It’s Porn, Too

Take a moment and imagine sitting in a family living room.

It’s a fall day, and the incoming rain has just begun.

Inside the house, the aroma of a crockpot roast fills the kitchen air, mingling with the scent of a cinnamon apple candle burning in the next room. Meanwhile, the young children are playing a board game on the floor, and the baby stands jumping up and down in his walker. Next to the baby, a proud dad sits, keeping the little one entertained with toys and lights. Amid all of the family fun, the mom of the group sits on the couch, reading the second installment of a novel series.

It’s picturesque, right?

Now, imagine the scene is the same, except switch the mom’s position with the dad’s. Only, instead of reading a novel, the dad in this scene is viewing pornography on his phone in the same room as his children and wife.

Both situations have the potential to be the same. 

The novel that the mom is reading is not one from C.S. Lewis’ treasure trove. Instead, it is one filled with erotic sex – a graphic romance novel.

Unfortunately, when it comes down to it, this scene is not new in today’s culture.

“Taking romance and erotica as a single publishing trend, its rise in popularity is extraordinary: sales of print copies in the US have gone from 18 [million] in 2020 to more than 39 [million] in 2023, according to publishing data provider Circana BookScan,” a Guardian article shared.

It is important to note that, out of those millions of books sold, a few romance novels are simply love stories or even fall into the Christian romance subgenre. But others are filled with dark, demeaning sex scenes that entice many readers … especially women.

“In the U.S., year-to-date print sales for romance books are up 24%, versus the same period last year. The volume for romance books has more than doubled compared to four years ago, with 51 million units sold in the past 12 months,” reported Circana.

The same article continued to share that the type of romance read in 2025 is also changing. It shared, “A desire for dark subjects is surfacing within the romance book market. This trend aligns with other growing segments in adult fiction, including psychological thrillers (+29%), dark fantasy (+23%), and horror (+13%).”

And thanks to social media, namely Instagram and TikTok, book sales have been credited with a rise in popularity among Generation Z (those born between 1997 and 2012 – ages 13-27), whereas 10 years ago, the age demographic was 35 to 54. Yet, many reports and articles note that the Gen Z readers are at least 18 when reading the adult content.

So, what’s the big deal?

Among many, there is another term for many of these explicit, erotic romance novels – “Smut.”

Smut, as defined by Merriam-Webster, is “obscene language or matter.”

Meanwhile, pornography, as defined by the famous dictionary, is as follows:

• The depiction of erotic behavior (as in pictures or writing) [is] intended to cause sexual excitement
• Material (such as books or a photograph) that depicts erotic behavior and is intended to cause sexual excitement
• The depiction of acts in a sensational manner so as to arouse a quick, intense emotional reaction

The big deal is that there is no difference.

Whether it is online videos, eBooks, graphic magazines, or printed books in hand, as mentioned above, all of this content is defined as pornography.

And this issue isn’t limited to secular circles. Many proclaiming Christian women have also dabbled in the reading of these so-called romance novels, or, as it is also known, “mommy porn.”

In 2013, when the Fifty Shades of Grey phenomenon was happening, a Christian Post article shared a study that found “Nine percent of practicing Christians have read E.L. James ' erotic novel, and the same percentage of all American adults have done the same. Sixteen percent of women have read the bestseller.”

That was 12 years ago, before social media was constantly promoting books of this nature. However, the issue has continued to escalate and can be detrimental to families and marriages.

As women, wives, and moms, if we don’t want our husbands, sons, or daughters viewing pornographic material, why is it acceptable to be placed on the living room table?  

Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s (1 Corinthians 18:18-20).