Yesterday morning, I was innocently scrolling through Twitter, as I do approximately 367 times a day, and noticed a baffling number of tweets about dick soap.
*Opens Twitter* Soap dick--
Book Twitter every morning: Books books books, good morning, what are you reading today? Book Twitter this morning: DICK SOAP
I have now searched “dick soap” on Twitter and there’s no coming back from this.
Naturally, I immediately had to investigate. This is what I found.
It turns out Yaira Lynn of Bookish Stuff runs a subscription box service themed around "book boyfriends". She recently sent out a box dedicated to Sarah J. Maas’s A Court of Thorn and Roses featuring the now-infamous penis soap.
The box also contained ~sexy~ fan art and a booklet of smutty fanfiction.
A lot of people were shook because, although the book series contains explicit sex scenes and is considered New Adult by many (the age category above Young Adult), it's also frequently positioned amongst YA titles and in YA categories.
IMAGINE. Parent and child, sitting down to open their YA book boxes together, excited to see what their read for next month will be. It's been a great bonding experience, reading together, talking about books, etc. The boxes open, and... soap dick.
acotar stans making dick shaped soap for book boxes... you are freaks and this series is marketed as YA can you not
Other people were careful to point out that the soap should only be used externally.
i'm finally caught up on the dick soap debacle and this is why we need comprehensive sex education. "things you shouldn't put inside your body" should be covered (hint: soap is on that list)
it is really important to me that everyone who gets this box does NOT TRY TO FUCK THE SOAP especially if you have a vagina, and especially if this is perfumed soap (oh god what scent - NO I AM NOT THINKING ABOUT IT) please do not fuck the soap
My concern about the dick soap: I feel like it’s going to lead to some confusion and/or yeast infections. Because vaginas are self-cleaning, but I feel that a dick soap might be an overwhelming temptation for someone w/ no dildo budget who has just discovered getting fingered.
Some people pointed out that the inclusion of fanfiction in a for-profit subscription box was a bigger problem than the dick soap.
Also let’s agree to circle back and discuss someone selling fanfiction for profit, thanks.
Like, okay the dick soap thing is super inappropriate and probably a health risk, but also can we talk about how SELLING FAN FICTION IS NOT OKAY?!
@VictoriaAveyard Yeahhhh it's not the actual dick soap that bothers me, it's unlicensed fanfic that's somehow making a profit? (Unless it is licensed???)
Box creator Yaira Lynn defended the inclusion of the dick soap on her Instagram, without addressing the fanfiction concerns.
All in all, it's been a wild 24 hours for the book community.
me joining YA twitter in 2012: wow I love reading books and need more recommendations! me on YA twitter in 2018: let me tell you why the soap dick is problematic
N a oopened the box n there was fuckin dick soap enside
My thoughts and prayers go out to the Bloomsbury employee who has to manage the YA dick soap crisis of 2018.
So many people in publishing having to send emails this morning with the subject line, "RE: Dick Soap."
Can't focus. Too much Soap Dick Energy radiating from YA Twitter.
i found this picture of YA twitter, you're welcome.
BuzzFeed has reached out to Yaira Lynn and Bloomsbury for comment.
UPDATE: Bloomsbury is yet to respond to BuzzFeed's request for comment, but they did reply to this question on Twitter. 💀
@thedawncourt We are aware of this subscription box. Bloomsbury and Sarah J. Maas are not associated with the box (and its contents) in any way.