Why Smut Is So Empowering

Let’s get one thing straight, darling: smut is not your guilty pleasure. It’s your power move.

For far too long, women have been told to cross our legs, lower our voices, and be grateful for crumbs when it comes to desire. Then along comes a book with a heroine who demands her own orgasm, and suddenly—scandal!—you realise you’ve been settling for less than the bare minimum.

That’s the magic of smut. It’s cheeky, it’s fun, and yes, sometimes the metaphors for certain body parts make us howl. But beneath the ridiculousness lies a revolution: women taking up space in the one arena we’ve been told to keep quiet about — our pleasure.

When you read smut, you’re not just following a spicy storyline. You’re practising the radical act of imagining yourself at the centre of desire. You’re giving yourself permission to want things, to name them, to explore them — whether that’s slow-burn tension, a bit of bondage, or a happily-ever-after that actually satisfies.

And guess what? There’s nothing shameful about it. In fact, it’s bloody empowering.

Which brings me to something I’ve been dying to share with you: Ask Peaches.

Think of it as your saucy agony-aunt column, minus the pearl-clutching. Each week, you’ll write to me with your dilemmas — from “help, I’ve never had an orgasm with a partner” to “is it normal that I want to be ruined by a fae warrior?” And I’ll write back with straight-talking advice, book recs that will melt your Kindle, and maybe even the odd toy suggestion to take the edge off (ahem).

Here’s the thing, peaches: the question you’re sitting on right now? I guarantee at least a hundred other women are thinking the exact same thing. When you share it, you give someone else permission to feel less weird, less alone, and a hell of a lot more empowered.

So don’t hold back. Stay anonymous, sign off with a fun little pseudonym (Confused in Cornwall? Smut Virgin in Seville? I adore it already), or own it with your name if you’re feeling bold. However you write in, you’ll be safe, celebrated, and maybe even set on a new reading (or bedroom) adventure.

Because smut isn’t just entertainment. It’s liberation, darling. And I can’t wait to hear your stories.

👉 Submit your questions to peaches@ladieswholit.co.uk — and let’s start talking about the things everyone else is too shy to say out loud.