Heleen van Royen’s Sex Diary: Femme Fatale or media culture maven?

The Dutch novelist Heleen van Royen launched her Sex Diary (Sexdagboek) in 2018 a book that contains 365 days of sex. rom ‘experimental’, ‘hard’ and ‘passionate’ sex to ‘tender’, ‘lazy’ and ‘wonderful’ sex (Van Royen, 2018). discussed in great detail but other themes such as being a woman and becoming older.  most important  to write a book about the sex life of her and her twenty-two years younger boyfriend was to break a taboo. According to the fifty-four years old novelist, discussing one’s sex life is not done and is accompanied by much shame (Berkeljon, 2018).

“In this diary, I will reveal my sex life. You may know what I do, what I think, what I fantasize. I hope to do you a favour with this. (…). Above all, I hope it frees you. That it gives you the space to look at your own sex life without any shame” (Van Royen, 2018, p. 18).

Sharing private parts and stories of herself in public was not new to Van Royen. In 2014, she combined intimate selfies of her body, sexuality and mood, that she had posted on social media, in the book Selfmade (Van Royen, 2014). Eventually, the selfies ended up in an exhibition where visitors got the chance to admire her intimate self-portraits on canvas, including the ‘tampon selfie’ which was much-discussed (Berkeljon, 2018). Furthermore, in 2006 she appeared naked on the cover of the erotic magazine Playboy and a year later, she published the non-fictional book Stout (Naughty) about flirting, success, power, lingerie and eroticism, that she wrote together with lingerie designer Marlies Dekkers (Trouw, 2006; Van Royen & Dekkers, 2007).

One could say that her Sex Diary was a ‘logical step’ in her career since it fits her previous works. After all, the reveal of her personal (sex) life has brought fame and success to the novelist. For instance, various selfies from the exhibition Selfmade were sold through an online auction where the ‘tampon selfie’ raised 1900 euros (AD, 2014). Furthermore, her fictional novels such as De Gelukkige Huisvrouw (The Happy Housewife), Godin van de Jacht (Goddess of the Hunt) and, De Ontsnapping (The Escape) which contain many erotic elements, all became ‘bestsellers’ (Lebowski Publishers, n.d.).

By now, Van Royen knows that ‘sex sells’. This raises the question of whether she wrote down her sexual experiences due to the fact that writing about sex (personally related or not) brought her success before. Given the fact that ‘success’ plays an important role in today’s media culture, according to Bax (2018).  culture that is characterised by ‘unwritten rules’ which literary writers have to deal with in order to be successful.

Van Royen is also part of this culture. Yet this does not mean that ‘gaining or maintaining success’ was the main reason to write a Sex Diary. One could also say that Sex Diary enables Van Royen to reveal who she is, how she wants others to look at her and what public role she wishes to perform. For instance, the role of the Femme Fatale A public identity that is known by her beauty as well as her mysticism and who is seen as a devourer of men (De Klerk & Schalkwijk, 2005).

Therefore, this paper will explore how we, the audience, should look at Heleen van Royens Sex Diary. Possibly, this diary could be the result of her performance as a literary writer in our current media field in which unwritten ‘norms’ and ‘rules’ affect how authors behave themselves. On the other hand, by this diary, Van Royen can also give substance to her role as a Femme Fatale. Therefore, this paper will first look at the characteristics of a Femme Fatale. This role already appeared in the Greek mythology, but got a new dimension at the end of the 19th centuryFemme Fatales were popular figures in art and literature  (Von der Thüsen, 1993).

This is why the paper will especially focus on the Femme Fatale of the 19th century. After having explored the characteristics of a Femme Fatale and to what extent Van Royen coincides with this role, this paper will then concentrate more on the characteristics of today’s media culture and how determinant the unwritten rules for literary writers are. By focussing on both fields, it will become easier to give an answer to the question of why Van Royen h her Sex Diary. This will eventually also lead to an answer to the following research question of this paper:

How should the audience read the Sex Diary of novelist Heleen van Royen?

The Femme Fatale of the 19th century

The Femme Fatale is mainly a fictional role.  Greek antiquity, there were ‘fatal women’ (De Klerk & Schalwijk, 2005). Think about Circe, who turned her enemies into animals and Clytemnestra, who murdered her husband (RoSa, 2005). Furthermore, the Egypt queen Cleopatra and biblical figures like Jaël, Judith, Lilith, Eva and Delila are also seen as Femme Fatales (RoSa, 2005).

