I now realize that I might be turning off significant numbers of readers through my use of various vagina words, so I need to know, people.
There's the context of real life, where I would never use the word "cunt" unless I was describing with horror somebody using the word "cunt." Then there's smut, where you have to call it something, and calling it a "front hole" every time can get boring quick. So how much is the word (or other similar words like pussy) a turn-off in smut? Should I avoid it? Should I go back and replace every reference to "cunt" in my stories to "panty hamster?"
For example, I've used "cunt" fairly freely in my writings here so far (which are my only erotic writings). I've tried to use it in situations where one character is trying to humiliate another, but also where a female character is feeling negative about themselves or what they're doing. I'm sure, though, that I've used it carelessly and thoughtlessly as well, as a quick fix to get on to the next bit of smut writing, for which I now apologize. I am more inclined to give myself a pass in the former instances because at least I was choosing the word to serve the story in some way, however misguided or heavy-handed that choice was from my readers' standpoints.
In my real life, there hasn't been much occaision to name the vagina. I've been with lots of women, and it hasn't come up much for me. Though I've fantasized about it, I've never encountered a woman who enjoyed conversing about sex either before, during, or after. I guess the most common term I've used is "down there," as in, "are you feeling okay down there?" after a particlarly raucous bout of intercourse.
Outside of websites like this one, American society doesn't converse much about sex, and precious little of that conversation is what I'd call functional: empowering, etc. What's a smut writer to do? I've used terms like "quim," though apparently several readers have never heard the term. I'd like to use terminology that's familiar enough not to be jarring to the reader, appropriate to the era (because some of my literature is set in the 1930's or 1880's) because I want to be as realistic as possible, but also, and I admit I haven't considered this much yet, I don't want to torture my reader with my choice of words to the extent that they are popped out of the story or sickened or whatever. That's the last thing I want.
There are all kinds of cute terms to use, but these could be jarring as well depending on the context.
Help!