Tuesday, November 24, 2015

Sex- Open Book Blog Hop




Welcome everyone! Before I dive into this week's topic, I want to thank Kelly Williams for the new banners she designed for our blog hop. There are several, so check them out when you travel from blog to blog. They're great!

Our topic this week is sex. It's everywhere. From the commercials blaring on the TV to the covers of magazines at the checkout stands at the grocery store to the conversation around the water cooler at work—when HR isn't around! We, as humans, are fixated on sex.


I suppose it's natural and we're wired that way. The urge to breed and procreate is instinctive. No matter how sophisticated our thinking, no matter how marvelous our machines, we are, at our core, mammals.

How we handle that urge is what makes us interesting. I remember many years ago hearing about a early Christian movement that insisted its followers forego sex. Not only the leaders, but everyone in the sect. My first reaction was "Well, then, how do they get new members?" And since the next paragraph in the textbook mentioned that the movement didn't last very long, I got my answer. They didn't.



Of course, different cultures through different eras have treated sex differently. We may not now the truth of how sex was seen in the Greek and Roman eras because history is always being re-written, but we don't have to look to far back to see the difference between the Victorian Era and the counter-culture movement of the 1960's. From a woman not being able to show her ankle to a time when we let it all hang out, the attitudes towards the topic of sex have shifted. We've gone from not being able to discuss the topic in polite company or not showing a married couple sleeping in the same bed, to having it be a normal part of our daily lives.

But the question that arises is this: if you agree that it's healthy to allow some discussion of sex into our public lives, has the pendulum swung too far? Is it good for us to be exposed to sexual images and innuendos on a constant basis? Do we really need commercials for "feminine products" shoved in our faces when we're eating supper?  


Anyone who knows me knows I'm a believe in moderation. And I find beauty in the human form, both male and female. So I differentiate between sex and a picture of a naked body. I have no problem with viewing the picture of a good-looking, unclothed body. Do I want too watch that person engage in the act of sex? Hmmm. no. :) Do I have a problem with that body having sex? Not at all. I just don't want to watch. 


And I write that way. The characters in my books talk about sex, think about sex, have sex. But I don't show my readers the details when they get to the bedroom. (or whatever spot they happen to find at the moment!)  I make the assumption that most if my readers have engaged in the sex act and don't need instructions on how it's done. If they want details, there are plenty of videos out there they can go watch. 

What's your take on the topic of sex? Let us know in the comments, but keep it clean, please. By current day standards, anyway!


You can find out what Tamsen Schulz has to say about sex by visiting her blog at Tamsen Schulz.  Tamsen is new to our hop, so I'm looking forward to hearing her opinion.  Check out her book page while you're there. I've just added them to my "to be read" list. They sound good!

The Puppeteer

CIA agent Danielle “Dani” Williamson never stops believing that one day she’ll find the man who killed her parents and stole her childhood. And when the nightmare she relives in her dreams is played out in carbon copy and linked to a group the CIA believes is planning a terrorist attack in the US, Dani thinks she might finally have her chance.

Detective Ty Fuller loved being a Navy SEAL, but after seeing one too many innocent children killed, he was no longer able to stomach the world of politics, manipulation, and death. Now, as a detective with his local vice squad, he likes to think he’s helping kids by keeping drugs off the streets–local problems, local solutions.


But when Dani and her team arrive, they bring a case bigger than anything Ty’s small New England town has seen in decades, drugs in exchange for weapons-lots of them. And as the case unfolds and the tensions simmer between them, Dani and Ty discover that all is not what it seems. Uncovering a web of manipulation that spans the globe and reaches all the way to the US president, they know the price for justice will be high, risking not just their fledgling relationship, but their very lives.




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5 comments:

  1. Enjoyed your view of the topic. Interesting.

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  2. Totally in agreement. My characters generally have sex in private and I don't describe the act because modern readers shouldn't really need me to describe it to them ... we're flooded with those images and descriptions 24/7. Yes, sex is a natural part of life, but I think the current obsession with it being out in the public mind goes beyond normality. Thirty years from now, our grandchildren will look back on this era's attitudes and really wonder what was wrong with us as a society that we were so obsessed with what ought to be a private act of immense enjoyment.

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  3. As I've said on the other blog posts, I think if it fits into the book it's fine. I'm an adult and can handle reading about it. Too much or too little doesn't turn me off.

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  4. I totally agree. If you need a description, they have things for that!

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  5. Entertaining blog P.J. I remember reading once that in Victorian times even the table legs were covered! What a hoot. Yes, I agree that sex is a private act and the bedroom door should be firmly closed!

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