Can blow jobs ever be empowering for women? In part one of this episode, Mackenzie and Lily give an abbreviated world history of blow jobs and begin their discussion with award-winning and bestselling historical romance novelist Sarah MacLean about what the romance genre tells us about women over the last 50 years, how Christian Grey became a recession-era daddy, and which romance author she thinks writes the best dirty talk.

Part two of this episode (including a discussion about a very nautical blow job) will be available on Wednesday, October 7th.

Content warning: Brief discussions of rape, sexual assault, and non-consensual acts in a historical context.

Major episode timestamps: Introduction (0:00), Housekeeping (1:18), Introduction to Episode Topic (2:24), An Abbreviated History of Blow Jobs (5:18), Introduction to Sarah MacLean (20:46), Sarah MacLean Bio (28:20), Question About How Sarah Got Into Romance Writing (30:55), Discussion About the Twilight Franchise's Influence in the Romance Genre (33:08), Question About What the Romance Genre Tells Us About Women in General Through the Decades (37:44), Discussion of the Rise of Consent in Romances (47:48), Conclusion (51:05).

Content warning timestamps: Discussions of Sexual Assault in a Historical Context (13:15-13:53), Discussion of Rape in Kathleen Woodiwiss' The Flame and the Flower (42:07-43:41), Romances with #MeToo Themes (48:09-48:58).

You can get full show notes and episode transcriptions on the Bad Bitch Book Club website: http://badbitchbookclub.com/podcast.

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Friends to Lovers is a Bad Bitch Book Club podcast hosted by BBBC founder Mackenzie Newcomb and writer, editor, and bestie Lily Herman. Each week, they use books as a jumping off point to talk about sex, relationships, dating, love, romance, and more.

Podcast logo by MKW Creative Co. (https://mkwcreative.co/) and music by Eliza Rose Vera (http://www.elizarosevera.com).