Today, the range of options for people who prefer to listen to their stories – including erotica – rather than read them, spans a wide spectrum. And, efforts are underway to make the genre both safer and more ethical.
One category, smut, refers to stories that include explicit sexual content. The term used to apply primarily to the written world, from “spicy” books to fanfiction, but things have changed. Now, smut can be delivered directly to ears in the form of audio erotica.
Apps like female-founded Quinn and Dipsea offer a wide –and wild, selection of erotic audio options for listeners who subscribe for a fee. The goal is to create erotica that is ethical, inclusive, and designed to empower its listeners, regardless of their gender – all things that mainstream porn often lacks, according to Rachel Lotus, the founder of the sex-ed program The Talk NYC.
Many creators, like Wkd Faerie and This Guy Eli, decide to remain anonymous. Wkd Faerie describes her content, which she posts on various platforms including Quinn, as anything “from bedtime stories, narrated texts [and] sleep aids, to meditative and ASMR-style audios.”
This Guy Eli is one of the most popular “boyfriend experience,” or BFE audio creators on Quinn. While maintaining complete anonymity, he manages to create a boyfriend-like relationship with his listeners.
How do these creators manage to remain anonymous and develop such an intimate relationship with their listeners?
To help explore this question, Arthur Fox, a professor at NYU who has conducted extensive research on “how to understand sexuality that is organized around fantasy rather than actual people,” explains.
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About the author(s)
Giulia Leo, originally from Bari, Italy, is a reporter and audio producer at the Columbia Journalism School.