I was wondering because I don't remember my ex-bf, even though often saying he loved reading, ever picking up a book in our 3 year relationship, and I don't think he even had more than 5 in his flat. my current bf read a lot in school and half his room is full of unread books that he hasn't picked up since high school.
and when I think about it, all the people I know that read a lot are women. sometimes I see older men on the train reading, but when I think about men under 40 years old, I can't think of anyone I know that reads as a hobby and not just for his job etc.. Is this just my surroundings or do you also get this feeling? (no hate towards men, if they just have other hobbies I don't have an issue with that, I'm just curious as to why that is.)
by coolestdudette
4 Comments
Did he maybe read digitally? I know a lot of people who read on their phone or tablet. I moved around a lot for 15 years so almost all my books are digital except for a few collectors items. I probably have over 300 books or so on my computer.
From Pew research:
Women are more likely than men to read books in general and also more likely to read print books. However, men and women are equally likely to read digital-format books such as e-books and audio books.
Link: https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2016/09/01/book-reading-2016/
I am a 35 year old man and I have two male friends that also read. One only reads non-fiction technical books or biographies and the other reads books related to shows or movies he watched. For example, he read the Witcher books after the show and is now reading the Silo series because he saw the show on Apple tv.
Overall, most people I know that read are indeed women.
some sociologists have suggested that girls, from a young age, have a ‘bedroom culture’. They’ll sit in their rooms and read and write or talk to each other (which is like reading/telling stories). On the other hand, lads are out playing football (which involves less talking/storytelling). I don’t know if that’s the reason, but it’s one of the reasons some sociologists believe girls/women are more likely to read books.
Also i should say i think it’s important to note that girls are often kept inside intentionally, more so than boys of a similar age, and that the toys purchased for them encourage inside play rather than outside play (dollhouses and babies for girls versus tractors for sandboxes for boys). Obviously dollhouses can be brought outside for girls and boys can play with dollhouses inside, but even just looking at the toys marketed for girls shows a strong domestic element rather than more of an adventure/outside-the-home element.