Booktok has a big problem with consent

[@starmangriff]

im a hockey player and let me tell you the hockey romance genre bleeding into real life is absolutely real and terrifying, to be quite honest. I am on my hockey team for my school and there are tons of girls who go to the games AND SOME OF THEM ARENT EVEN FROM MY SCHOOL OR THE OPPONENT’S SCHOOL. this doesn’t happen at other sports events besides big football games. i also see tons of girls posting things saying “trust me ladies, hockey guys are the new football guys” and it’s so weird to me that me and my teammates can be sexualized that way for playing a sport, and this sport requires us to be covered head to toe in padding so you can’t even see any part of our bodies unlike with some other sports like football having tight pants and stuff like that. this is kinda long but yeah it’s just weird and the nhl absolutely shouldn’t be feeding into it

[@StochasticGreen]

Welcome to woman's world in everything not just sports. Not saying this should be happening to you but I hope you will use that experience to be an ally to women (not assuming you're not one already).

[@swiftlyaswiftie]

@@StochasticGreenthis is a good sentiment however not for this situation, this whataboutism is not helpful as a guy (who I'm assuming is underage) talks about his own struggles. There's a time and place to discuss certain issues, and a post talking about their own struggles is not it (and not to be misconstrued, women's issues are important however mentioning it during men's issues is imo, not helping)

[@accordingtoalina]

this is shocking behaviour!! I'm so sorry you have to put up with that and thank you so much for sharing - I hope stories like yours will make people take this seriously. Sending you love x

[@CaraHTheRealCie]

This makes me wish I could be there to be a surrogate Auntie for you guys and protect you from this creepiness. Objectification is always awful.

[@starmangriff]

@@accordingtoalinathank you so much!! creepy stuff like this is always important to address whether it be directed towards girls or directed towards guys, but sometimes i feel like it’s less noticeable when it’s happening to guys (not to undermine any experience women have with sexualization! it’s all awful)

[@cocogoat1111]

Some people are just way too comfortable being way too horny and have no consideration towards how it effects REAL people. This behavior from booktok is no better than men catcalling women on the street. It's sexual harassment and it makes the target uncomfortable. It shouldn't need to be said, but please stop saying obscene things to people who don't know you.

[@Rajaas_Reading_Corner]

Yes it's also extremely embarassing on all women's behalf who don't care about sexualizing strangers.

[@Gluc0se4]

It's literally like when guys say "I bEt It'S BubBle GuM piNK" smh

[@CaraHTheRealCie]

I'm an aspiring writer who pens both spicy and non-spicy stories. I would sooner drive a railroad spike through my foot than put myself on TikTok. Objectifying real people is always gross. Just don't do it.

[@Guguchina]

Kiera's stuff make me uncomfortable and was too much. But i do think the real villain was the team's PR. They, who had a duty protect the team's reputation (let alone wellness), went with it and even invited her to a game. It condoned her actions and even encouraged them. Of course it was harder for her to see what she was doing wrong (thats not to say she shouldnt have known anyway but) when the team's pr was also jumping on her bandwagon.

[@nervousbreakdown711]

Some things need to stay in the group chat

[@awkwardpingpongtable8883]

I think it's messed up how people talk about feminism as if it's just about women, when really it's about everyone. Everyone can acknowledge that there are double standards that specifically harm men, but nobody actually tries to change anything. Everybody just shuts up and looks the other way.

[@viniri]

I've always felt a little weird and uncomfortable about face claiming. Even when I was a similar age to the people whose likenesses were being used (think Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson in the early to mid 2000s), it always just felt weird for me. It felt like a step too far for me, I guess. Does that make sense?

[@accordingtoalina]

absolutely! I don't have the vocabulary to express it properly, but there's definitely a boundary that's being crossed there...

[@lbwnova6654]

I understand where she comes from when she points out that the company was a-okay with her and her community sexualizing those hockey players. But if you’re aware of how corporations capitalize on TikTok hype then leave creators out to dry when they take it too far it’s up to you as a creator to control yourself. Idk how much the company supported BookTok sexualizing that hokey player, it’s never ok to run with it and basically sexually harass that man.

[@javierlopez9789]

Yeah she is disgusting but the company is the one who made a huge mistake by giving attention to these women.

[@sydney-zx2hi]

the way that there were multiple other examples i thought about Besides colleen hoover at 11:33 😭

[@accordingtoalina]

It’s not great is it 💀

[@vnsvictrix]

Your videos are always a treat Alina. Thank you for this one, wearing the Dante knit, no less!

[@accordingtoalina]

Yes he deserves some air time! Thanks for watching x

[@paultidwell8799]

if I didn't have to worry about Fiction Romanticizing abuse, then you wouldn't have Women sexually harassing Hockey players because of the hockey romance genre. SO much for being able to tell reality apart from fiction!

