My Playboy article on why men read erotica

You might be thinking, Of course I know why men read erotica. Well, my debut Playboy article is about why men read erotica, what they get out of it, how reading erotica is different from watching porn and what they learn from the genre. I interviewed Ernest Greene, author of The Master of O, about men's reactions to his very kinky book, and three male erotica readers.



Due to space considerations, I couldn't get into every nuance and this is geared toward heterosexual male erotica readers (though I'd love to read about gay male erotica readers if anyone writes that article), but I'm very happy to have broken into such an iconic publication and to add to the conversation.

Also, never give up: I pitched this in February to another publication. Filed in May. In August, I found out I was getting a kill fee. I brainstormed where to send it, finally decided on Playboy. Pitched in early November, and just under a month later, it was published.

Fifty Shades of Grey fans and haters, here's a smarter and sexier Dom than Christian Grey

The subject of this week's Philadelphia City Paper sex column, "Meet a sexier, smarter Dom than Christian Grey," is Ernest Greene and his novel Master of O, a 700-page "must-read." Why? Here's a snippet:

Because rather than BDSM being used as an angst-ridden plot device where a troubling reason is given for a character's interest in punishment and power play, Greene's characters are unapologetically kinky. At one point, while being caned, Greene writes of O, the submissive heroine, "This was quality pain. She'd had little enough of it to know how rare it was."

The idea that erotic pain can even be measured is an audacious one in a society still sorting out what we think of kinky people. Only in 2013 did the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders downgrade BDSM from a mental disorder. Greene considers kink a sexual orientation similar to being gay.

Read the whole thing here.


photo by Steve Diet Goedde