Winter Lovin'?

With their lips still locked, Sarah somehow managed to find her keys and open her apartment door. They stumbled onto the couch, passionately tearing off each other's clothes as they went. He ran his tongue along her body. She uttered a low groan. Jay continued to run his tongue against her body until Sarah couldn't stand it anymore. "Take me now, Jay," she panted desperately. Jay lifted Sarah's legs back toward her shoulders and...Ahh, a good old fashioned romance novel, a straight girl's summer staple. While this particular passage does have all the steamy prerequisites covered, something is definitely missing. Sexual tension? Check. Being swept away in the moment? Check. Details intimate enough to make your great-aunt Edna blush? Check. Protagonists practicing safer sex? Negative.While perhaps not the finest pieces of literature, romance novels continue to be one of the largest read genres of book lovers. In 2008 alone, Harlequin Enterprises sold 130 million books.Romance novels feature formulated and reoccurring themes where a female protagonist is often swept away in a moment of passion. In the process of being swept away, condoms or other safer sex methods are usually left behind.

Why does safer sex on paper matter? It’s just fiction right? Well, the concern lies in how narratives are capable of touching our emotions, teaching us new behaviors, impacting our beliefs, and shaping our cultural identity. Whether we like it or not, modern sexuality requires a more careful eye to safer sex. Media outlets, such as the romance novel, have a perfect opportunity to normalize safer sex practices.So how difficult would it be to slip a condom in to a sex scene anyways? Let’s take a crack at it:

Jay pulled back slightly and asked ‘should we use protection?’ Sarah nodded; her face was warm as he unwrapped the foil package that read “Cherry Flavored Condom, expiry date: June 3rd, 2010”. Pleased with his concern for her well being and that it was June 3rd, 2009, she smiled. See? Not so difficult after all! Alright, the expiry date might be pushing it. But how about this?
With their lips still locked, Sarah somehow managed to find her keys and open her apartment door. They stumbled onto the couch, passionately tearing off each other's clothes as they went. As Jay ran his tongue along her body he fished a cherry flavoured condom from his discarded pants’ pocket. Pulling back, he slowly rolled the condom over his throbbing member. Sarah uttered a low groan at the site. Jay continued to run his tongue against her body until Sarah couldn't stand it anymore. "Take me now, Jay," she panted desperately. Jay lifted Sarah's legs back toward her shoulders and...I don’t know about you, but I’m just as riled up as I was that first read through. And I for one am happy to know that Jay and Sarah are reducing their risk. What’s hotter than that?

Posted by AIDS Calgary at 3:21 PM on July 9th, 2009 from The A Word: Summer Lovin'