Age of consent

[fun45778]

Does the age of consent on Literotica have to be 18? Many authors feel the need to mention the charectors being over 18 years old. Is this a rule on Literotica? Other erotica sites do not have this rule and I really don't see any reason to have it. Erotic stories are just fantasies and most people have sex before 18.
Speaking of consent, a nonconsent/reluctance story of mine was rejected because the female charector did not get enjoyment out of the rape (can't see how anyone could).

 

[RawHumor]

Yes, Lit is strict on the over 18 thing... and nonconsent stories have to, um, be worded in a way that the one being raped or forced gets something positive out of it. I don't know the exactly borders of that one though.

 

[fun45778]

Kind of makes me feel a little constrained. The wording of the consent stories is probably why I have a problem reading them on here. The protagonist goes from being scared to being a willing sex kitten in one chapter. Not very believable.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Does the age of consent on Literotica have to be 18? Many authors feel the need to mention the charectors being over 18 years old. Is this a rule on Literotica? Other erotica sites do not have this rule and I really don't see any reason to have it.

The reason is "because Laurel and Manu own this site and they don't want to host stories with under-age sex". This issue comes up on this forum every few months; if you look through the archives you'll find plenty of previous discussion about it.

You can mention that characters have had under-age sex, but you can't describe it in detail. Yes, that means that a lot of people's first-time stories can't be posted here. But most people go on having sex after 18 so there are still plenty of other stories to write here.

 

[TamLin01]

For the record, whenever this comes up the explanation is that while the idea of total creative freedom may sound attractive, the site simply doesn't want to host material featuring toddler molestation and such. Since a hard line necessarily must be drawn somewhere, 18 is simply the easiest number to argue for.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

You can always go post on asstr.

 

[lovecraft68]

Does the age of consent on Literotica have to be 18? Many authors feel the need to mention the charectors being over 18 years old. Is this a rule on Literotica? Other erotica sites do not have this rule and I really don't see any reason to have it. Erotic stories are just fantasies and most people have sex before 18.
Speaking of consent, a nonconsent/reluctance story of mine was rejected because the female charector did not get enjoyment out of the rape (can't see how anyone could).

Yes, its lits rule. Their reason is as simple as its their site and they can make whatever rules they want and owe us no explanation.

However the one I saw mentioned was the site does not like underage stories because of the crowd it brings....and the LE that at times is following and monitoring that crowd. That is attention Lit has decided it does not need.

As to your rape story. You're right, who could get enjoyment out of real rape? No one. But lits rule is the 'victim' needs to do the 360 from oh, no to oh, yes. So what lit is really looking for is Dub con(dubious consent).

But I do realize that its confusing to new authors-and readers-because they have a non consent/reluctance section. Non con means rape. If the site dropped that and left it with reluctance or dub con it would be clearer.

So between the fact you don't think the underage rule is right in your eyes and you want to write real rape stories I suggest lit is not the site for you and neither is Lush stories.

You sound like an asstr.org type to me.

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

As to your rape story. You're right, who could get enjoyment out of real rape? No one. But lits rule is the 'victim' needs to do the 360 from oh, no to oh, yes. So what lit is really looking for is Dub con(dubious consent).

Just curious: does this turn-around have to happen instantly? Or can you have a longer story where the character in question is refusing and not willing the first few times and slowly gets more into it as the story progresses, eventually even wanting it? That seems a bit more believable to me, but that would mean that it would be non-consent for about half the story or so.

 

[oggbashan]

Just curious: does this turn-around have to happen instantly? Or can you have a longer story where the character in question is refusing and not willing the first few times and slowly gets more into it as the story progresses, eventually even wanting it? That seems a bit more believable to me, but that would mean that it would be non-consent for about half the story or so.

It all depends on what Laurel thinks of the story when it is submitted. If she thinks it goes too far for too long it will be rejected.

 

[oggbashan]

Does the age of consent on Literotica have to be 18? Many authors feel the need to mention the charectors being over 18 years old. Is this a rule on Literotica? Other erotica sites do not have this rule and I really don't see any reason to have it. Erotic stories are just fantasies and most people have sex before 18.
Speaking of consent, a nonconsent/reluctance story of mine was rejected because the female charector did not get enjoyment out of the rape (can't see how anyone could).

