The answer to why read erotica is obvious: pleasure. We derive enjoyment from stories and from sex, so combining the two is as good as combining peanut butter and chocolate, or cake and ice cream, or burgers and fries--whatever your flavour because erotica has it all and is as good as your imagination can make it.
I was surprised, when I searched this question, to see among the various articles discussing the health benefits of reading erotica, the articles against "mommy porn." The prevailing trend in these latter articles is stories about how mom's neglected their marriages as their addiction to reading erotica took hold. Clearly misogynistic, these articles focus on women's bodies and marital roles as existing to serve their male spouses. In this way, erotica is a threat because it expands the imagination and allows women (in this situation) to explore their sexuality beyond their husbands' desires. Ultimately, even these articles against erotica prove that the genre has the power to liberate.
The articles against erotica equate the reading of it with pornography. This is a false equivalence. Porn (as an industry--not what it can be, but what it is predominantly) is a display of the visual and most often a very specific image women's bodies. Yes, it can be arousing, but visual images are also limiting. As a somewhat chubby, floppy and haired woman, I cannot see myself (either now or even in my younger-adult years) at all in these images. And in the actors, the attraction for me is unpredictable. Furthermore, the fake orgasms and fake boobs throw you out of the fantasy.
Most of us have heard, at one point or another, that sex starts in the brain. While we often think of erotica as being explicit, explaining the activities of sex very clearly, the descriptions, no matter how detailed, remain vague enough for our sexiest organs to fill in the blanks with what we imagine. In that way, we are collaborators with the authors and tailor their writing to suit our own fantasy worlds, as opposed to pornography where the imagery is finite.
Often with pornography, the focus is on the finish. Erotica on the other hand, even when the story is simple and direct, there is an opportunity to take a sensuous journey and build the experience with some being as much, if not more, about the story than the sex itself. Reading--even without the release of endorphins from sexual pleasure--improves our mood and mental health and there is a wealth of choice in erotica to meet the mood your are in.
Reading erotica is a guilt free way of exploring sexuality and interest. There is absolutely no denying that the pornography industry is rife with exploitation. This is not a question of sexual morality but a truth. Like food and factory farming, unless you know exactly where your porn comes from and who produced it, you cannot be sure that it did not rely on the exploitation of someone else. It is a very complex topic that I will not be exploring in depth here; the simple point is, erotic writing is created by a single person who relies on the imagination to tell the story.
Of course, there are other great reasons to read erotica and countless articles that discuss the benefits of reading it including improving your mood and libido, as well as strengthening your intimate relationships. In the end, however, we don't really need to defend reading erotica; our personal experiences speak for themselves.
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