Books have the power to transport us to another world, but did you know they can be so captivating that some people consider them a form of cheating?
That’s the experience one Reddit user had when her boyfriend demanded they stop reading romance novels, because he says picturing the intimate scenes is equivalent to being unfaithful to him.
She wrote in her post: “I really love reading books. It’s therapeutic to me and I feel calm and at peace when I get to read books.
“There have been times that I’ve read books which are romance themed.
“My boyfriend says that I’m cheating on him because these books have sexual scenes written and I’m not supposed to read them because people picture the scenes in the book and it means I’ll picture another man having sex with me.
“I’ve never purposely bought a book because I want a get off but I don’t want to stop reading books like that.”
The woman then asked for advice on what to do, and the post received over 500 comments with many of them telling her to dump her boyfriend.
One wrote: “Leave, girl. If he’s a grown man getting jealous over a book, imagine what hanging out with your friends and leaving the house is going to turn into.”
And another added: “You could date someone sane instead. That could work. Try it.”
While a third said: “Dump him. Dump him right now. This is a major red flag and if you tolerate him controlling what you read, he will continue to control more and more of your life. Never be with anyone who would stop you from reading. Or from doing anything that helps you feel calm.”
The woman has since responded to some of the comments and has insisted she will leave the relationship before things get any worse with her partner.
She told one commenter: “Yeah, he’s very conservative. He’s insecure and controlling in other matters too so I’ll leave before it gets worse.”
And then replied to another: “I do plan on breaking up with him. Books are not the only thing he’s controlling about and that’s definitely something I don’t want to deal with. I’ll leave him when I still can.”