The reason has been mentioned by other posters above. It is one of Literotica's basic rules set by the site's owners.

In the UK the age of consent is 16 but I would not submit a story to Literotica with any sex taking place before age 18. There are some stories on Literotica that breach or break the rule. Any found should be reported and they will be removed.

Stating that someone is 18 and then giving them characteristics that suggest they are younger will be rejected.

There are campaigning organisations in the US and elsewhere that attack websites that have underage sex. Sometimes their motivation is religious, sometimes it's not, but an attack by them can be unpleasant. Literotica's rule means that they are not an obvious target for such campaigns.

No sex before 18 is the rule. If you don't like it or don't want to follow it DO NOT TRY TO POST AN UNDERAGE STORY ON LITEROTICA.

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

It all depends on what Laurel thinks of the story when it is submitted. If she thinks it goes too far for too long it will be rejected.

Thanks. I've had one or two story ideas that followed a similar story development of slowly starting to accept it, so this is good to know. I'll keep that in mind if I ever get to write them, probably tone down the unwillingness and maybe make it take up a shorter part of the story than I first intended.

 

[Handley_Page]

Does the age of consent on Literotica have to be 18? Many authors feel the need to mention the characters being over 18 years old. Is this a rule on Literotica? Other erotica sites do not have this rule and I really don't see any reason to have it. Erotic stories are just fantasies and most people have sex before 18.
Speaking of consent, a non-consent/reluctance story of mine was rejected because the female character did not get enjoyment out of the rape (can't see how anyone could).

YES

It's as much to do with the age-of-consent Laws in the various parts of the world where Lit is available as anything else. It's easier and cleaner to limit the age on the Board.
But where there is ANY doubt, it is usual to clearly state at the beginning of a story
that the characters are all over 18
that it is fiction
This can clear up any doubt in the mind of a reader.

 

[MayorReynolds]

Y'know, the older I get the further the generation gap widens, and thus '18' becomes younger and younger to me. I'm 32 now. 18 seems pretty fucking young: just starting college, only been driving a few years, have barely been emancipated from parental authority, if at all.

For a lot of us—well, in my experience at least—after about, say, age 22 reality hits and we get mulched and run over by life, heartbroken, maybe cheated on a time or two (or been the cheater), been broke, and dealt with a lot more death. By the time we hit 30 we've been torn down and rebuilt into rugged, wiser adults.

The average American 18-year-old hasn't been through that. Their goals and aspirations for the future are naive at best and subject to great change. So yeah. That's pretty damned young, and a reasonable cut off point. Believe it or not, there ARE 18-year-olds who have not had sex or even been kissed. A college freshman virgin isn't stretching it all that much.

 

[Zeb_Carter]

Y'know, the older I get the further the generation gap widens, and thus '18' becomes younger and younger to me. I'm 32 now. 18 seems pretty fucking young: just starting college, only been driving a few years, have barely been emancipated from parental authority, if at all.

For a lot of us—well, in my experience at least—after about, say, age 22 reality hits and we get mulched and run over by life, heartbroken, maybe cheated on a time or two (or been the cheater), been broke, and dealt with a lot more death. By the time we hit 30 we've been torn down and rebuilt into rugged, wiser adults.

The average American 18-year-old hasn't been through that. Their goals and aspirations for the future are naive at best and subject to great change. So yeah. That's pretty damned young, and a reasonable cut off point. Believe it or not, there ARE 18-year-olds who have not had sex or even been kissed. A college freshman virgin isn't stretching it all that much.

Imagine how I, a 65+ year old, sees a child of 18. Yes, child of 18. Sorry I wouldn't even touch anyone under 30 much less a child of 18.

Have I written anything with 18 year olds in them, of course, but then everyone in the story was 18.

 

[Boxlicker101]

Even if you write about a married couple having sex and one or more of them is under 18, it will be rejected. A reference to somebody having had sex while under 18 is alright, but be careful about how much description you include.

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

A reference to somebody having had sex while under 18 is alright, but be careful about how much description you include.

