>Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of articles from booksellers, newspapers and online sources regarding romance books in the marketplace. The consensus seems to be that the public is clamoring for and buying erotic romance (EroRom). Good news for me, since that’s what I write. In several of the articles, authors of EroRom have stated that women of today are experiencing a sexual revolution of sorts, which rather surprised me and got me to thinking.

The 60’s & 70’s brought about sexual revolutions, but I guess there was still a lot of old stigmas around. Stigmas that said if a man had numerous partners, he was just being male, but if a woman had numerous partners and/or (gasp!) enjoyed sex, she was a skanky ho. If she had a baby out of wedlock, whether planned or no? Same labels. But “times they are a’changin’ ” as the song goes.

Even in the category romances of today, I’m seeing heroines who are in charge of their own sexual needs. They don’t wait for a man to swoop in and gift them with a big “O”. They manage that on their own. If they decide to take a sexual partner, it’s not a big “submit and receive” relationship. Today’s love scenes are give and take, with the woman giving as much as she takes. The heroes are still confident, sexually experienced, muscled & sexy as hell, but the heroine often has equal portions of those traits, while maintaining a strong aura of femininity.

Never has the old Virginia Slims slogan, “You’ve come a long way, baby.” been truer. Shows like Sex In The City and even Desperate housewives are showing today’s woman can indeed have it all and doesn’t have to apologize for it.

What an awesome era to be a part of. Don’t you agree?

Do you prefer your romance spicier than in previous years? I know I do.