Smut is defined as fiction, usually works of literature, written in a sexual nature. Generally targeted toward women, smut aims to arouse the reader or viewer.
Popular works include “50 Shades of Grey” and “Bridgerton.”
These works are known for their scandalous nature and leaving nothing to imagination.
In shows, movies and books like this, there are no off-screen sexual encounters or lights dimming at the end of a date night. Like an oversharing friend, smut bares everything and leaves it on the page or screen for everyone to see.
Smut is most notably found in romance books, which have become increasingly popular with teenagers and young adults over the past few years. Social media platforms like Tiktok, Instagram and Youtube are renowned for their book recommendations and reviews, and recently, many popular books have featured smut.
While the rise of ‘BookTok’ on TikTok is seen as a revolution and reintroduction of reading among Gen Z providing a sense of community. However, it has also played a significant role in popularizing graphic sexual encounters.
The BookTok romance community is well known for their promotion and romanticization of smut and toxic relationships within their books amongst the reader community.
As an avid reader, sophomore Kenya Perryman shed some insight on her reasoning behind this spread of sexual content in books.
“I think smut has become so popular in YA novels because it gives the reader what they want,” she said. “It gives the reader different points of views, different perspectives of sex and sexual things. It gives readers different insights on how people live their sexual lives.”
While some people see the blatant discussion of sexual activities as unseemly, Perryman explained that sexual activity is something that shouldn’t be shamed and should be talked about freely.
Those who read smut are doing the same thing that every other person who reads does; they are learning.
Perryman herself got into reading at the age of 13, beginning her reading journey on Wattpad, an app made for aspiring authors and storytellers to share their work with others.
Despite its mission to be a place for creative expression, Wattpad stories have become notorious for having smut entrenched in their plot, quickly becoming an epicenter for the fanfiction genre.
“I read fanfiction because I was obsessed with a celebrity,” she said. “I was so into that person that I wanted to be in the same room with them. It provided me with the comfort and the idea of me actually knowing that person in real life and that that person was with me, which I know is very delusional, but it’s my truth.”
Despite many teen readers delving into smut through fanfiction, Perryman’s journey with smut did not begin that way.
“I got interested in smut because I was young and dumb and I wanted to feel any sexual, sensual feeling,” she explained. “I wanted that because I was, and still am, going through changes and I’m seeing or hearing things online and people are showing me these videos on the back of the school bus. I was just intrigued by what I saw so I started reading.”
As publishers aim to meet their target audience’s interests and produce selling books, they study trends and look at what is popular and what people want. If they see that what their audience wants is smut, that’s what they look for; writers who write smut.
Some believe this can reduce the likelihood of success for authors who don’t write in these genres, but Perryman believes otherwise.
“If you just write well, people are going to read your book,” she said. “If you put time into your craft and really try to sell your book without any smut, I’m sure people will be interested.”
Yet the rise in interest in smut can lead writers to unnecessarily add it to their books, sacrificing plot structure and character development. They believe that people will read their books solely because they contain smut.
According to Perryman there are many examples of this in romance novels.
“Sometimes authors do write a little bit too much smut in their books to try and make up for the loss of identity in their characters,” she said. “I’d say more recently people forcibly write smut so it kind of makes the book dull and not really in depth.”
While many novels strike a respectable balance between smut and plot, there are some graphic books that provide an exaggerated or unrealistic picture of sexual encounters, influencing young readers’ perceptions.
“I think smut sometimes affects young readers’ perception of healthy relationships,” she said. “There are children or teens who think that this is how things actually are supposed to work and this is how things are supposed to happen. For example they might think ‘he’s supposed to caress my cheek in order for me to feel this way,’ or ‘he’s supposed to do this, or that to make me feel this way.’ And I think that that’s crazy because when it comes to stuff like that, everything’s really subjective so I think it can be a little harmful.”
In general, exposing young readers to smut is a pressing issue that Booktok, BookTube or Bookstagram are not helping solve.
With a tap of a button kids have access to discussions about graphic sex.
Despite this, Perryman explained that there’s nothing wrong with wanting to read smut and sexual content, especially for teenagers and young adults.
“I think although people don’t like to admit it and it’s a little weird to say, people love sex,” she began. “They love arousal, they love any sensual attention that they get. So I think the popularization of smut has changed recommendations because that’s what teens are really looking for; anything sexual that is attainable.”
Yet the school’s librarian Ms. Suzanne Osman stresses this normalization should only be for teens and young adults, not kids at the age of 10 or 11.
“I definitely think that young people are exposed to more adult content way too soon,” she said. “I think on one hand, it educates people, but my concern is that they’re doing it without supervision as these books are usually recreational books that kids are reading on their own and they don’t know how to process it. I’m careful when I purchase books for our library and mind who my audience is and what I think they are ready for.”
When children are left with free reign and are exposed to things like smut prematurely, it can lead to an early demise in their childlike innocence.
Perryman thinks that it isn’t the responsibility of authors or writers to consider the age and maturity of their audience when writing romantic or sexual content.
“If people don’t want the author’s book, then they shouldn’t pick it up from the bookstore,” she said. “If kids are not allowed to read smut, then they shouldn’t be going to Barnes & Noble and picking out the smuttiest book they find.”
Since the internet is an easy way to access sexual content, parents have a difficult job policing what their kids read.
But Perryman doesn’t blame parents, she blames the publishers.
“Parents should obviously look out for what their child is reading,” she said. “But I also see a lot of smut right next to children’s books. Publishers or bookstore organizers need to keep smut out of the kids section.”
Despite the intrigue and excitement that smut might provide readers, it’s important for media and parents to be actively involved in their children’s online presence.
“As kids continue to develop and live in the world of technology, they eventually are able to gain more access to the internet,” she said. “I believe that because these kids are growing up with the internet, it gives them a better chance of knowing how to get around things like parental controls. The only things I think could actually keep kids away from more mature content is by watching their internet activity day by day and just simply removing the internet from a child’s life until they are old enough for said content.”