Yeah, I remember reading something about that in the rules. It's only allowed to reference it in the most general and less descriptive way. I believe the example given in the rules was something like "I lost my cherry at 14", which is allowed. That's about as much as you can include concerning underage sex. Maybe you could specify with who or maybe where, but I wouldn't risk it unless it's really important for your story (like if they were going to meet this person again, for example).

 

[lovecraft68]

Just curious: does this turn-around have to happen instantly? Or can you have a longer story where the character in question is refusing and not willing the first few times and slowly gets more into it as the story progresses, eventually even wanting it? That seems a bit more believable to me, but that would mean that it would be non-consent for about half the story or so.

I don't think it matters as far as the loose rule goes. I would think both are acceptable. But I agree a gradual degree of enjoyment is more realistic.

But in reality even that isn't. Women forced into sexual slavery do not slowly begin to enjoy their lot in life and a woman being raped in an alley does not, by degrees begin to enjoy it.

But I liken it to the underage rule in the first time category that every 18 year old is a virgin...so no more unrealistic than a woman enjoying being assaulted.

But I'm not fond of the category and only have one story there and there is no force at all, its a sleazy, "I'll give you what you need, but I want this in return" and the girl was given several chances to walk away if she wanted to.

I stay away from anything close to actual non con. I also avoid mind control which in essence is date rape in a myriad of forms and non consent as in people being controlled are not giving true consent. So mind control is rape light and should be lumped into NC/R, but then that crowd would be upset to see their kink where it really belongs.

 

[R. Richard]

I currently publish with five different publishers. Each publisher has. pretty much as a first rule, no sex until 18-years-old. I suspect tha6 the prohibition has to do with credit card processing.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

Does the age of consent on Literotica have to be 18? Speaking of consent, a nonconsent/reluctance story of mine was rejected because the female charector did not get enjoyment out of the rape (can't see how anyone could).

As noted, these are both Lit rules, and are non-negotiable. The site owner imposes them by decree, as is her right.

A friend of mine pointed me to a reddit that purports to be from a girl who arranges to get herself raped for pleasure. Not rapeplay, actual rape, where she goes into dangerous situations and acts drunk and unwise until she gets someone to haul her into the bushes and force her. It's disturbing and I won't link it, but it can be found if you look. (Whether it's rape if you go out looking for it is a question I won't get into, but her rapists raped in what I'd very loosely have to call good faith.) She says her "success" rate is surprisingly low, but it's not 0, and she gets off on it. And there are quite a few women who enjoy the *fantasy* of rape (which is why nonconsent has such a large female readership here). I've spoken to a number and some admit they are rape-curious. I also know a couple of girls who have been raped and now only get off to forced sex (which is sad, not erotic., in my opinion, but it's out there.)

Bottom line, Laurel's (the site owner's) stance on age and non-consent isn't based on a belief that these things don't happen or that no one finds them erotic. It's based on not attracting a bad crowd to Lit. That's a reasonable view and trumps any discussion of "creative rights." If you want ultimate creative freedom, make your own website and you can do as you please.

 

[HandsInTheDark]

there ARE 18-year-olds who have not had sex or even been kissed. A college freshman virgin isn't stretching it all that much.

College-age virgins do exist. From my conversations with fans, though - and note that all these people are readers here, a site some people simply will never touch, so mind the sample bias - a few things emerge:

1) very few women (here) got to college as virgins. The ones that do seem to be mostly in the US midwest or more conservative corners of Asia. Europe, coastal US, Russia, mideast - forget it, they're virtually unicorns. Of those that said no and made it stick, the ones I spoke to lost their virginity by freshman year.

2) Most women I've spoken to here had sex early - as early as 14 and I think only two out of a few dozen were over 18. Whether there's a correlation to being an avid consumer of erotica and losing virginity I can't say, for lack of a decent non-erotica-reading sample. But my gut tells me that for all the strength of the rule on 18 here, this site and sites like it DO help influence girls to give it up early. I guarantee that the site has a plethora of underage readers; some have admitted reading here as young as 14. (That creeps me out, but I will argue that coming here is better than going to some other sites.) Internet-enabled phones are the major enabler - laptops are too risky and leave evidence for parents to find, but phones are much easier to keep secrets on.

Again, mind my sample bias. I write reluctance and some non-con along with tamer genres and I'm certain my writing has attracted a certain "crowd" as a result.

