For someone who never aspired to literary greatness, and she was the first to say that, but someone who enjoyed telling a sexy, steamy tale in her own words, the late Jackie Collins wowed millions with her writing. Yet the beginning of her career was anything but smooth. The creation of her “salacious titillation” as she was once described caused outcry across the globe. Australia and South Africa banned her first novel, “The World is Full of Married Men” which was published back in 1968. It also caused quite a stir in China and even outraged the then Deng Xiaoping who felt her words and books far too sexy and even suggested her publishers be executed.
Yet we can’t forget how times have changed and how much she helped to change them and open our eyes with her style of telling a story, stories packed full of female desire and empowerment. The plot lines were more “Clit Lit” and were certainly out there but never once did she feel the need to apologize, but kept writing up until her last days.
Jackie Collins was among the first female authors to write about strong independent women who unashamedly sought and enjoyed sex. She broke down a lot of taboos women had held on to and got us all thinking somewhat differently. As an author she paved the way for many who followed in her footsteps and stood out boldly with her words. She once said, “I am still shocking people today, and I don’t know why. Is it because I’m a woman talking about sex and men.” Her stories didn’t change, she remained very consistent to her writing but it’s our approach and views to sex that certainly has.
When interviewed by The Associated Press in 2011 she herself said, “Sex is a driving force in the world, so I don’t think it unusual that I write about sex. I try to make it erotic too.”
Therefore our judgment of what is right and wrong in a sexual context surely rests with the sheer volume of books that were sold. 500 m in her lifetime, with 32 bestsellers and many in the New York Bestseller lists, certainly tells me she brought a lot of scintillating pleasure, to millions of readers who adored her. This to me says so much about sex, our real views, enjoyment and about female pleasure.
Jackie was such a trailblazer, and a personal inspiration…great post…