Show notes
Hey HBs! We've got Pleasure by Eric Jerome Dickey for you. We have to be honest, this re-defines the term "hate episode." This is an erotica novel from the first person perspective of a woman, written by man. You wanted #intellectualismin2020 and HERE IT IS.
We are cognizant that, as two white women, we likely aren't the audience Eric Jerome Dickey was writing for. We had beta listeners give us feedback on this episode because we are sure we have blind spots to some themes in the book, but ultimately came to the conclusion that we should still publish the episode. If you loved this book or love this author, consider skipping this. We don't hold back on how much we disliked this novel.
The content contains a ton of potential triggers, all of which we discuss and read excerpts of. Here are some of the main CW's to look out for:
36:33-38:08 - Pedophilia, rape, and incest, as Melody discusses themes in Anais Nin's Delta of Venus, which we believe heavily influenced this work.
50:41-52:09 - Melody recaps a sexual assault described in the book.
1:38:15-1:39:22 - Erin reads an excerpt that includes graphic images of slavery and discusses how reading it impacted her.
Other content warnings which are woven through the discussion: homophobia, sexual violence, domestic violence, cavalier mentions of police brutality, incest, slut shaming, poverty shaming, sex work shaming, fat shaming, and one incident of Holocaust imagery.
There's one section where Erin talks about the Main Character's disdain for anyone who doesn't use proper grammar. While our discussion chalks it up to classism and linguistic discrimination, one of our beta listeners, Ashley, mentioned that respectability politics is likely also a big factor.
Bonus Content: Melody is sorry, the recent earthquake in CA was triggered by her flipping every table in the universe with her psychic rage, a mini history lesson on Anais Nin, linguistic discrimination and gatekeeping, nipple seeds and penis blooms, boob licks and lady friendship, a rant about Simone De Beauvoir, lots of ranting about gender essentialism, cholocate starfishes, angels ejaculating all over the earth, *Bing Boong Bong* Bear Safety with Erin, Erin's latest hard limit: sex that inconveniences the elderly, and SO. MUCH. MORE.
One important correction: the passage Erin reads that we say is a description of an orgasm is, in fact, a description of a thunderstorm. "In a daze, somewhere between sleep and consciousness, I became a voyeur, watching, imagining all the angels having simultaneous orgasms. Nonstop sonic booms created endless chills. Explosions rang out like orgasmic echoes. I was afraid of thunder, but it didn't scare me this time." And "The skies exploded. The reverberations of the naughty angels achieving simultaneous pleasures." In other words, it's EVEN GROSSER THAN WE THOUGHT. THUNDER IS ORGASM NOISES AND RAIN IS ANGEL EJACULATE AND ERIN IS FOREVER TRAUMATIZED. Also, this no longer contradicts Melody's assertion that most/all sexy and orgasmic imagery is negative, which is really the most important thing (HAH!).
Lady Loves:
Melody: Never Have I Ever on Netflix!! Mindy Kaling slayed once again with this heart felt, coming of age, sneaky romance!
Erin: The Vampire Diaries? Somehow she didn't watch it until now!
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