At the end of the 19th century, the Femme Fatale was revitalized. During this period, the Femme Fatale served as the main topic in many works of painters and literary writers. Decadence is a trend in art without any ‘social, religious or moral ties’ in which the Femme Fatale played an important role (Bel, 2003, p. 55). The Femme Fatale is, for instance, visible in several works of art of the Norwegian painter Edward Munch, such as the Red and White Woman of 1894 (Von der Thüsen, 1993). Whereas women used to be the victims and men sadists, during this era, women played the role of dangerous and threatening figures in various novels, paintings and operas (De Klerk & Schalwijk, 2005).

The Femme Fatale thus gained much popularity in art and literature at the end of the 19th century. Moreover, the emergence of women’s emancipation also played a role within the increasing popularity of The Femme Fatale. Whereas women not used to be part of the public sphere, during the 19th century women gained more and more visibility in society since they were allowed to practice certain professions, such as a teacher and secretary (Von der Thüsen, 1993). Moreover, at the end of this century, male scientists discovered that women were doing masturbation and had sex with persons of the same sex. For a long time, there was this idea that women were ‘self-sacrificing and asexual creatures’, but the opposite turned out to be true (De Klerk & Schalwijk, 2005, p.111). Women had their own sexual needs and requirements and were sexually independent of men.

This was in contradiction with the worldview and the church’s view towards women, who were seen as less important human beings (Von der Thüsen, 1993). Women were only allowed to have sex in order to pleasure the man or to become pregnant. The sexual unfolding of women was seen as a threat and danger by men. Women were no longer subordinate to men, which is why men considered this as a loss of status. Therefore, the Femme Fatale in the 19th century is ‘fatale’ in the sense that men have lost their control over women. She no longer underestimates herself to men, but believes that she has the same (sexual) rights as they have. This makes her also a devourer of men because she chooses men for her own pleasure, not for his.

Heleen van Royen as Femme Fatale

Taking the sexual unfolding and independence of women in the 19th century into account, one could say that Van Royen’s Sex Diary is a way to give substance to the role of Femme Fatale. An important reason to write this diary was to help women in order to improve their sex lives. In her diary, she discusses that 95 percent of men get an orgasm during hetero sex, which only applies to 30 to 50 percent of the women (Van Royen 2018). Van Royen argues that women ‘deserve’ more:

Close your eyes and think of England is what women were told before their wedding night. I would say Open your eyes and take what you need” (Van Royen, 2018, p. 18).

Women not only deserve the same pleasure as men, but they are also entitled to it:

“If he [boyfriend] would have an orgasm 95 percent of the time when we had sex, I wanted to have the same” (Van Royen, 2018, p. 85).

This applies to the Femme Fatale, who wants to fulfil her own sexual needs and instincts rather than the ones of a man. Van Royen addresses that this is not only a task for men, but for women as well. Women are not used to ‘claiming’ sexual pleasure, but if they want to improve their sex life they have to, according to the novelist, (Opzij, 2017). Again, this applies to Femmes Fatales, who discovered by masturbation that a man is not needed in order to achieve sexual pleasure. Masturbation also plays a large role in Van Royen's sex lifes the reader gets much informed about the various types of vibrators the novelist uses. She uses her ‘toys’ not only during masturbation but also when she makes love with her boyfriend. This demonstrates that her partner is often not able to give her an orgasm during their sex, only Van Royen is capable to do so. Besides, her partner is not really enthusiastic about these ‘lawn-mowers’, but she does not lend an ear (Van Royen, 2018, p. 144).

Another feature of the Femme Fatale is her beauty. The French poet Baudelaire compared the Femme Fatales with Les Fleurs du Mal (Harsh Flowers), (Koopman, 2010). Women are often correlated with flowers because of their beauty and sexual passivity. Yet, behind this beauty, there are other, harsh, characteristics. This enables women to confuse men with their beauty.

Van Royen also transforms in ‘une fleur du mal’ during one scene in her diary. While she is cooking, she is wearing erotic clothes which makes her partner wants to have sex. Instead of having sex, Van Royen first wants to have dinner, after which she wants to watch a movie. When her boyfriend finally thinks that ‘the moment’ is there, Van Royen decides to do some training exercises. Eventually, they go to bed without having had sex. This scene shows that Van Royen seduces her boyfriend with her beauty, but at the same time she confuses him. He got the impression that they would go to have sex which did not happen.

Media Logic

Taking these characteristics into account, we might say that Heleen van Royen fits in the role of the Femme Fatale. Her Sex Diary enables her to perform this role. Is this the reason why she published her Sex Diary? It is nearly impossible to answer this question without having a look at our current media culture which is characterised by a determinant ‘media logic’ which has transformed the position and behaviour of today’s literary authors. Van Royen is also part of this media logic, which is why she has to deal with the accompanying ‘rules’ as well.

