Alright Im Just Gonna Say It, Because Im Tired And My Brain Filter Has Already Gone To Sleep For The

alright im just gonna say it, because im tired and my brain filter has already gone to sleep for the night

i used to read smut as a minor, you used to read smut as a minor, your fav authors used to read smut as minors, and minors still read smut today. there is no way we can prevent or change this.

but you know what i DIDN'T do when reading smut as a minor? interact with it or the authors. i kept to myself, got my fill, and then stayed away. it really wasn't hard.

whether or not minors should read smut at all is debatable. on the one hand, it can be a fun and safe way to explore your sexuality through fantasy, rather than going out there and catching STIs and getting pregnant. on the other, the smut fanfic corner of the internet is vast and largely unmoderated; it is likely you will stumble upon topics/kinks/stories that can be traumatic or harmful to some individuals. reading about fictional sex and intimacy may also create unrealistic expectations about real-life sex and intimacy.

but regardless of the moral/ethical intricacies of minors reading smut, the fact remains that teens are very often horny, and once a horny teen sets their mind to reading smutty fic about their favorite characters, there's nothing we can do to stop them.

then, what can we do? well, a few things:

- we can maintain our boundaries and continue to block minors and ageless blogs that follow us

- we can continue to impress upon minors who stumble upon our blogs the importance of respecting those boundaries

- we can continue to tag our smutty fanfic thoroughly and appropriately, so people can avoid things that they know will be harmful for them to read

- we can continue having discussions about fantasy vs reality, and what is and is not healthy in a real-life sexual or intimate scenario/relationship

in my opinion, shaming minors for reading smut altogether only does more harm than good - the more a kid is shamed for their sexuality, the more they try to hide it and the more likely they are to engage in risky sex. that doesn't mean we shouldn't shame them for not respecting a DNI boundary.

i don't have a witty, cutting conclusion to this rant, so i'll conclude by saying that i think the only way to protect everyone best is to be realistic, firm, and kind in the manner in which we address this issue. shaming kids for being horny isn't gonna get us anywhere at all.