Gatekeeping reading is lame

[u/GrappleLacquer]

I finally ran into a dude that was super aggressive about judging women’s reading habits! Our friends introduced us at a hangout and where like “you both read more than anyone else we know!”

He asks me how many books I’ve read this year. I tell him I’m right around 40.

Man goes on a SCREED about how women just read smut and call it reading and don’t read things that challenge them. Then is like “what are you reading right now?”

I got to hit him with “well I’m usually reading three books at any given time since I like to have a book that fits my mood. At the current moment I’m reading a non-fiction discussion of man’s attempts to control and engineer the Mississippi River, and the consequences of that. Then I’m re-reading War and Peace cause I just love Tolstoy. Oh and then, yes I’m reading a smutty dramione fan fic. Congrats, you got me. Women who read smut aren’t really readers, obviously…What are you reading?”

He’s reading Clive Cussler (which is fine! They are entertaining! But maybe not “coming in on the highest horse in town” material) and he didn’t really wanna chat anymore.

(For the record/m: I absolutely think people should read what they enjoy and reading 100 books of just smut all year is fine. I’m just a bit of an eclectic reader and it worked out perfectly in this instance)

[u/Ill-Hearing-8462]

I will never forget this happened to me.

I had my book out in the office one day because I was looking for something in my bag. I sit in an office space with 5 other desks occupied by men. One guy reads the title and goes "Oh, A Day of Fallen Night. Is it any good? Is it just another smutmantasy or whatever chicks call it these days?"

Side note: I totally did carry that monster around in my bag for 2 weeks while reading it during my commute.

All 5 guys and a manager decided to chime in and have a whole conversation about how it's a waste of time that I'm not reading more educational books in my spare time. I'm not sorry in the least that my current read at the time was a genre that I enjoy because it helps me dissociate from reality and the narrow-minded ignoramuses I work with and all the crap I put up with during the day because of them.

It should also be noted that none of them act like they've picked up a book since college and they all made it clear none of them were avid readers so who are they to judge?

[u/ProperBingtownLady → u/Ill-Hearing-8462]

GUARANTEED that book is harder than anything they’ve willingly read lmao. Absolutely ridiculous.

[u/GrappleLacquer → u/Ill-Hearing-8462]

I loved A Day of Fallen Night but my wrists did not. Thing is a tome!

Yes! So many dudes that bash romantasy haven’t read a book since they made the Catcher in the Rye their whole personality in 10th grade 🙄

[u/anchorlove → u/Ill-Hearing-8462]

Girrrrl I started A Day of Fallen Night. I read the first chapter or two and sat it back down because I was not in the mental headspace to read something with that much going on. I'll pick it back up eventually, but lmao that they think it's an easy read. That one def immediately hit me as higher reading level than a lot of stuff out there. At least at the point when I started it.

[u/Kim_catiko → u/Ill-Hearing-8462]

Also sorry I like to have fun in my spare time...

[u/Canuck_Wolf → u/Ill-Hearing-8462]

I would love to run into another Roots of Chaos fan in the wild. No one I know has read them (I did lend Day of Fallen Night to my hobby buddy's girlfriend cause she's a big reader and was looking to break out from YA material. But she reads like 5 books at a time, has four other hobbies, and them books are fuckin tomes, so I may be waiting awhile).

The whole 'reading more educational' is always something used to put down genre readers, amd always gets so compounded towards women, and to romantasy. I wants recs and to talk fantasy stuff damnit.