What about including 'safe sex' in the storyline?

[JKendallDane]

I recently had a comment left that was positive but also spanked my typing fingers for not having the two characters discuss or use any form of safe sex.

I suppose you could add flavored, colored, ribbed, etc. condoms to the mix and/or go into details of having one rolled over an erect penis by 'loving hands' or using your lips, but is it really something you want to include?

 

[mikoli5763]

I have used it in some of mine

I have mentioned the use of condoms in some of my stories and received both positive and negative comments. I think safe sex needs to be mentioned at least occasionally to show we as authors are cognizant of the realities of the real world.

 

[lovecraft68]

This has popped up before.

There's different schools of thought on it.

I'm of the opinion that this is fantasy. Part of the fun of erotica/porn is that real life has no bearing.

That includes safe sex. In stories on sites like this, condoms make me roll my eyes (unless for some reason its a more serious story and they further the story or add to it)

If you're going to worry about condoms and birth control and stds you may as well have your characters have trouble getting it up, have bad breath, and fart in bed.

Just roll with it and have fun, there's a enough BS in real life that its not needed here in "fantasy land"

 

[PennLady]

Who cares? If you want your characters to deal with safe sex, then have them do it. I've done it in some stories, not in others, and no one objected in either case. Much depends on your story. If you have a character who fears pregnancy or an STI, then yeah, they should discuss it. If it's all fantasy, or you don't want to deal with it, then don't.

There's no pleasing everyone, so don't try.

 

[sr71plt]

Screw the anal retentive. Really.

They can write their own stories.

 

[lovecraft68]

I often wonder about those who are concerned with safe sex in erotica(most likely the same people who think it should be in porn movies as well) why are you here on a site like this?

I don't think I've ever been ragged on for no condoms, but I did take some heat for an ass to mouth scene.

Again, I get it, in reality that may not be the most hygienic maneuver, but... its a goddamn porn site.

 

[SecondCircle]

This again?

 

[lovecraft68]

This again?

Yes.

Now see if someone had wrapped the original thread up in a condom, it could not have reproduced and we wouldn't be here again!

 

[PennLady]

This again?

Yes, but it's a legit question, and not everyone reads the boards as often as many of us do, so it's a new question for them.

As with many (probably most) other "what should I write" questions, there's no definitive answer here, except I think to say that some readers will care and some won't but it's up to the author whether to include it or not.

 

[Stella_Omega]

I once wrote it into a gay love story. Sex was safe every single time, and the night one partner asked the other to go bare -- wedding bells began to chime, and the emotions ran so high I had to shelve the story. That wasn't where I'd been planning to go at all...

 

[emap]

I included STI worries in one of my series, booty if you haven't read everything I typed yet. It is a secondary concern of the series but it pops up now and then with are you tested recently.

Don't do anything else with it and nobody has complained, though I'm fairly sure that's all anybody ever checks anyway. Not the best of ideas but then again, safe sex isn't really possible anyway.

 

[CDWilder]

Now see if someone had wrapped the original thread up in a condom, it could not have reproduced and we wouldn't be here again!

Where's the knight with the rubber chicken?

I agree with LC, this place is fantasy. I'm not gonna kill an author for safe sex (unless they're "preachy" about it) but given the choice between with- and without-condom, I prefer bareback.

 

[JKendallDane]

I guess part of what got me to ask the question, is that the idea of weaving safe sex into a story every now and then would be a good challenge...mainly from the standpoint of finding the way to do it in an erotic way.

Since I write GM stories, there is sure no way it could be in every one though!

<shrug> I also guess I should take the comment as a compliment since the reader that left it had gotten so attached to the one character that they were all concerned for him.

 

[lovecraft68]

I guess part of what got me to ask the question, is that the idea of weaving safe sex into a story every now and then would be a good challenge...mainly from the standpoint of finding the way to do it in an erotic way.

Since I write GM stories, there is sure no way it could be in every one though!

<shrug> I also guess I should take the comment as a compliment since the reader that left it had gotten so attached to the one character that they were all concerned for him.

I did it once. The main character was a coke addict and was stripping to support her habit, she fucked a guy during a "private" lap dance and I had her remove one from her boot and slip it on.

I figured it added realism and the entire scene was written "un-sexy" with the girl hating herself the entire time, but knowing it was the only way she could get money for her next fix.

Got no comments on it either way except for a classic, "Man, you know the stories here are supposed to be sexy, right?"

 

[glynndah]

I've done both. Mostly I didn't mention condoms because it wasn't appropriate to the setting. The couple in one of my last stories used a condom because they weren't monogamous and the story was set in contemporary times.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I guess part of what got me to ask the question, is that the idea of weaving safe sex into a story every now and then would be a good challenge...mainly from the standpoint of finding the way to do it in an erotic way.