[@shadowfax1552]

9:52. English is my native language, and I don't know what that means either. 😭

[@accordingtoalina]

Must be special sexy talk 😅

[@mbelle2128]

this is such a well made video on this topic. just found your channel and it's brilliant!

[@accordingtoalina]

Thank you so much! Lovely to have you here xx

[@ShivelyWrites]

Thanks for bringing this issue to light!

[@sophiamcdonald2768]

you are an underrated icon ❤

[@accordingtoalina]

You’re an angel thank u xxx

[@nizidafabie]

13:00 girl speak for yourself im definately tryina date shrek over here (for legal reasons this is a joke)

[@accordingtoalina]

Lmaoooo good for you queen

[@DidThatOnceInAFeverDream]

"no one wants to date shrek" Me: then why is there literally a spicy shrek fanfic book💀

[@brooklynpalmer3969]

Alex needs to calm down, GOOO TAKE A COLD SHOWER!!!!!

[@cirrusism]

If a man made that kind of content and face claiming... It would end with them being shamed until they lost their job

[@Andywalker-d3w]

this whole saga is insane to me

[@wannabehistorian371]

Hockey romance was a thing? I accidentally wrote a fanfic summary in the genre, huh. But yeah this is… kinda creepy. That’s a real person. I think being creepy towards attractive men has been kind of normalized. Especially celebrities.

[@PritiGautam-kd4vu]

THANKS TO THOSE AUTHORS - who thinks consent is important verbally and physically too. (Asking for consent is attractive). THANKS TO THOSE AUTHORS-authors who dont romantize abuse, violance, stalking.

[@angusmckeogh659]

Authors can write whatever they want. Don't read it if it triggers you. As long as they are not causing harm or defaming a real person. Fiction is fiction. Let's not censor writers.

[@accordingtoalina]

That’s not the point I was making. Of course anyone is free to write as many problematic characters as they like, but let’s not pretend they’re not problematic or attack people for pointing that out.

[@CherryBlossom-yn7oq]

The problem, my darling, happens when people get salty because they can't handle when the things they like get criticized. That also includes pointing out how problematic it can be. There's nothing wrong with that.

[@arkkon2740]

You do know writing a character based on a person would eventually lead to something either really positive or a net negative, right? Especially if its a celebrity and people catch on to who its based off of, this is a scenario where that character, in combination with a weirdo who steps over boundries like puddles after the rain, you get this.

[@Ika0713]

You write what you wanna write. You read what you wanna read. And we can point out how trashy and icky it is. Period

[@okiokipo]

my brother in christ people are more impressionable than you think, i (an incest victim) was led to believe incest was normal and 'hot' due to a fandom space sexualising and normalising it

[@swiftlyaswiftie]

I saw someone say romance books *need* smut scene to be considered good and it genuinely baffled me

[@rouxmizztypoz6778]

I swear it is just normalised p*rn addiction at this point

[@catlady8256]

I sincerely hope those people never get into a relationship bc who in their right mind says that?? 😭🙏

[@nadiayoung8765]

that’s actually crazy bc i loved archers voice by mia sheridan but i think i would’ve enjoyed it way more if there wasn’t any smut in it

[@swiftlyaswiftie]

@@towerofgodfan4107 exactly! Unironically, I've preferred reading 100k plus fanfics than any recent romance book (or just 'booktok' books in general) because it feels so...formulaic and disingenuous than fanfics written by a teen with a tumblr addiction. I think a big part of this is that (ao3 at least) have tags that let you know how much is smut going to be in the fic and are pretty open about the lack of plot (I mean there's literally the pwp tag that just means 'plot? what plot?') and you can filter that out if you don't like it instead of picking up a book promised to be able hockey and it's just sex

[@Guguchina]

Wow. 1. No they do not. 2. That statement reeks of ace erasure...

[@streetlightswillcarryushome]

it's always such a frustrating disaster that people can't put a limit to their behaviour. why can't we learn how to enjoy things while still being respectful to others?

[@accordingtoalina]

Yeah… if nothing else, this is a reminder that no community is a monolith, but rather the sum of a lot of different people and that we have to hold each other accountable

[@donniecapobianco8794]

That's feminism for you

[@francesscaena6822]

@@donniecapobianco8794that‘s not feminism what are you talking about

[@v3nusss130]

@@donniecapobianco8794bro that is NOT feminism tf u yapping about 😭😭🙏

[@celestialArbiter]

if i wanted to read p0rn without plot and dubious consent and weird content id just read fanfic.... why would i spend money on that

[@pantoneoftheyear]

true tho

[@cutedog7746]

The way I have to dig deeply for consent filled books is nasty I just want healthy things

[@accordingtoalina]

Make healthy relationships sexy 🥲

[@sakurablossoms94]

What types of books are you looking for? Romance?

