All Pleasure, No Guilt: Why You Should Read What You Want Without Apology
Let’s Banish the Term ‘Guilty Pleasure’ From Our Reading Conversations
The Oxford English Dictionary defines ‘guilty pleasure’ as:
“something that one enjoys, despite feeling that it is not generally held in high regard.”
I.e. something we should feel embarrassed about enjoying.
When it comes to books, most of us could name a so-called guilty pleasure, either our own or someone else’s. We’ve certainly been told often enough what sorts of books qualify for the title. But I’d argue that these books — and we as readers — deserve better.
I think when it comes to reading, our pleasure should come without a side-order of guilt. Here’s why I think you should read what you want — whatever that might be — without apology.
All Reading is Reading!
Here’s the thing. It’s 2021. Love is love and I’m here to tell you that reading is reading.
As a lifelong bookworm and former librarian, I genuinely consider all reading to be good reading. Regardless of whether you’re scanning the back of a cereal box, devouring your 33rd pulp fiction paperback or ploughing steadily through some great, dusty tome, you’re reading and that can only be a good thing.
Did you know that adults who read for just half an hour per week report greater life satisfaction than those who don’t read at all? That’s thirty measly minutes of reading anything at all! No English literature degree or critical engagement required. Just reading!
Who Gets to Decide?
One of the things that irks me most about the idea of ‘guilty pleasures’ is this- who gets to decide? Who exactly is in charge of these decisions and how did they come into this dizzying position of power?
The reason we all have such a defined notion of what constitutes a ‘guilty pleasure’ without having to think about it too much isn’t because we were born with an innate knowledge of a book’s value, it’s something we’ve learned through continued exposure to a society that tells us what we should or shouldn’t like.
If your parents tell you every mealtime to clear your plate, you're going to feel guilty when you don’t, no matter how old you are. It’s a learned behaviour. If society tells you enough times that romance novels are a guilty pleasure, you’re going to feel a pang of guilt when you’re caught reading one.
The types of books most often named as ‘guilty pleasures’ are given the label because they’re not considered to hold as much cultural value as other books. But what I want to know is, says who?
I’d argue there’s as much value in a romance novel where a marginalised heroine finds a happily ever after or a crime novel where a bad guy is brought to justice as there is any other kind of story.
The danger in allowing someone else to tell us what is or isn’t valuable is that they’re going to impose their beliefs and ideals onto the matter. None of us is truly impartial.
Historically, white, Western men with money have dictated which pieces of literature hold cultural value and the result, more often than not was the celebration of white, Western, wealthy authors. Sometimes that bias is deliberate and sometimes it isn’t. Most of us gravitate towards books that uphold our own cultural norms unless we’re specifically seeking to have our world view challenged. So if someone is telling you that they don’t find your choice of book valuable or don’t believe it holds as much value as something they enjoy, it’s a good idea to question why that might be. Spoiler alert: it’s probably less about the book and more about the person!
This leads me nicely onto my next point…
Reading Has More Than One Purpose
People read for a wide range of reasons. They read to get information, to learn something new, to experience an alternative perspective, to escape their current situation, to make sense of their current situation, to expand their mind, to challenge themselves, to live vicariously, to relax and unwind, to experience strong emotions, for entertainment, for knowledge, for self-improvement, for education…
The list goes on and on.
Even when we talk about ‘reading for pleasure’, that may mean different things for different people. What I find pleasurable to read might not be what you enjoy and vice versa. Some readers like being scared out of their wits by horror novels whereas others wouldn’t find that enjoyable in the least.
We often talk about reading for pleasure as though enjoyment is the only benefit it has and to be honest, that’s a good enough reason for me! It isn’t quite true, however. Societally, we buy into the belief that in order to be learning and improving ourselves we need to be constantly striving for it and constantly challenged but reading extensively for pleasure has been shown to increase literacy skills at a greater rate than formal literacy lessons. So literally just by reading for the sheer fun of it, we become better readers and again, this applies regardless of what we’re reading.
Popular Doesn’t Equal Bad
Popular isn’t a synonym for tacky or cliché. In fact, a quick glance through the actual synonyms for popular brings up words like ‘desired’, ‘approved’ and ‘accessible.’
