March 1st, 2010 — About, Cowboy
We discussed sandalwood in The Smell of a Hero, now we’re going to talk about two other scents associated with romance heroes: leather and horse. If a hero doesn’t smell of sandalwood or another woodsy scent, he smells of rich leather and hot horse.
I guess that means… At base, all men are cowboys! Yum...
Oh and can we say ew on smelling like a horse? Nothing like the smell of hot sweaty horse flesh for your hero. Grimace. So why is it used as an indicator of manliness in romance? Because those who are horse lovers associate that scent with something else. They say a horse smells warm and earthy. Both words are indicators of comfort, trustworthiness, and wholesomeness.
Leather is a family of fragrance. You will find leather as a middle or base note in many fragrances. It’s a soft, deep, buttery sort of scent. In masculine fragrances it is often stronger--sharper.
Now, if you pull out the adjectives from both horse and leather you have a wealth of implied base descriptors for a hero. Rich. Hot. Comfort. Warm. Earthy. Trustworthy. Wholesome. Strong. Sharp. Soft. Deep. Buttery.
Are authors as guilty of attributing personality traits through the smells associated with their heroes? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
Smell is a hard thing to describe because our olfactory sense is not very developed in comparison to other species. I can only think of two other descriptors for sexy men off the top of my head: patchouli and spicy. That doesn’t give authors a lot of leg room.
And real men like to smell masculine too. Their cologne must evoke a unique, cultured and classic feel. They must exude sexuality, power, strength, and confidence. Can we say yuminess? This means men gravitate toward woodsy, spicy, leathery, warm and earthy scents for themselves. Authors got it right.
One more cowboy for the road...
What other sexy manly scents can you think of? Let's start a list!
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February 11th, 2010 — About
He's musky, woodsy, and oftentimes earthy, but overall a hero's scent is akin to sandalwood. Why is that? A curious reader wants to know!
Sandalwood: semiparasitic fragrant yellowish woods used often for their essential oils.
I researched sandalwood to figure out its appeal. I found that it's been used in incense and perfumes for over 4,000 years. It is said the best sandalwood smell comes from a mature tree as opposed to a young tree.
Sandalwood as a note is a striking wood base. It has a bright and fresh edge with few natural analogues. In most perfumes and scents I find it very strong. It permeates a small space easily and can be very heady despite the crisp edge. For me, the scent of sandalwood lingers, smelling like a memory after a time.
Sandalwood Today:
Most of the sandal forests are gone, having been depleted over the years to meet up with demand. Part of the problem is how it is harvested. They pull up the whole tree instead of just hacking at the base because the natural essential oil is so expensive.
Can you imagine how lucrative growing sandal trees must be?
Nowadays true sandal trees are heavily monitored, though poachers are still a problem, and trees within the same family are being used instead and labeled sandalwood.
Application:
Taking what we know of sandalwood and applying it to the genre we can deduce that it represents many characteristics for a discerning writer.
First and foremost sandalwood represents the earth. A sandalwood scented hero is a man of dirt and woods; he is robust, practical, and worldly. In a word sandalwood is manliness.
Secondly, sandalwood represents wealth, luxury, and status because it is scarce, expensive, and refined. A hero smelling of sandalwood is a rare specimen of finest quality.
Lastly, sandalwood scented heroes are in dire need of a helmet and a spear to ward off the ladies eager to sink their claws into him. His first two qualities alone will make him the sexiest man on the block and being so intensely desired requires a protector... a job the heroine is more than willing to fulfill.
Fragrances with Sandalwood (likely chemically produced versus naturally produced): 1189! Eau de Sandalwood by Le Jardin Retrouvé Review
Photo Credits: nicholaslaughlin
Originally posted 2009-05-30 03:50:35. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
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November 12th, 2009 — About, Rape/Abuse
Why is spanking prevalent in older romances? I kid you not the hero gets upset then he takes heroine and bends her over his knee to end an argument. Is it supposed to be sexy? It just comes across as daddy issues gone wrong.
My recent read had such a scene and it was very jarring with the rest of the story. My take on spanking is that with the exception of erotica stories, the usual reaction from a woman should be “WTF is wrong with you? You’re not my father. Stay away!” as she runs from the guy.
I believe it was a tactic by the author to stop a seemingly childish argument from lasting longer. The point isn’t whether or not the argument was childish it is the reaction that of the hero that concerns me. Spanking comes across very controlling; it is after all a form of behavioral punishment.
Disciplinary spanking is often reserved for parent/child relationships. Sometimes it appears for non-sexual purposes in husband/wife relationships as a “part of their [couple’s] overall belief system in how a husband and wife should interrelate.” Even then it’s still between two consenting adults.
In the case of an older romance novel it appears to come about at the frustration of the hero. He simply snaps and surprises the heroine with this form of punishment. The scene is not consenting at all. The heroine usually struggles for release.
Was spanking a way to show off how alpha the hero was? Is this just another in a long line of heroes showing off their manliness in the wrong way? Should this type of hero be labeled spanking-alpha hero to go alongside his cousin rapist-alpha hero and his twin wife-rapist-alpha hero?
As far as I can tell it's not limited to just romance novels - take the picture shown above. Ricky Ricardio is spanking Lucy. Non-erotica romances today aren't filled with spanking heroes, so was this simply a sign of the times?
What are your thoughts?
Photo Credits: http://weheartit.com/
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