The questionable statistic at the heart of the “men don’t read fiction” discourse.

Summary

Concerns about American men reading less fiction have sparked cultural debates linking the trend to toxic masculinity and political shifts, such as increased support for Donald Trump.

Men read fewer books and less fiction than women, but the gap is modest. 73% of men and 78% of women read books annually, with fiction readership differing by 10-17%.

The exaggerated 80/20 gender fiction market split lacks verified sources.

Critics argue the “crisis” reflects fears about male disengagement, yet male authors still dominate bestseller lists and literary awards, complicating the narrative.

  • @RagingRobot
    17•4 days ago

    I don’t read books but I am constantly reading things all day. Mostly technical documentation and stuff like that. Should I be worried about myself? Lol reading books makes me fall asleep.

    Also what about audio book people? Are they not getting any benefits because they didn’t read it from the book themselves? Does the value come from reading or knowing the information? I would think the information is the valuable part regardless of how it got into your brain but if that’s the case why would this matter at all even if people moved on to new ways to consume information?

    • @givesomefucksEnglish
      2•4 days ago

      Are they not getting any benefits because they didn’t read it from the book themselves?

      It engages different parts of your brain, so yes. Listening to an audiobook or YouTube video is not the same as reading.

      But there’s lots of other differences too

      • @Tinks
        2•3 days ago

        While I don’t disagree that it engages different parts of the brain, reading audio books is still beneficial, and no studies have shown a demonstrable difference in a person’s comprehensive ability using physical vs audiobooks. In fact, some groups like the National Literacy Trust have shown that audiobooks can be beneficial for engagement in education and if used properly, beneficial to the learning process in general. Humans (and our precursors) spent millennia conveying stories, culture and history entirely through verbal storytelling. As a species we have spent more time listening to stories and absorbing them that way than physically reading them.

        While there is certainly a difference between reading and listening to books, I absolutely would not criticize anyone who chooses to pick up an audiobook vs not consuming books at all. Seeing words spelled out and the punctuation within the writing is helpful, especially for those learning to read or learning the language. But audiobooks are still books and as far as I’m concerned you “read” the book if you listened to the audio in full.