Are Teachers Allowed To Write Erotica?

In the news:
In the last week of April, a Pennsylvania high school teacher was “outed” for writing romance novels under the pen name Judy Mays. Guess what she teaches? Yep, English – like my grandmother –and so the connections start to be made. Worse yet, according to nay-sayers, these aren’t inspirational romances; Mays delves in the erotic realm. Although Mays does not discuss her writ- ing in the classroom and she’s taken a pseudonym, some parents have called for her to either give up one career or the other.

Since then, Mays’ students, the romance world of readers and writers, and others have bonded together in support of her right to write. At the time of this writing, a support group of readers, writers, and others have bonded together in support of her right to write.

Hat tip: Night Owl Reviews

Comments

Vince Ferraro said…
OMG. Are we getting so narrow minded and PC ??? For all of our advances we are still in the stone age socially it seems. What happened to innocent until proven guilty. If the teacher was promoting her erotica in the class or some thing else that WAS inappropriate I could see a cripe, but please..let's use common sense.
Gabriella said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Gabriella said…
I deleted the first one to add something. This country has been narrow minded and PC as long as I've been alive here. I makes me sick to see something like this happening to this teacher. She has already proven she never talked about this in any of her classes, so I didn't see what the big deal was. You're right Vince, I hope people would use common sense.
void said…
Wow! Man...was I just thinking about this topic tonight...then I came across your blog! I'm an aspiring secondary education teacher of English, and I was wondering if it would be a conflict of interest to write rated "R" literature while teaching minors? This has answered my question & gives me a lot to think about....

Thanks for sharing!
wannabuy said…
I fail to see the issue, she used a pen name!

Maybe I'm narrow minded in thinking a teacher of minors should use a pen name... but since she did... LET HER WRITE!

I too fail to see the big deal...
Neil
Jai Joshi said…
I don't think it's fair for people to have a problem with her writing. If she was talking about it or advertising her writing to her students then that would be a problem but she wasn't so what's their problem?

I just had a thought though. What kind of erotic was it? Some stuff out there is really wacky. When I think about it, I wouldn't want my kids being taught by someone who wrote about really gross stuff. So I can understand how some parents might be wary. But I guess it depends on the subject matter. And if she wasn't discussing it with her students, or involving it in her teaching life in any way then it's irrelevant, isn't it?

Jai

Jai
Gabriella said…
You have been nominated for the Irresistibly Sweet Blog Award! Check out my blog for details!
Kris said…
I don't see a problem with her writing erotica. She hasn't shoved the writing down her students' throat or anyone else's throat for that matter. And she even used a pen name to make sure she did not get scrutinized for it. So why is she being punished for at least trying to keep her writing life and teaching life separate?