Altheide and Snow (1979) argue that the media create and operate from a certain ‘logic’ that affects how others orient themselves to the media. Politicians, for instance, need to crop up on newsrooms and need to ‘behave’ according to the ‘norms’ of media logic in order to be heard. iterary writers these standards as well, which can change their attitude and the way they work.

Moran (2000) argues, for instance, that the literary writer in the United States has changed into a literary celebrity. In order to be a ‘famous’ author, you have to be present. This can be achieved by cropping up on talk shows, providing ‘in-depth’ interviews in newspapers and magazines and attending literary festivals and public debates. Authors are thus part of a commercial system where they have to promote themselves and their books. He even speaks of a ‘meet the author-culture’, which means that authors have become a brand.

Bax (2019) also notices that literary writers and their appearances have changed. Whereas the literary writer in the 20th century was characterised as ‘extraordinary’, ‘independent’ and ‘selfless’, the literary writer of the 21st century has to obey the ‘unwritten rules’ of the contemporary media culture (p. 7). The first ‘rule’ is success, which is accompanied by facts and numbers. The second one is ‘authenticity’, because the mass media and the audience have a desire to ‘realness’, ‘intimacy’ and ‘true stories’ (Bax, 2019, p. 9). This is also argued by Moran (2000) who clarifies that personality plays an important role. The third ‘rule’ is that authors have to be involved in politics and topicality.

Heleen van Royen’s media logic

Van Royen is not free from media logic either. Just like others, she has to obey certain rules. With her Sex Diary, Van Heleen fulfilrules about which Bax is talking. Firstly, before she published her Sex Diary, Van Royen was already a ‘successful’ author. Many of her novels are ‘bestsellers’ and are translated into various languages. Furthermore, with her strong, feminist statements she interferes in public debates and topicality, which is also a condition in order to be a successful author (Bax, 2019).

Moreover, many of her novels have ‘non-fictional’ elements. For instance, her first novel De Gelukkige Huisvrouw (The Happy House Wife) is based  suicide of her father and her postnatal depression after the birth of her first child (Zwagerman, 2005; Opzij, 2017). This fits in today’s desire to realness within the literary landscape, as Bax (2019) argues. Van Royen knows that realness ‘sells’ This is why Selfmade, exists of selfies about her own body, mood and sexuality (Van Royen, 2014). Van Royen herself has become a brand with the results that her novels cannot be been apart from her anymore.

Bax (2019) also emphasises that a novel has to be part of the authors’ media strategy to become successful. Therefore, it is ‘logical’ that it is Van Royen herself who plays the main character in her Sex Diary. It has barely become impossible  Van Royen not to write about herself, because she has turned her personal sex life into a trade name. Furthermore, with her ‘success’, ‘strong and feminist opinion’ and ‘true stories’, Van Royen ‘obeys’ the unwritten rules of today’s media culture. One could say that this is the reason why she wrote a Sex Diary because beforehand she could have known that her book was going to be successful since she ‘obeyed’ the rules. Indeed, her Sex Daily developed into a success. It has become a bestseller and counts various editions (RTLBoulevard, 2018). Additionally, her diary will also be adapted for the big screen (AD, 2018).

Yet, an Royen find it necessary to emphasise that it is not about the money, which becomes clear during an interview:

“This Sex Diary feels as a liberated task. (…). It has nothing to do with money since I won’t get rich with it”, (Berkeljon, 2018).

Telling this is a smart strategy of Van Royen because apart from the fulfilment of the media standards, she also still needs to contain some elements of the 20th-century literary writer, which is autonomy, independency and selfless (Bax, 2019). Though, her wealth was in 2017 estimated at around three million euros (Smits, 2017). Thus, she does get ‘rich’ from her novels.

Femme Fatale or Literary writer?

It is hard to give an answer to the question of how the audience should read Heleen van Royen’s Sex Diary or whether she wrote this Sex Diary as part of her role as a Femme Fatale or her role as a literary writer in the current media culture. Firstly, the novelist would never truly be open about it. Secondly, the ‘unwritten rules’ are not without a reason called ‘unwritten’, since literary writers still want to radiate that they are independent and do not have to obey any rules.

Therefore, the best answer to this question would be a combination of both. In her Sex Diary, Van Royen (2018) tells that she always enjoyed writing about sex. Moreover, as a feminist, she thinks that every woman deserves to have the same sexual pleasure as men. An important aspect of the 19th century Femme Fatale was that she sexually unfolded herself. , the chance is small that Van Royen only wrote her Sex Diary in order to fulfil the standards of today’s media culture, since sharing your personal sex life in public, is an intimate topic. Yet, this does not mean that her fulfilments to the media ‘standards’ did not contribute to the success of the novel. Likely, an unknown novelist without any previous success and no visibility in the media landscape would not have reached the same success.

References

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