For those of you who haven't been exposed to it, Erotic literature consists of fictional or factual stories that deal with sexual relationships. It allows the reader to become sexually aroused and explore sexual fantasies through words written on the page. 50 Shades of Grey by E. L. James would be a popular example of an Erotic novel.
The eroticism within this genre has become the stereotypical view of romance novels, but also the most popular for women to read. You can probably guess why this genre is so alluring to women-because it is pretty much like reading porn.
However, that is not the only reason women read these novels. Just like any other novel, Erotic novels are a type of escape. Women are able to place themselves within the story and connect with it not only on a sexual level, but also on an emotional level.
Erotic novels typically have the basics of a story such as a plot line, character development, insight, imagery, etc. Depending upon the author's writing, some Erotic novels aren't as appealing to those that prefer novels with a wider variety of vocabulary and description.
Out of curiosity, I researched a little bit about Erotica and its correspondence with women. I found an interesting study called Gender, Romance Novels and Plastic Sexuality in the United States: A Focus on Female College Students. The study was done in 2006 by Hue-Hsia Wu, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at Boise State University.
In summary, the study explores whether or not women who read romance novels have a stronger interest in sexuality than men who read romance novels, and non-readers. However, as hypothesized in the study, a stronger sexual interest does not necessarily mean that women will be more active in sexual behavior.
What was interesting was that on page 126 of the study, there is a description of the mating strategies that each gender associates with. The article pretty much says that the male mating strategy is to sexually visualize unfamiliar women when fantasizing.
Whereas, female fantasies are typically based on, "symbolic meanings, interpretive representation, of sexual self and a relationship." This expresses why women prefer to read erotic romance novels over pornography.
Women are more geared towards finding an emotional connection to the stories, reflecting themselves within the novel, exploring relationships through a character's eyes, and in a way experiencing their own sexual fantasy by reading in-depth descriptions.
I wonder, what do those of you who read Erotica or even those of you who don't read it think the reason why women read Erotica is? Do you agree with my opinion or not? If not, then what is your opinion?
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