Incredibly nosy TMI poll

[sholio]

So ... I made a comment elsewhere that got me thinking about sex in fanfic, and then I started having one of those "... am I the only one?" sort of ponderings, and so I made an extremely nosy TMI poll about it. If you don't read explicit fanfic, this will probably not be at all interesting to you.

The thing is, written sex doesn't turn me on. At all, really -- there are extremely rare instances where that's not the case, but as a general rule, no. But I know from reading comments elsewhere that this is definitely not true of everybody. So I'm curious ... am I a total fandom outlier, or not?

I've got "detailed results" turned off, so the only person who can see who answered what is me (though the graphs are visible to everyone). If you'd like to answer anonymously in the comments instead, so that even *I* can't see who you are, that's perfectly fine! I swear I'm not asking out of prurient curiosity; it's not like I'm sitting around wondering "Hey, does so & so on my f'list wank off to internet porn?" Like I said above, I'm just kinda curious how the numbers would stack up. Are there just a couple people who are, like me, unmoved by porn? Or the majority? Inquiring minds are very curious! (I thought about doing this f'locked, but total anonymity wouldn't be an option that way, and I wanted to leave that option available to people who wanted it.) And obviously, if you are not comfortable answering this poll, please don't!

[Poll #1521589]

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I take 'spells' of two or three days at a time when reading explicit sex-fic is a major turn-on. I keep a folder of guaranteed-to-arouse 'pure smut' stories, and may spend two or three hours in the evening just reading and masturbating. (If I had a SO, he would reap the benefits of this reading, but I don't, so...)

Other times, I can read the same stories, and my reaction is, "Oh, okay I guess."

I'm several years past menopause, so I can't blame 'time of the month' for my reactions. I haven't noticed a pattern of when it happens (but then, I haven't looked very hard). Sometimes I've spent all day waiting to get home and finish my chores so I can indulge. Other times, I'm quietly reading an ordinary story - even gen - then get restless and open my 'guaranteed' folder.

I may leave a "that's so hot" comment, meaning that the story actually made me horny, but usually not - embarrassing to let the wild world of fandom know that.

Most of the time, I actually prefer gen, although I'm comfortable with slash. But sometimes, the neurons just spark.

For completeness' sake, het works the same for me - sometimes yes, sometimes no - but I've found so much less het than slash that I don't have much of a collection.

[(Anonymous)]

*facepalm* Sorry, forgot to close italics after 'same stories', and anonymous can't edit. But I still don't want anyone to know who's being so frank. *slinks away*

[friendshipper.livejournal.com]

LOL, I don't mind the italics. :D And thank you for the frankness; it's very interesting!

[inamac.livejournal.com]

If I didn't know better I'd think I'd written this. Maybe it's an age thing? Though I've had the black file of really hot stories beside the bed since pre-internet days so can't entirely blame the menopause (maybe NC17 should be available in lieu of HRT?)

[(Anonymous)]

*grins* Glad to know I'm not alone. I also kept stories with 'explicit' sex scenes in pre-internet days, pre-menopausal days. (Usually some of the racier romances and, now that my horizons have expanded, not so explicit after all.) But none of it was as arousing as when I already have an emotional connection to my favorite fanfic pairs. And, truly, good fanfic is much better at delving into the emotional component between a pairing, even if the sex is non-explicit or fade-to-black. Add emotional component to NC-17, and - wow! Also, yummy!

maybe NC17 should be available in lieu of HRT?

*ponders* Well, the varying responses to this question - Thank you for posting it, Friendshipper! - make it clear that a very large part of response to sex-in-fanfic is mental. So it certainly wouldn't work for everyone; maybe not even a majority. But, yes, the right style of NC-17 for a particular person might well take its place along HRT. ;)