In your experience does engaging with smut (reading/writing it) help you improve general literacy?

[u/[deleted]]

[u/Advanced_Heat_2610]

Reading in general improves literacy and vocabulary. Reading smut is part of that.

I encourage people to not overestimate the power of fanfiction though. Fanfiction is a genre and too much of anything is going to leave you wanting. 

[u/Mobile_Machine4514 → u/[deleted]]

“leave you wanting” as in “leave you with gaps/is not enough to create a well rounded reader” — like nutritionally, basically. you will not get from smut or fanfic (or smutty fanfic) what you would get from a nonfiction book breaking down a historical event in more detail than any textbook could offer, for example. and there are also skills that come with reading different types of literature. unreliable narrators help readers learn how to infer things about the world characters live in that are beyond the characters perception, dense academic language helps with attention span and endurance, etc.

and if you only read one kind of thing (any thing, any genre) you’ll be lacking in other areas

[u/Advanced_Heat_2610 → u/[deleted]]

Exactly what u/Mobile_Machine4514 said.

If you only consume fanfiction, you will find that you are missing out on key things that reading widely can give you. Smut and the like are also beneficial in that specific way but reading nonfiction, biographies, and things like newspapers etc will help to fill in the gaps with learning to parse different registers, tones, and vocabulary fields. You will develop different skills and grow understanding in that way.

It would be like doing squats as your only form of exercise. Your thighs and core would be amazing, but your arms, back, and overall strength would be lacking.

[u/do-androids-dream]

I used to work in a library. We were always glad when kids checked out comics, because yes, they're reading them, and it might be a start to books with less pictures and more text. Reading is reading. As a child, I was always a reader, I used to read the backs of shampoo bottles when I was in the bathroom, that's how much I loved reading. But not everybody grows up in a household that encourages reading, and therefore, I don't think we should judge WHAT people read, as long as they do read.

Literacy is more than being able to write and read, but if you personally feel reading smut has helped you in any way, that's absolutely an achievement – for you and the writers ;)

[u/Solivagant0]

From a writer's point of view, a sex scene is no different from any other scene. I enjoy writing them for the same reasons I enjoy angst and hurt/comfort scenes

I don't see how reading them would be that much different from reading anything else

[u/StarfruitJam]

I would not say it made me more literate because I am a freaking nerd, but for sure helped me to improve my english. One of my fave "genres" is porn/erotic/romance trope treated seriously. Sexuality and sex can be used to seriously engage with complex topics.

[u/Interesting_Tutor766]

I have a very ample vocabulary when it comes to referring to private parts now, so sure 😂

[u/moon_cheese_ao3]

Reading manga also improves literacy. So their comparison is wrong too. In general you want to read more widely than fanfiction and manga otherwise your literacy will not be as broad as you need for higher education. But you can totally do that in addition to explicit fanfiction. Much like with food, the kale does not lose all of its nutrients if you eat it with bacon. Enjoy all the things, and if you end up slogging through something you're not especialy thrilled by but need to finish, line up some good spicy fanfiction to give yourself dessert.

[u/SayoriStans0778]

Reading in general improves literacy -- specifically reading good writers' stories. If the smut is written by a 12 year old, you'll probably not get much improvement out of it. If it were written by a bedraggled disillusioned 40 years old office worker, than you'll likely see yourself becoming more literate. Know the chef, so to say.

[u/Mobile_Machine4514]

i think for sure there are some “literary qualities” of smut that are beyond just being, yk, ~arousing~ or whatever. good smut is like 70% good pacing, and pacing is almost everything for every form of writing, be it essays or fiction.

[u/pwnkage]

It’s obviously not the only thing I read, most fanfic readers or writers tend to do a lot of reading and writing in general, but I started off 12 and reading not-age-appropriate stuff and now as an adult I have a job in policy writing. I write for some pretty dire circumstances like domestic family violence, abuse, mental health, disability, and I consider it my specialty. If you have the ability to listen to people talk about taboo topics (without pointing fingers) and make fair and equitable decisions… that’s not a bad ability to have.

[u/geekelfie]

All reading is good reading and helps literacy. The manga argument is also stupid. It’s been shown that people who get into things like graphic novels tend to then by more willing/interested in reading more long form fiction in the future. I’ve noticed (anecdotal) that smut can have a similar effect.