Mihas the Great

my first post and also my final drawing of 2022

First, I think romance novels should generally model good consent because they’re supposed to be relationship with happy endings, which I take to mean the relationships should end up as basically healthy relationships, which should involve an actually consensual sexual relationship (if the relationship involves sex). 

Also sex scenes feel kind of uncomfy to read (at least for me) when they come across as fairly nonconsensual–and, to be clear, I would consider things like unnegotiated spanking, unnegotiated exhibitionism, and unnegotiated breathplay to be fairly nonconsensual.

Second, at least in M/F romance novels, the female character is often presented as being strong, independent, and actively taking no crap from the man/men in her life. Except during sex, when she goes along with unnegotiated kink wherein she is put in the position of being hit, ordered around, or otherwise facing a power imbalance that she didn’t ask for or agree to. It often comes across as bad writing–the female character becomes wildly out of character the moment sex is involved. 

This is not to say that strong, independent women can’t be subs or otherwise take part in kinky activties wherein they are voluntarily turning power over to another person, agreeing to be spanked, etc. But just going along with it reads as out of character when she reacts to the same exact language extremely differently when she becomes the least bit horny.