Erotic Fiction: A Gateway into the Lifestyle?

I have heard some speculate on erotic fiction being a gateway for many into the lifestyle. This was not the case for me. I can see the purpose of erotic fiction as more of a way to express one’s personal kinks and sexual interests. I do not see it as something to base one’s life off of. I see people who are highly invested in erotic fiction as role players and fantasy seekers. Although I can always appreciate a good story, I fail to see philosophy and changing my path in life due to reading an erotic novel.

The problem with using erotic fiction as tool by which to live your life is pretty clear, in my not so humble opinion. One is the characters predicted in these books do not face real life problems like paying the bills, growing old, illness, and etc. The stories leave out the boringness of real life like when you have scrubbed to toilet for the 500th day in a row, there is no longer anything erotic or exciting about it. It is just something that has to be done.

In erotic fiction the reader is always looking for the next adventure and the new adventure should start daily. In reality, a new adventure doesn’t start every day. In fact as time goes on the days become more and more predictable. The days start to become the same after awhile and they begin to run together.

I regress; perhaps erotic fiction is gateway in the sense that it opens the door to the idea of s/m which is quite different than M/s. Perhaps once spanking no longer became taboo for them they were able to open up into more of a power exchange, which I hope they learnt about somewhere other than in fiction.

I am not convinced that erotic fiction is a gateway into the lifestyle, rather I think if anything erotic fiction is a gateway into new ideas for kinky sex and that is about it.

-emma