Originally Posted on One Handed Writers.

It’s a common misconception that only women read erotica, that men don’t bother with it. After all, we’re told from a young age that men are ‘visual creatures’. Isn’t that on every page in every Cosmo?

But it’s not true. In fact, there’s not been a single respondent to our survey about what people like in erotica, that has identified as female. Sure, it’s a small sampling of the millions of readers out there, but it’s enough to show that yea, men read erotica. Lots of them. And you know what they like? Romance. M/f/M threesomes. F/m/F threesomes. Incest. Plotlines.

There’s nothing weird at all about this, or about your own desires. People – men and women – have lots in common. Having erotica, and sexual stimulation as a sexual interest can only be good for all parties involved!

It’s hard to remember that men read it, though, because when we look through places like Goodreads and Kindleboards, we’re bombarded with female names talking about erotica. I don’t doubt some of those are men who are embarrassed to like such a “feminine thing”, but since when is liking sex feminine?

There’s a taboo about men who read anything that’s popular with women, though, so it makes sense why they’d feel like they’d have to hide. Plenty of male authors, after all, have female pen names to better fit in with their readership. People feel more comfortable, allegedly, reading erotica written by a woman. It gets even more tangly with the romance genre, as that’s so inundated with female readers and writers, but plenty of men like it too. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with a big, burly man getting a hard-on for a sweet heroine and her adoring hero.

It’s all rather silly to me. This is such a great opportunity for men and women to really bond on an emotional and sexual level. Sure, we have visual porn that we can watch together as a couple, but erotica stimulates us in different ways.

It encourages verbal dialogue, firstly. If you want to learn how to dirty talk, you’re better off reading a book than watching a porn. Want to learn how to really set your partner on fire with a dirty text? Erotica! Want to know how to make them squirm during phone sex? Well, smut has some great ideas for that!

Need a way to spice up a snow storm or a rainy day during a vacation? Read each other passages from an erotic novel. A good one! Remember, it’s okay to be embarrassed and laugh, though.

In the end, it’s just one of those things that men and women ultimately have in common that we ignore. I hope that more men come out of the wood-works and talk about how much they love good erotica, and how much they love their partners reading it and fucking them!