7 reasons to read erotic literature

Reading is a habit which offers a whole host of benefits, so much so that it can improve almost any aspect of life, including language. Reading increases your vocabulary considerably and, while your lexis expands, you can feel your grammar, spelling and reading comprehension improve at the same time. Naturally, for this to happen you have to choose your reading sources well. So, why couldn’t erotic literature be such a source? It’s fun, exiting and draws you in from the very first page. 

It could be said that it takes two to write a novel: the writer and the reader. Even though you might be reading the most explicit of erotic novels, your way of transforming the words into images in your mind will always play an important role and will create scenes which vary greatly from how the writer conceived them. Unlike other formats, such as cinema, for example, with erotic literature, whether it be in book or audiobook form, there is always a lot of room for the individual interpretation of the reader. After all, reading really feeds that highly treasured possession: the imagination. 

So, as we are already well aware, there is nothing wrong with sex. Reading about the sex lives and fantasies of other people, diving into their desires and motivations, offers you a distinct prism through which to contemplate and embrace human sexuality. By making sex more natural, after the bombardment of censorship and taboos which has coloured education for most of us, we can really learn. 

In other words: If you need to keep your mind occupied, get it stuck in your favourite book. On average, a person with a mobile phone spends 3 hours and 39 minutes per day looking at it. Television comes a close second with an average of 3 hours and 24 minutes. We are not out to demonise all content-providing media – nothing could be further from our intention; you’re reading this on a screen after all – but the digital era (just like the television boom before it) does bring a bunch of consequences to bear in mind. So, basically, prolonged exposure to screens causes poor sleep hygiene and reduced quality of relaxation, not to mention blurred vision, headaches… Instead, grab yourself a good erotic book. Your eyes, brain and your imagination will thank you for it. 

Like we just said, screen use, especially at night, causes bad sleep hygiene and poor quality of relaxation as the blue light emanated by screens alters our circadian rhythm. Circadian rhythms are physical, mental, and behavioural changes which occur within a 24-hour cycle and which generally respond to light and dark, in such a way that during the day we release certain hormones connected to physical and mental performance, and during the hours of darkness we release others which prioritise rest. Altering this rhythm with blue light from screens causes imbalance and, therefore, confuses our natural rest-performance rhythm. Reading, especially at night-time, keeps you away from screens in those pre-sleep hours and makes you sleepy. Furthermore, if it’s erotic literature you have chosen to adorn your bedside table, your dreams are going to be very…. promising. 

Monotony can sometimes paralyse us and weaken our libido into a diminished version of its true pleasure-seeking self. Erotic literature, however, lifts us out of the daily routine and transports us to new horizons full of passion and desire. Not only do characters awaken our empathy so that we feel reflected in the stories, but they can also provide us with the inspiration to discover new desires and, so, explore our sexuality. 

Sex is more than a simple A B C. In our head we collect what we have learned and treasure that which catches our eye or pleases us in some way. However, it’s impossible to fill our fantasies with realities we can’t see, because “what we can’t visualise, doesn’t exist.” Human sexuality is fortunately a complex beast, full of nuance and nourished by the culture which surrounds us, but it is also innate and nuclear. You can explore your own sexuality through erotic literature, using it like a shop window into other realities. When all is said and done, as George R, R. Martin said, “a reader lives a thousand lives.”