The first things that babies can notice is sex; the first thing that you can tell about a person when you see them walking down the street is their gender.
Stephen MarcheOne [paradox] is that pornography follows in that wake of women's liberation. The first instances of hard-core pornography were in late 18th-century in France, "the Golden Age of Women." The next wave in the 20th century comes from Sweden, one of the first countries where women voted. Then Germany, again, at the forefront of progress. Then America in the '80s, when women were closing the pay gap. And Japan, same thing.
Stephen MarcheMarriage is not one point of view: it's a constant back and forth over different perspectives - a healthy marriage, anyway.
Stephen MarcheWomen become breadwinners, men become caregivers. That's the birth of intimate marriage.
Stephen MarcheOnly idiots or snobs ever really thought less of 'genre books' of course. There are stupid books and there are smart books. There are well-written books and badly written books. There are fun books and boring books. All of these distinctions are vastly more important than the distinction between the literary and the non-literary.
Stephen Marche