Is incest THAT popular?

[AWhoopsieDaisy]

I wanna start this off by saying that I fully understand that erotica is fiction and not hurting anyone in its depiction of fantasy. I have no beef with incest writers.

There's no allure to the premise of incest for me personally. Yet on occasion in my search for works that indulge in whatever highly specific kink I'm looking for at the time, I find myself biting the bullet and reading a story from the incest category. Not because I want to but because the tag I was looking under didn't have many results to choose from. I'm not into the incest thing, but I'll overlook it in stories where the fact that the characters are related isn't played up as the main attraction.

This got me thinking about how popular the incest genre is. I'm sure a lot of its popularity is genuine. But I can't help but speculate if it's popularity is in part because of other people like me who are willing to ignore the fact that it's incest and read it anyway. Is this a thing?

[Note: I'm not here to start fights I'm just curious. Scientifically intrigued if you will.]

 

[Euphony]

I've a hunch incest has a few interesting "factors" making it sort of a perpetual generator of sorts.

There's a TON of it written b/c a lot of neophyte authors or recreational let the category do the relationship establishing and location/penning them in. Totally fine. But is a thing.

It's also taboo but very hetero norms adjacent. IF you clear the main category bar, you're home free. Hence the homosexual or less romantical offerings challenging readers and getting downvoted more harshly for it.

With a mainstream adjacent position, a siren call to quick and dirty or less confident writers, a TON of it gets submitted. This, in turn, drives numbers making for more "look in" readers and "let me see what this is about" authors, which ups numbers again, rinse and repeat.

 

[AlinaX]

I find it quite fun in fantasy contexts. Given how reluctant I was to write about it years ago, it's interesting how easily I include it now.

 

[Euphony]

But I can't help but speculate if it's popularity is in part because of other people like me who are willing to ignore the fact that it's incest and read it anyway. Is this a thing?

I'll do this but there's a quick skim to see if the characters become incest fetishists "Oh bro, yeah sister." Too heavy a hand and it reads like a weird couple of teenagers (b/c the category is rife with them) role playing as 7 year inching 30 y.o.s.

An older pairing, who've experienced at least some of what life has to offer and developed a maturity/appreciation of the floor an incestuous coupling *could* provide IF YOU ARE WILLING TO DO THE EMOTIONAL WORK TO SET ITS FOUNDATION, spring boarding into real sexual exploration b/c of their safety netting is incredibly interesting indeed.

 

[sirhugs]

I wanna start this off by saying that I fully understand that erotica is fiction and not hurting anyone in its depiction of fantasy. I have no beef with incest writers.

There's no allure to the premise of incest for me personally. Yet on occasion in my search for works that indulge in whatever highly specific kink I'm looking for at the time, I find myself biting the bullet and reading a story from the incest category. Not because I want to but because the tag I was looking under didn't have many results to choose from. I'm not into the incest thing, but I'll overlook it in stories where the fact that the characters are related isn't played up as the main attraction.

This got me thinking about how popular the incest genre is. I'm sure a lot of its popularity is genuine. But I can't help but speculate if it's popularity is in part because of other people like me who are willing to ignore the fact that it's incest and read it anyway. Is this a thing?

[Note: I'm not here to start fights I'm just curious. Scientifically intrigued if you will.]

Yes, Daisy, it IS that popular.

I agree that sometimes it is just the hot sex that "works" for me as a reader.

As a writer, once I dipped a roe into the incest pool, now whenever I have characters who are related, they seem too insist on having sex with each other, no matter how I try to prevent it. I currently have a story out fr proofreading that started as Dad with his daughter's sleepover chum, but ended up with a long incest scene.

 

[Rob_Royale]

I enjoy the young man/ older woman storylines. Many of those are incest related. So I do read them though incest holds no interest to me. Hot stepmom, milf next door, or smoking hot tutor is more my thing.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Can't say for sure why it's popular, but others have commented in other threads it's probably one of the few true sexual taboos left. That appeals to a lot of readers.

I've written a few stories in this category, and I think I've made them believable. No "Oh bro/sis, I've always loved you" sort of thing. To me, that's just... Nah. I'm not knocking those who have written those. It's a very popular theme, and some of the deservedly highest rated stories on the site fit there.

It just goes to show there's a story for everyone's taste here.

 

[lanceGibs]

I'm never sure if readers actually want to fuck their parents or if real world parents look at their kids and think "I could do that". Dunno - maybe they do?