 

[ThisNameIsntTakenYet]

College-age virgins do exist. From my conversations with fans, though - and note that all these people are readers here, a site some people simply will never touch, so mind the sample bias - a few things emerge:

1) very few women (here) got to college as virgins. The ones that do seem to be mostly in the US midwest or more conservative corners of Asia. Europe, coastal US, Russia, mideast - forget it, they're virtually unicorns. Of those that said no and made it stick, the ones I spoke to lost their virginity by freshman year.

2) Most women I've spoken to here had sex early - as early as 14 and I think only two out of a few dozen were over 18. Whether there's a correlation to being an avid consumer of erotica and losing virginity I can't say, for lack of a decent non-erotica-reading sample. But my gut tells me that for all the strength of the rule on 18 here, this site and sites like it DO help influence girls to give it up early. I guarantee that the site has a plethora of underage readers; some have admitted reading here as young as 14. (That creeps me out, but I will argue that coming here is better than going to some other sites.) Internet-enabled phones are the major enabler - laptops are too risky and leave evidence for parents to find, but phones are much easier to keep secrets on.

Again, mind my sample bias. I write reluctance and some non-con along with tamer genres and I'm certain my writing has attracted a certain "crowd" as a result.

I'm honestly kind of surprised by those numbers. I think the fact that they regularly read erotica might indeed have caused some deviation from the average age, but it does make you think. When I was in college, more than half of the 18-19 year olds in my year were virgins (only counting the ones that actually confirmed being a virgin or not). I'm from the Netherlands btw, maybe that might be one explanation for that difference in numbers. Another explanation is that those people were a lot closer to average (just collage students following the same study) as opposed to erotica readers. Do note that about 75% percent of those people were male btw, since those were dominant in the study I followed. Not sure if girls loose their virginity at an earlier age than guys on average.

 

[NotWise]

College-age virgins do exist.

I ran across a world-wide study (WHO, or something) about the age of first sexual experience. In North America, western Europe, Australia and most of South America the average age is 18. Unless the distribution is heavily skewed, that means that about half of us have sex for the first time at the age of 18 or less.

That age was under 18 in Scandinavia and Russia -- maybe its something to do during those long, dark winters. They didn't have much data in Africa and I don't remember much about Asia.

I also have the impression that a fairly large percentage of the women I talk to here were sexualized at an earlier age, and often not by their choosing.

 

[TxRad]

I currently publish with five different publishers. Each publisher has. pretty much as a first rule, no sex until 18-years-old. I suspect tha6 the prohibition has to do with credit card processing.

Nope. That rumor was started by Amazon to cover their ass when they first started pulling independent writers stuff off their site. The credit card companies came back and asked, what the fuck are you talking about? Amazon quit using that excuse.

 

[oggbashan]

The UK age of consent and marriage with parental agreement is 16.

One of my cousins married on her 16th birthday and had their first child shortly after her 17th birthday. (No. She wasn't pregnant when they married!) Her husband was 18 and a couple of weeks. They have recently celebrated their 55th wedding anniversary and are still very happy together.

But I wouldn't write about people of a similar age on Literotica.

 

[lovecraft68]

Nope. That rumor was started by Amazon to cover their ass when they first started pulling independent writers stuff off their site. The credit card companies came back and asked, what the fuck are you talking about? Amazon quit using that excuse.

You have amazon confused with Paypal. It was paypal that tried that stunt and when Mark Coker from Smashwords and others called them on it and asked for proof there was none to be had.

In fact an erotica author posted on their blog they had contacted Visa who-no surprise-had no idea what was going on with it.

Amazon never makes excuses, they don't have to. They say "indy be gone' you're gone.

But I'll tell you what amazon does do. They are in collusion with the major credit card companies for them not to allow other erotica sites to be able to gain CC processing so they can't compete. Now I'm not taking Barnes and Noble or Google play, which are large businesses-and in google's case as big if not bigger than amazon-but small sites like the ones many of us here publish with.

That's why the Paypal censorship play would have been a death blow. Since Paypal and e-bay are related and e-bay is amazon's nemesis, PP gets all the accounts from sites that can't get CC processing

However, you can use your CC with Paypal, you just link it to your paypal account to pull money from. But direct CC processing? Try and get it for erotica.