What women really want

Regency soft porn has pulses racing, dodgy S&M books are flying off the shelves and sex toy sales are booming. Does the craze for passionate pop culture hint at the real-life desires of modern women?

WORDS by SUSAN HORSBURGH

The premise of the book is problematic at best: a sociopathic, albeit handsome, Sicilian crime boss, with a penchant for throat-clutching sex play, kidnaps a “feisty” hotel sales exec and gives her 365 days to fall in love with him. Inexplicably, she does – and a UTIinducing amount of aggressive sexual congress ensues. Dubbed the Polish Fifty Shades of Grey, 365 Days is the first instalment in a controversial erotic trilogy by Blanka Lipińska, revolving around a swarthy alpha male called Massimo, who racks up his first sexual assault on page two. Granted, he’s not your garden-variety dreamboat. Still, 365 Days has become a global sensation. The novel has sold more than 1.5 million copies in Poland, and the English translation has just arrived in Australia, hot on the heels…

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The Australian Women's Weekly (Digital) - 1 Issue, June 2021

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