One of the things I love about Lit is that my stories actually get read - sometimes by thousands of people. Even allowing for partial reads and repeats. My words are being read, and while, yes, the primary purpose is one of incidental pleasure, there is a power in the written word, and with power there comes responsibility.
Characters can be saints and assholes, but beyond the story itself are the views of the author. It's fun to write about someone being transformed into a blonde bimbo, but if I do it in away that says all blondes are dumb and bimbos deserve to be treated like shit then the reader will pick up on that attitude, consciously or not.
One story will not make a difference to anyone, but if hundreds of stories all have the same biases and assumptions, there will be a corrosive impact on the readers.
I wonder how many readers come to Lit thinking that Incest is terrible, gradually decide it's fun so long as it's a fantasy, and eventually start wondering if maybe it's not such a bad thing.
