Anyone who can remember the myth perpetuated in “poor” sex education classes that men “like to crave it” while women need to be lured into bed might be quite surprised by the surge in sales of steamy romance novels.
“I’m not,” Helen Coffey told the Independent. “Women have long been on, er, stimulating Literature.” But in the last decade, there has been a “noticeable shift” in the shame associated with these types of books. Open conversations about female sexuality are no longer dismissed as a secret pleasure, but have entered the mainstream and breathed new life into the genre.
‘Full-grown lady porn’
“I spent a weekend reading nothing but smut, and I don’t need to give you a reason why,” Zoe Williams told the Guardian. “But since there is one, here it is: business is booming in the world of publishing and sex.”
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Sales of print copies of romance or erotica in the US have increased from $18 million in 2020 to over $39 million in 2023, while in the UK sales increased 110% over the same period and are now worth £53 million per year.
There are countless categories within the genre (including the hugely popular romantasy: a cross between romance and fantasy), but the overall message is clear: the stigma surrounding what used to be called “books women like” has disappeared. “Readers no longer care about respectability.”
The shift began in 2011, when EL James’ self-published “Fifty Shades” trilogy caused a “viral sensation,” according to The Independent. Since then, there has been an explosion of sexy bestsellers and TV series. There’s a reason “Bridgerton” is one of Netflix’s biggest hits: “It’s full-blown lady porn.”
Interest in romance novels skyrocketed during the pandemic as homebound people discovered reading and turned to erotic books as an “escape,” Alexandra Alter said in the New York Times.
And the “undeniable” influence of a growing community of romance writers and fans on TikTok has further boosted sales, Hannah Swerling said in The Times. The Booktok hashtag alone has more than 200 billion views, and there are countless hashtags for specific interests from #spicytok to #smuttock. Two of the platform’s biggest writers are romantasy author Sarah J. Maas and Colleen Hoover, the social worker and author of the best-selling novel “It Ends With Us,” which was just turned into a glossy adaptation starring Blake Lively.
“Destined for success”
There’s also a rise in niche categories like #monsterromance. The general “vibe” is one of “coziness,” Emily Gould said in The Cut. People “hang out in sweatpants with a ‘light makeup’ filter, recommending books in which a Mothman with a prehistoric tongue performs oral sex on a woman lying in bed from his perch on a branch outside.”
As romance novels continue to top the bestseller lists, the publishing industry is undergoing a major shift. Romance novel stores are popping up across America, the New York Times reported. In the last two years alone, the country has grown from just two stores to a “national network” of over 20 stores, including The Ripped Bodice and Love’s Sweet Arrow in Chicago.
The rise of romance is “long overdue,” says The Independent. There is a significant “discrepancy” between what popular culture tells us about the sexual experiences of women and men and the reality.
While men’s testosterone levels gradually decline until age 40, women’s libido often increases in their late twenties and into their thirties. Add to that the “elephant in the room” (the orgasm gap between men and women), and you have an environment in which “erotic fiction was destined to thrive.”
Despite “lingering taboos,” the truth is that many women really do enjoy sex. “We may not shout it from the rooftops” or “have a recurring subscription to Pornhub,” but “give us a good book and our imagination… well, that’s a whole other story.”
