themes. Occidental versus Oriental? Again, just randomly picking countries here to illustrate culturally different regions is all
)
Again, I'd naturally exclude erotica and genres that are skewed toward the explicit and intentional nature of sexuality in a very descriptive manner as a sidebar to the main story line. I know that the Game of Thrones has earlier been suggested as introducing grim dark, which is fine on the face of it, but as the same poster also said that the sexual scenes were not all that graphic - re-read Book 3, and consider what's presented there from the perspective of how prevalent and detailed the sexual scenes are:
Not wanting to reveal those scenes here for obvious reasons (spoiler alerts notwithstanding, but also the presence of underage children possibly perusing in here for a read of what is said).
Digging the input people have shared thus far - love to read the thoughts and perspectives everyone has contributed, so thanks to all!
Keep the conversation going...