Yeah, like others have said, it's fine to do it either way. Some people want a fantasy unimpeded by mundane details, some people find realism interesting. I'm not interested in policing other people's choices, but I find myself drifting more and more towards the "realism is interesting" side lately.

I have an old story that I originally wrote as fantasy (people have unprotected BDSM sex with folk they've just met, etc etc) and I'm tempted to overhaul it and see if I can add that aspect of negotiation before I post it up here.

 

[sr71plt]

I guess part of what got me to ask the question, is that the idea of weaving safe sex into a story every now and then would be a good challenge...mainly from the standpoint of finding the way to do it in an erotic way.

Since I write GM stories, there is sure no way it could be in every one though!

<shrug> I also guess I should take the comment as a compliment since the reader that left it had gotten so attached to the one character that they were all concerned for him.

I have over 500 GM stories here. Sometimes I include condoms; sometimes I don't. Often it isn't mentioned either way--or only in passing. I haven't been hassled about the choice that I can remember.

 

[redzinger]

To be desperately unromantic, my characters always have safe sex, or it's hinted at, at least.

That's because I find it hard to respect anyone IRL who doesn't automatically use protection with a new partner, and unless I'm deliberately writing an obnoxious character, they've got to be thoughtful enough to respect each other.

Oh, and I hate those stories where otherwise-intelligent people are fucking stupid enough to have unprotected sex and she inevitably gets pregnant...what did they think was going to sodding happen?

 

[sr71plt]

So, the bottom line is that it's your choice--can you write (and read) fiction or can't you?

 

[voluptuary_manque]

And do you want your fiction at least nominally realistic or do you believe in the zombie apocalypse, too?

 

[sr71plt]

I want my erotica to arouse me, and no matter what I then do in RL, I want the erotica to be more fantasy than RL, pushing the edges of "big" and "forever," or it doesn't arouse me. As I noted, I sometimes use protection in my stories--but only when it doesn't bog down the flow of the story or the arousal factors and mostly when it has a specific point in the storyline. I try not to include anything that doesn't have a point in the storyline. I also don't specially mention that protection isn't used unless that has a point in the storyline. I sometimes include the other hygiene elements too--like guys cleaning themselves out and showering before sex--but as a litany of preparation isn't that arousing to very many readers, I don't dwell on that much either.

Primarily, I have no time for the squeamish or clinical on an erotica story site. I'm not a fan of the anal retentive in readers. I'd rather they don't read my stories at all, because the thrust of my stories will be totally lost on them. I think it childish and wonder what the hell they are doing reading on a porn site to begin with.

I also don't think the topic is worth the number of times it pops up here. As I stated before, I can't remember the last time one of my stories at Literotica was criticized by a reader for whatever I wrote concerning safe sex. And I'm willing to bet that the comments are rare for anyone else, as well--certainly not prevalent enough to feel limited in writing a story as you wish to write it. The OP's question was in relationship to a GM story. I pointed out that I haven't seen a problem that pops out to me as more than in a rare comment in over 500 GM stories posted here. It's sort of a duh not to understand the implication of that.

It's also sort of nonsensical to see the topic pop up so often here. Go to the mainstream and do the proportional math on sex acts on when protection is mentioned and when it's not. I think you're in for a surprise. I think it's dopey to have it pop up so much here.

 

[YDB95]

My fiction is fiction, not a safe sex lesson. Lit is not here to provide sex education, and in fact anyone young enough for that to even be an issue isn't supposed to be here anyway.

My policy is actually very simple: I do mention condoms if doing so moves the story forward or helps with character development. Where I don't mention them, that doesn't necessarily mean the characters aren't using protection; it just wasn't among the necessarily incomplete list of details I provided for the scene. (I don't usually mention the color of the wallpaper in the room either, or the brand of wine they're drinking, or a million other little details that really just don't matter.)

Since a lot of my stories involve long-term couples, it's just as likely they've discussed the issue and have some sort of protection in place. Maybe she's on the Pill, maybe one or the other of them is infertile, there are all sorts of possibilities. And if they're relevant to the story, I'll mention them.

 

[JackLuis]

Here is a different take on a similar issue.

Porn Director: I Was Totally Against Mandatory Condom Use in Sex Flicks, Until Now

She was in porn film but she addresses the issue of obeying the law in a rational manner. Unlike House Republicans.

I think it depends upon the story and what you want the readers to take away.

 

[Bramblethorn]

Here is a different take on a similar issue.

She was in porn film but she addresses the issue of obeying the law in a rational manner. Unlike House Republicans.

I think it depends upon the story and what you want the readers to take away.

Did you mean to post a link to the story? All I'm seeing there is a photo.

 

[JackLuis]

Did you mean to post a link to the story? All I'm seeing there is a photo.

I fixed it. Sorry.