Why are so many women writing about rough sex? | Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett | Opinion | The Guardian

Now, my personal discomfort with the sexual content is no comment on its quality - fiction that never challenges us isn't good fiction at all. Each reader can make up their own mind about how good the work is. But what is interesting about this rough sex is what it tells us about the current cultural moment. It is supposed to be edgy and transgressive - in You Know You Want This, it feels deliberately put there to shock - and yet it's everywhere. More often than not it is women writing it and female characters desiring it, and frequently those characters are using sadomasochistic sex as a way of processing their own trauma. The #MeToo and Time's Up movements have shone a light on abuse and harassment, so it's no wonder a new generation of women are exploring how that manifests itself in sexual relationships.