Last week this photo appeared on my Facebook timeline:
At first, I thought it was funny, but I started thinking about it (definitely overanalyzing) and it started to piss me off. While it’s true that some women’s magazines recycle and overemphasize their features about sex, I believe that women have the right to explore their sexuality without being ridiculed or shamed for it. I grew up in a home and church that squelched my sexual desires, and there was a time in my life when reading magazines like the one spoofed above was my only source of information. Reading romance novels (the ones my mom didn’t catch me with) was just for fun. 
I tried to let it go without saying anything, I really did, and I almost succeeded until I saw this just a few posts down the page:
Sigh. The Lord of the Rings trilogy is awesome, but there’s nothing wrong with women who want to read purely for pleasure. Fifty Shades of Grey made erotic literature mainstream, but writing sex is older than Gandalf. And people have been mocking it just as long.
The pervasive attitude that women’s sexuality and our choice of reading material is a dirty joke offends me. (And it takes a lot to offend Trashy. I’m just sayin’.) There’s nothing dirty about sex, romance novels, erotica, or even Fifty Shades of Grey. How many times and how many ways do I have to write this post before it sinks in?
Romance novels are good for women
Teacher judged for writing erotic romance
Enough with the Mommy Porn label
Why I wrote my first trashy romance novel
And more.
Tired of hearing about it? Good. Open your mind and lighten up. I’m off to bake some chocolate chip cookies now. 
There is so much rubbish talked and written about sex, it is small wonder that it spills over into tacky jokes. Sex is the one subject that the vast majority of people are never truely at ease with. The language we use speaks volumes: dirty, slutty, filthy, &c. Sex is healthy, natural, necessary, rewarding and fun. It’s why we’re here and it’s how we’re here. Adult is NOT a dirty word.
*applause*
I’ll never understand why sex is such a horrible thing. Even when I was taught to believe it, I never really knew why.
Bravo for saying this, Amelia.
People like to hide their discomfort, ignorance, and intolerance behind labels that portray sex as dirty and deviant.
It’s school yard behaviour, truly.
eden
And it’s getting so old. I grew up with this BS. I’m an adult now. I don’t need to hear it anymore.
Not only is the LotR trilogy devoid of sex, but it’s also got maybe one female character with any agency in half a million words.
So, you know, the lesson there seems to be: be a good little (isolated) (sexless) (token) (therefore exceptional) girl.
Being good is overrated.
I so want to re-quote your words in facebook with your name….but trust me….i still have those kind of people around me who thinks that writing anything about sex in public is a TABOO…… aaaaarrrrgggghhhhh when will we get rid of these people….???? salute to you woman…..you just stole my thought and put it in words…….cheers….!!!!!!
They’ll always be with us. Life would be pretty dull if we didn’t have anyone around to disagree.
Nothing dirty about 50 Shades – it’s just a crappy, badly written book
Hehehe. I’m glad someone got that.