Great topic! I really think that, when it comes to smut words, you have to train yourself to feel comfortable about them and to feel sexy about them - at least, that's how it was for me, ymmv. I started in het fandoms, then m/m slash, and now I do f/f and het and m/m and threesome and all sorts. And originally I had a lot of trouble finding "cock" or "dick" sexy terms, but after, uh, prolonged exposure? I do find them sexy and don't blink.
And I think it's the same for other names for genitals and things . . . I used to wince at writing the words "cunt" or "pussy" or "vagina," but the more I read them and the more I write them, the sexier they get. I firmly believe that there's no word that can't be made sexy with enough practice. :)
The challenge that I do run into is how a given character would think about their junk in their own interior monologue - because I think a lot of women, both contemporary women and any ladies you're writing in historical fandoms, are socialized to be less comfortable talking about or thinking about or using words for their parts, it's harder to imagine a female character straightforwardly thinking the word "vulva" about herself than it is to imagine a male character straightforwardly thinking the word "dick" about himself. So it's harder to write, for me, because a) I was also socialized not to use those words, b) I often feel that my character would've been socialized not to use those words, and c) it's sometimes a job of work to make the words feel sexy to myself.
Soooo anyway I always just try to make a character-dependent choice; writing Annie Edison from Community, who's almost virginal and pretty uptight about sex, it's going to go more the "entrance" and "vagina" territory - she's never going to think "put your fingers in my cunt," much less say it. I wrote Leslie Knope/Jennifer Barker femslash and actually legitimately had Leslie think the word "ladyparts" about her own genitals, because it just seemed more authentic for her than anything else would be. :)
Personally, I love using the word "cunt" in sex scenes, so it's always a delight for me when I have a character who would happily think of their own body that way.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
branchandroot
Re: Word Choices in Smut
Date: 2013-06-12 02:07 am (UTC)And I think it's the same for other names for genitals and things . . . I used to wince at writing the words "cunt" or "pussy" or "vagina," but the more I read them and the more I write them, the sexier they get. I firmly believe that there's no word that can't be made sexy with enough practice. :)
The challenge that I do run into is how a given character would think about their junk in their own interior monologue - because I think a lot of women, both contemporary women and any ladies you're writing in historical fandoms, are socialized to be less comfortable talking about or thinking about or using words for their parts, it's harder to imagine a female character straightforwardly thinking the word "vulva" about herself than it is to imagine a male character straightforwardly thinking the word "dick" about himself. So it's harder to write, for me, because a) I was also socialized not to use those words, b) I often feel that my character would've been socialized not to use those words, and c) it's sometimes a job of work to make the words feel sexy to myself.
Soooo anyway I always just try to make a character-dependent choice; writing Annie Edison from Community, who's almost virginal and pretty uptight about sex, it's going to go more the "entrance" and "vagina" territory - she's never going to think "put your fingers in my cunt," much less say it. I wrote Leslie Knope/Jennifer Barker femslash and actually legitimately had Leslie think the word "ladyparts" about her own genitals, because it just seemed more authentic for her than anything else would be. :)
Personally, I love using the word "cunt" in sex scenes, so it's always a delight for me when I have a character who would happily think of their own body that way.