From 5th grade on I was famous for reading horror, fantasy, and classics. What people around me didn't know was that by age 13, I'd also gotten a taste of historical romance novels and was hooked. It wasn't until after high school that I decided to quit reading them in secret and to "come out of the closet," so to speak. But still, I used to be a little embarrassed and offended when a friend would eye one of the romance novels I was reading and say, "Oh, you're reading one of those 'smut books' again."
I threw off the shame of reading "smut" after awhile...or so I thought. I was always adamant to argue that the romance novels I read weren't smut. "Because they have a plot," was my typical argument. I had cast away the shame of reading romance novels so much that I began writing my own. Never mind that it took awhile before I would flat out say "romance" when asked what I wrote, after awhile I admitted it.
Then, a couple years back, I embraced the term "smut." I was a mechanic that also did some construction work on the side and all of my coworkers were men. When they saw me working on a manuscript during break time, they'd ask what I wrote.
"Paranormal Romance," I replied with a steely gaze, daring them to laugh.
My response was always greeted with a blank stare, and maybe a tentative, "Huh? What's that?"
Finally I grew sick of their confusion and said, "Supernatural Smut." (Catchy name, huh?)
Comprehension dawned in every man's eyes. "Oh, okay." Then either we'd all get back to work or they'd go on to ask what the story was about.
It was then that I realized a few things:
1.) Many men don't know what "Romance" is as a genre, but they all know what "smut" is.
2.) "Smut" isn't really a bad thing for most people.
3.) "Smut" is a figurative term.
Did you know that THE GREAT GATSBY was once referred to as "smut" when it was banned by a few schools a few decades back? I remember very little about that book. Schools have a way of sucking the fun out of almost any piece of reading. But if it DID have anything I would remotely consider to be "smutty" I bet I would have enjoyed it more.
So what is "smut?" Is it any romance novel? Or just romance novels with sex scenes? Is it romance novels with cheesy or non-existent storylines? Is it porn without a plot?
I would love to hear how you define "smut" and why.
For me, smut is a broad term used to define anything that contains heavy sexual themes. Be it in erotica or romance.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny -- I was speaking to a person one day who didn't know what smut was. Yet, the moment I said romance, the lights went on and I got "the look".
It's funny how the genre continues to be frowned upon. I giggle when I see woman stuffing their prized paperbacks under the loaf of bread in the supermarket, like it's a naughty little secret.
Great topic!
Jaime
Hmmm interesting - oh and how awful is it that schools ban books like that!
ReplyDeleteSmut - I would say anything that has the deeper romance element - like sex, the PG ones, I don't think are smut. Funny, until this post I didn't connect the Paranormal Romance and Supernatural Smut... LOL Awesome ;o)
Until recently, I always associated "smut" with heavy erotica. One of my favorite perfumes is called Smut so every time I hear the word now I think of the perfume =)
ReplyDeleteThere's a perfume called "Smut?" That's awesome!!
ReplyDeleteSmut has heavy sexual overtones for me - erotica or very steamy romance.
ReplyDeleteOne of the reasons I love reading ebooks on my PDA? No one knows exactly how much smut I'm reading. LOL
I used to be embarrassed about what I write...now I just find it amusing to tell people I write "those steamy romance novels", and watch them blush or try to figure out what to say. I guess you could say that I've embraced my love of smut. ;-)
Interesting post! I was wondering how you came up with your blog title, LOL! :)
ReplyDelete