It is difficult to find erotic literature that is not sexist. Or cisheterocentric. Or capable. As also happens in the cinema, the bodies that appear in the books often correspond to unattainable models with sex-affective behaviors far from reality. This problem was faced by the psychologist, sexologist and couples therapist Sílvia Catalán, who had little supply of copies to recommend to her clients that reflected the multiple ways in which sexuality can take shape. To remedy this, in 2019 she created the Fora de Norma Non-Conventional Erotic Literature Award.
After two years of existence and by the hand of the Raig Verd publishing house, in 2021 the finalist stories of the contest materialized in the volume Sexe fora de norma (Sex fora de norma in its translation into Spanish). The best narratives of the 2022 contest have been brought together again in a new issue, also titled Sexe fora de norma, published last March. In this case, it includes a prologue by the sexologist Elena Crespi and an epilogue by the writer Alba Serrano, winner of the 2021 edition.
"We immediately said yes because it meant looking for new limits in literature," says the editor of Raig Verd, Laura Huerga, about the proposal they received from Fora de norma. "It was a field that we had not yet experienced in erotic literature, and from a feminist perspective, so it suited us a lot because it was part of the demands of the publisher," she continues.
A woman who is excited by everything that does not exist. Another one who has a fetish for doctors. A girl who finds pleasure in written words or a couple who practices BDSM. A young man trying an anal sex toy for the first time or a bawdy phone call in a nearly impossible relationship. These are some of the situations in the 13 stories that the latest edition of Sexe fora de norma collects in total, where contact in times of Covid, consent or intellectual stimuli are also discussed. "It is a book that causes us to accept ourselves, that we love each other and that our partners accompany us to do so," says Laura Huerga.
In addition, this anthology has "a function of disseminating alternatives, because other sexual identities have been systematically made invisible," claims the publisher. "It is not so much because they have become invisible, but because the avalanche of macho phallocentric sex is so great and occupies so many spaces that we do not see everything else," she continues.
The best example of this task of visibility is Literally, by Ester Elvira Segalés, which was the winner of the Unconventional Erotic Literature award this year. It tells the story of a young woman with autism who enters Tinder, where she will meet an understanding and open woman, with whom she connects immediately on the first date. In addition, one of the characters that appears is non-binary, so the use of inclusive language has been chosen. "The social aspect of the language is as necessary as the norm", explains Laura Huerga. "If we only have the norm, we will know how things are done, but we will not be modifying reality, which is advancing and we need the language to accompany it", justifies the editor.
After all, this volume of Sexe fora de norma, which also includes La teua mà, la meua mà and Una classe particular, winning stories of the 2020 and 2019 editions, respectively, "are fragments of daily life, which attempt to explain a feminist sexual relationship". Thus, there is room for "any type of sexual expression from any gender identity," Huerga emphasizes.
The editor concludes that "both Sílvia Catalán and Raig Verd believe in intersectional feminism, where all possible spheres of equality must be crossed". "This is why we talk about feminism and feminist erotic literature, because, although it is sometimes seen as something only for women, feminism is for everyone," Huerga defends. In future editions, the Fora de norma contest contemplates expanding the endowment and dividing it into themes.
