There is a possibility that you have caught wind of the fact that this October, author Sarah J. Maas will be releasing the next book in her A Court of Thorns and Roses series, whether or not you have read any of her books. The woman is a literary wizard with a tremendous fan following, which is why I say you may have heard something about it if you read to any extent, because her fans are excited, to say the least.
Sarah J. Maas is, wrongly, at the receiving end of a lot of assumptions about her work. Her books are a blend of fantasy and romance, and, as such, there are a few sex scenes throughout all of her books.
Sarah’s inclusion of intimacy in her books has led to countless people labelling her masterpieces as smut, and I’ve had enough of it. Yes, her books contain sex, but since when does the incorporation of this physical act automatically affiliate the medium from which it is published as smut? Do we call every film we have ever seen with sex scenes smut? No, we don’t. So why is it okay to slap this label on epic fantasy tales because it just so happens to be a woman writing it?
Consider Game of Thrones, as an example. Both the books and the show itself contain a lot of sex, and never in my life have I heard anyone categorize George R. R. Martin as a smut writer, despite the fact that the sex scene ratio between Game of Thrones and ACOTAR is arguably 80:20.
Can we please stop looking for every fucking reason to shame and put down women? Sarah’s work is some of the best my eyes have ever graced, and not because of the sex scenes, but rather because of the incredible writing and storytelling talent this woman possesses.
Photo by Elin Melaas on Unsplash
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