[@Guguchina]

Get a life chloe brown (if I remember correctly) has consent in it. Its a really nice romance book.

[@francesscaena6822]

Do you by any chance wanna drop some recommindations?👉🏼👈🏼

[@cutedog7746]

@@sakurablossoms94 like real people do it's a 2 part queer romance

[@juliemarie612]

I would think that women who have (most likely) dealt with some amount of objectification in their lives, would understand how shitty it feels to be treated like an object. You see the same issue when an older woman sa's a teenage boy, and people react with "damn, that kid probably had game". NO. Sexual assualt is sexual assualt and sexual harassment is sexual harassment. End of story.

[@rouxmizztypoz6778]

Booktok has an issue with over consuming what they like to call "spice" which essentially means that there are now shelves in book shops filled with nothing but what is essentially p*rn with little to no plot. I am currently writing a book that I am absolutely in love with. I love all of my characters and I am working so hard to make my story good. Only to find out that people will literally put my book down and stop reading it or just straight up not buy it because "there's no spice" due to me, the author, finding it just unnecessary to write in my book. That's just so sad and I will not lie, I think this is just a form of normalised p*rn addiction, it's not cute or quirky, it is a problem. You should be able to enjoy a book without it needing to have the promise "spicy scenes". Books have been around as a form of entertainment for hundreds of years and if there was a romantic couple in a book, the climactic moment was a kiss between the two characters. You will survive without reading p*rn for one book, I promise.

[@ettaetta439]

Yep. I'm tired of them calling it spice when it's just porn. They're porn addicts and don't even want to admit it. Just like how we talk about how pornhub ruins men's ability to recognize consent and we trash on them for it, these women are doing the same thing.

[@lightlessmoons]

It was physically painful watching her TikTok’s in this video. People have gotten way too comfortable and audacious on the internet.

[@loup007]

I just find it so weird. Writing and reading these books, fine, but sexualising people in real life? Thats just disgusting. I think people forgot that celebrities are still real persons, even if they can be seen on screen or on a hockey field. And sexualising people on the train for reading?? Even weirder. Imagine someone would post a picture of you and write the most disguting caption underneath, nobody would want that, right? So why do it to others? I just dont understand

[@sanderengelen9140]

Related but unrelated, I love how this always comes back to CoHo romanticizing abuse and nonconsensual s*x

[@readsbyemma]

that’s why i avoid smut books like the plague. i’ve read a few where i think there’s a plot, but turns out it’s just trashy romance filled with unhealthy relationships just for the sake of smut. i know exactly which subgenres to avoid. i understand that there’s an audience for all of it, but i really think it shouldn’t be running this rampant on booktok.

[@rouxmizztypoz6778]

It's genuinely so bad. There are now entire shelves in book shops filled with nothing but smut, these people have a normalised version of p*rn addiction, I swear.

[@strawberryfox8819]

The only good smut is Ao3 smut.

[@gg2fan]

I really feel like the amount of discomfort I've felt watching these women 'express' their sexuality in such blatantly improper ways has helped me, a pretty socially dysfunctional guy, understand how to express my own sexuality, which is always something I've struggled with. The Kiara Lewis stuff made me wince lol, this must be how girls feel when a guy acts like a sex pest and makes objectifying comments about them. I guess this counts as a culturally beneficial side effect of female sex positivity, girls who get way, WAY too positive and help guys reflect on how to behave for themselves, when they witness and experience the effect they can have on girls with their own improperly expressed sexuality. I've always felt like the idea that we need to 'teach' guys how to behave was kind of browbeaty, patronizing, and won't even work- I think this is the real solution. Level the sexual playing field, which we're trying to do anyway, until guys KNOW how far is too far, because they've experienced it for themselves and don't want to make anyone else feel that way.

[@thatgirlwhoreadsalot]

I honestly cannot get over the audacity of making such a video. Like this is not fangirl behaviour, this is plain creepy.

[@gerenuk8245]

WHAT?

[@W1nterdust]

​@@gerenuk8245shes talking about the tiktoker lol

[@OrkWarbossThrakka]

People do seem to forget a lot about personal accountability. The hockey player that was being harassed was not accountable for the harassment he recieved. However the individuals reading spicy fiction have the autonomy to pick up the books, should have the intelligence to differentiate between fantasy and real life, and they are completely accountable for their own actions and the “flip the script” it would be 100% unacceptable if a man were to do this. Everyone is accountable for their own actions, and when the recipient says no, it means no. Bit of a hot take but it’s not even the authors responsibility to police their own story and to make it more appropriate. It’s a form of art, and art shouldn’t be censored. If you don’t want to read this form of writing, don’t purchase the book.

