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The discussion covered all of Blumes greatest hits, includingAre You There, God?
Girls were punished for being sexual beings, Blume said.
Blume loves writing sex scenes.
I used to know that they were good if I turned myself on while I was writing them.
… now that doesnt happen as much.
You have great sex scenes between those politicians!
It has to be because you werent there.
And Ilovewhat you imagine!
Recently, the sex scene has become fodder for cultural critics.
Last year the New Yorker hosted a conversation about thedearth of sex in film.
(See also: Vultureserotic thrillers week.)
Fischer asked them if sex is at the core of how you understand personality.
Yeah, Gaitskill said plainly, to a few knots of laughter.
For Gaitskill, theres an interesting tension built into sex.
Its potentially very destructive, she said, but also the best thing in the world, really.
I dont just mean the act itself but the human connection with something that powerful.
Over the years, her students stories once saturated with sex got more cautious.
Like, practically porn, sometimes.
And quite violent sometimes.
I stopped teaching about a year ago, but in the years leading up, I noticed a change.
… perhaps there was sexual overkill.
But fiction doesnt have to include sex, she said.
