One argument the author didn’t cover is whether men (the cultural phenomenon/stereotype) might benefit from reading more than the typical woman.

For example, reading fiction has been shown to increase empathy across a fair number of studies. Just off the cuff I’d say that society socializes women to be more empathetically receptive than men, which, if true, could mean that reading might have an outsized impact on men compared to women who have other outlets for picking up the skill.

the “men don’t read fiction” discourse

I definitely think more about reading non-fiction than fiction. Last 35 books I’ve read were 20 non-fiction 15 fiction.

I just find it easier to find and latch on to ideas. People recommend non-fiction to me more often. Also, reading one non-fiction book will often lead to several more via the references, which never happens in fiction (except for the Dorian Gray to À rebours pipeline).

I stopped reading this article pretty quick, all I read is fiction lmao. Too much damn reality in reality, I need a break from it, not to read about more reality.

I’ve been back to reading this past year. Started with fiction, and slowly realised I could extract more useful stuff with non-fiction.

I guess, movies already cover the “having fun” part generally, and women probably read more fiction because it’s made by women, unlike movies.