When something is popular, it literally means that lots of people like it. If you want to construct your personality entirely on not liking things that most other people like, well that sounds like hard work but good luck to you. The rest of us are happy to admit that often things are popular for a reason- whether it’s a catchy tune, trendy clothes, must-see tv or a bestselling book.
I find it fascinating that almost as soon as something becomes popular, there’s a tendency for certain people to regard it as naff. Like, hundreds of thousands of people read this book and loved it therefore it must be really terrible????
How is that a logical conclusion? Unless you consider everyone else on the planet to have bad taste and you’re the only real connoisseur in existence (again, good luck with that life outlook.)
Some poorly written books sell well and some masterpieces slip under the radar of popular culture so no, popularity doesn’t always equal quality BUT for a book to become a bestseller, it has to sell! A lot!
This is relevant because I’ve noticed a correlation between things that are considered ‘guilty pleasures’ and things that are popular. Cheesy pop music, fast-food, page-turning novels and celebrity cookbooks. Many of us love these things and many of us feel that somehow we shouldn’t.
Society tells us that things that are good for us should be hard work. 5 am runs, Bob Dylan’s later albums, cauliflower rice, Tolstoy’s War & Peace, a 55-point recipe from a Michelin-star chef. Only when we push ourselves to do better and be better can we then be truly fulfilled and lead meaningful lives.
But who’s handing out all these brownie points at the end of the day? If reading the latest Danielle Steel novel in the bath with a glass of wine is going to make you happier than attempting to read Dickens while drinking Matcha tea then why should you feel bad about that? And why would anyone else care?
On the flip side of the coin, just because a book is popular, it doesn’t mean you should feel obliged to like — or even read it! There are lots of popular books I haven’t read and if you can push past FOMO, your life will be no less enriched from not having read *a particular book*.
It’s entirely possible for a book to be popular and interesting and well-written and still not your cup of tea at the end of the day. It doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with you or the book or that everyone else is wrong, it’s just a matter of preference.
Leave Shame Out of It
Guilt implies shame and I can see no place for shame in conversations about reading. No one should feel ashamed for not having read a certain book or for not having heard of a certain author and likewise, no one should be made to feel shame about what they do enjoy reading.
When you bring shame into the equation, you’re unlikely to get people to read what you feel they ought to be reading. What’s much more likely is that you’ll put them off reading altogether or at the very least, discourage them from having conversations with you about books and reading.
Back when Fifty Shades of Grey was popular and I was a new-ish librarian, we held several copies in the library and would regularly have customers asking to reserve it (at several points there was a months-long waiting list!) One day, a colleague of mine joked about pushing all the available copies down the back of the shelves and since it was a joke and I knew she wouldn’t do any such thing, I laughed it off but it got me thinking about censorship and the role it plays in our reading lives.
When customers asked for that particular book I felt no more judgement than when they asked for any other book. When they came back, having read the book and asked if we had the rest of the trilogy in stock, I was pleased that they’d found something they enjoyed. When they’d worked their way through the trilogy and wanted to know if I could recommend them something else to read, I was overjoyed because I knew they’d found their way in.
Not everyone grows up as a reader and many readers have a gateway book or series that converted them into reading for pleasure rather than only reading because they had to for work or school. Personally, I see no difference whether that book is Pride and Prejudice, Shopaholic Abroad, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, Fifty Shades of Grey or The Catcher in the Rye. The important thing as far as I’m concerned is that they’ve found that gateway and taken their first steps through.
Once you’ve discovered the joy of reading for pleasure, a whole new world opens up for you and the last thing you need to hear at that pivotal moment is that actually, that book you just read and loved? Well, according to someone you’ve never met, it’s problematic trash.
If anything, the concept of books as ‘guilty pleasures’ is problematic trash.
Sure, lots of things that feel good aren’t necessarily good for us, anyone who has said yes to a second helping of Christmas pudding or a tequila shot at last orders can vouch for that but unlike indigestion or a hangover, reading is delightfully side-effect free. In fact, all studies point towards it being an entirely win-win pastime. So when it comes to reading at least, let’s agree to leave guilt out of the equation.