[@sunflowii9420]

Reason why i rarely read romance anymore because even in books its dead

[@katarzynamarzec2291]

I started to read historical romences. It still have smut but plot is more important.

[@Phaedrus88]

Alarming, for certain. Glad you took the time to highlight some of the issues.

[@accordingtoalina]

There’s a lot of content about it floating around if you want to find out more! Thanks for watching xx

[@fakenamebunchonumbers]

The girl trying to criticize the vampire romance (???) book is probably making points, many points, but describing the people who advised her to read the trigger warnings before diving into said book as ‘victim blamers’ is…a choice? A bad choice. Anyway, great video, Alina!

[@amandawilmot6780]

Maybe this is just me, but it's not victim blaming to take responsibility for your own active decisions. If you pick up a book with a tw, read the tw and identify something that could be triggering for you, and yet decide to read the book anyway, you had agency. You made the decision to read the book despite the tw that you say you read, and therefore you bear the responsibility for triggering yourself.

[@zo.ilyouu]

yeah, and also it is the real world. you’re going to see and experience things that are ‘triggering’- that’s the point of things like coping skills

[@arkkon2740]

There's still an issue of the triggers not even being there. Lets say for example a trigger is "sexual harassment on page", one person who can handle that will read while others might not. What if I told you that the "sexual harassment" trigger wasn't alluding to sexual harassment, but sexual assault? Those are very different things, and books either misconstrued the use of triggers or omit them all together and people seem to ignore that. Now said person who was alright with potential catcalling ends up reading a violent grape scene.

[@zo.ilyouu]

@@arkkon2740 no you’re completely right- i feel like it should be disclosed if it’s just eluded to or like you said, there is like a horrible detailed scene in it

[@TheRedRobespierre]

Everyone read the OG “spicy book” writer the Marquis de Sade.

[@accordingtoalina]

That would certainly spark conversation

[@TheRedRobespierre]

@@accordingtoalina is he just a degenerate sex guy or is he critiquing the degeneracy of the Ancien Régime?

[@lonegirl2183]

​@@TheRedRobespierre Considering the rumors about what he would do to his female servants, it's safe to assume it's the former.

[@alissiafiorentini6843]

Naw he was just an huge freak​@@TheRedRobespierre

[@eepy-9]

i’ve heard it from someone else’s video and i think it brings up the problems with the “dark romance” booktok books perfectly. “it’s not kink if both participants aren’t consenting to it.”

[@ninam4066]

Shrek is an ogre, not an orc

[@accordingtoalina]

Big oversight on my part

[@Lukeeeee1]

I’m late asf but I read it ends with us purely because I read a Star Wars romance book and I ended up liking it and I picked up it ends with us because it took place close to where I live and I was shocked. I was happy to learn that people were also shocked about what the book entailed but it’s truly scary to see how the book looked like a YA book when it romanticized SA

[@justmaddiereading]

So well put!!

[@christinaobo]

yess back on youtube and here to keep me ~ cool and informed ~ on all things pop culture

[@accordingtoalina]

Welcome back queen x

[@jesusloveskayla]

This is so EMBARRASSING! And I don’t even read that type of stuff nor am I part of the community..y’all need to act proper

[@chiquitaf16]

Book Spice should be treated like the actual spice of Nutmeg. A little dash here and there enhances the recipe but too much ruins it.

[@neenlancaster]

Im not even a huge hockey fan but out of the teams, I always had a spft spot for the Krakens. They aren't like. Huge. They are known and all but like. Idk its just very odd to have see them making the rounds under this context. Mut have been awful for the guys. What a creep

[@missymitchell9827]

You're so great and ilysm please never stop making videos 😌

[@88crabb]

hello I love you

[@accordingtoalina]

Stop stalking me

[@gerenuk8245]

@@accordingtoalinaomg is he really? I liked the comment because I found it funny but my heart dropped when I considered that you were being serious D=

[@accordingtoalina]

@@gerenuk8245 nooo Kim is my close friend hahaha - she's just leaving me comments to be supportive

[@eric5140]

Promo-SM

[@AerynKDesigns]

I've been a reader and writer of "spicy" books since I was 10yo. That's 30 years of spice. It's not gonna change now. Does a book *have* to have it in there for me to read it? No. If I wrote it though? Yes.

[@donaldhysa4836]

No it doesnt. This is pure fantasy or roleplaying if you will. You give your consent when you start or when you open the book.You can stop at any time or close the book but you cant expect talk of consent in the roleplay scenario itself because that would defeat the whole purpose of the roleplay

[@TeaBooksAndTazmyn]

this is such a brilliant video, thank you for your research and being so articulate 🙏🩷

[@accordingtoalina]

🥹🥹🥹 this is so kind, thank you so much for watching