Gender aside, John Sutherland, a professor of modern English literature at University College, London, doubts that the written word can still turn anyone on very much. In Pelling's view, though, women are more accustomed to bringing imagination and tenderness into play and consequently write erotic tales in sensual, situational detail, but with economy. Erotica is about suspense, detail and build-up. There's a pleasant feeling of being cheated, of being kept on the burn for a while. Pornography doesn't provide that.
Pornography is kinetic.
And it doesn't have much charm. The thick, glossly quarterly with a circulation of 15,000 emerged last June. It's not about keeping warm. Different strokes for different folks, perhaps. But in the realm of romance, both magazines recently focused on the simple pleasure of kissing.