Book clubs are for reading, says who? A new study has claimed that American women use a book club membership in dating field.
Christy Craig of the University of Kansas said that American women utilised their status as readers and book club members to increase their popularity in the dating field and explained that they would never date or marry a non-reader.
Craig added that Irish women told her they joined book clubs because their significant others did not spend much time reading.
In the study, Craig attended 36 book club meeting and interviewed 53 women from ages 19 to 80 as part of the project.
Both American and Irish women utilised reading to develop a sense of self, to foster social and cultural capital and to construct their own sexual identities.
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Craig pointed out that none of the women read 'Fifty Shades' in their book clubs, but it was regularly discussed in that context.
She said that the women felt the opportunity for them to access literature about sex in a more public way was indicative of great forward progress for women, adding that women saw possibility for empowerment as they felt more comfortable openly reading about sex and sexuality.
Craig added that many felt it was not truly as empowering as they wanted it to be, or as they hoped women's erotic fiction would be.