I suspect readers pick incest precisely because it is a taboo subject. If there was a bestiality section it would be overrun with dog fuckers. Same reason why people put chilli sauce on their food - because they're bored.

I endorse the bit about parents and kids

 

[SimonDoom]

Incest IS that popular. It dominates the most-viewed top lists. My incest stories on average get over three times the views, votes, and favorites as my other stories. I believe the taboo is the key. Readers like it naughty.

 

[Rob_Royale]

Incest IS that popular. It dominates the most-viewed top lists. My incest stories on average get over three times the views, votes, and favorites as my other stories. I believe the taboo is the key. Readers like it naughty.

I agree completely, my two stories are equal in nearly every way and were released only twelve days apart. One has 40% more views and though it isn't an incest story, has Mama in the title.

 

[panaflora]

I'll do this but there's a quick skim to see if the characters become incest fetishists "Oh bro, yeah sister." Too heavy a hand and it reads like a weird couple of teenagers (b/c the category is rife with them) role playing as 7 year inching 30 y.o.s.

An older pairing, who've experienced at least some of what life has to offer and developed a maturity/appreciation of the floor an incestuous coupling *could* provide IF YOU ARE WILLING TO DO THE EMOTIONAL WORK TO SET ITS FOUNDATION, spring boarding into real sexual exploration b/c of their safety netting is incredibly interesting indeed.

I have stories in the category. Rather than just the taboo, I think the more interesting aspect to me is exploring how relationships evolve as adults coping with life's changing circumstances. One commenter remarked that the incest was "almost incidental" in a couple of my stories. I could very easily have modified them to fit the Romance category.

To AWhoopsieDaisy's point, this type of story could actually result in a wider readership though I hadn't really thought about that.

 

[MrPixel]

Gosh. Incest has been a hot topic for, oh, only a couple of thousand years. Oedipus. Electra.

And there you have it.

 

[GrantBricksly]

I wanna start this off by saying that I fully understand that erotica is fiction and not hurting anyone in its depiction of fantasy. I have no beef with incest writers.

There's no allure to the premise of incest for me personally. Yet on occasion in my search for works that indulge in whatever highly specific kink I'm looking for at the time, I find myself biting the bullet and reading a story from the incest category. Not because I want to but because the tag I was looking under didn't have many results to choose from. I'm not into the incest thing, but I'll overlook it in stories where the fact that the characters are related isn't played up as the main attraction.

This got me thinking about how popular the incest genre is. I'm sure a lot of its popularity is genuine. But I can't help but speculate if it's popularity is in part because of other people like me who are willing to ignore the fact that it's incest and read it anyway. Is this a thing?

[Note: I'm not here to start fights I'm just curious. Scientifically intrigued if you will.]

So here's my take on it.
My wife and I happen to be in the BDSM world. And one of our specific kinks is that I am a Daddy Dom, and she is my little. So, I think I can speak a little to your question.

I would never actually have sex with one of my children, or parents. I've never wanted to. The closest I've ever come to wanted anything incestuous, is being mildly attracted to a cousin that I have, but I would never act on it.

But my wife calls me Daddy. And my GOD does it turn me on. Not because it makes me feel like she is my daughter or I her father. No, that title is more of a sign of respect. One I have earned. One that shows that I take care of her, and provide for her, and love her. The way a Daddy would for a daughter.

Because that is what it is all about. It's about love, and care. I take care of her every need. Not just sexual. I make sure she eats when she is supposed to. I make sure she remembers to take her medicine. I cook her dinner. Sometimes I even pick out her clothes in the morning. It's not that she is incapable. Far from it. But she trusts me enough to do those things for her.

For me, Incest stories and porn have the same appeal. The good stories, the ones I really enjoy, take the time to explain and establish the loving and caring relationship between the parent and child. The one that then develops further into lust/love and sex. Not every story will take the time to explain and develop these relationships. But as has been mentioned already above, that is the beauty of the category. We as a reader already know that that relationship exists. We can imagine it. Unless of course the writer puts up a road block, like "the daughter got kicked out of her mother's house, so she moves across the country to live with her estranged father" Now, the writer NEEDS to establish a relationship. At least for me they do.

Now, that's just me. I cannot speak for everyone else. But that's my take on it. I'd like to think that there are others out there that feel the same way about it as well.

 

[SimonDoom]

I'll hasten to add that while incest as a Literotica story category is extremely popular, I don't think you can infer anything from that fact about the psychology or experiences of Literotica authors or readers. I have no experience with incest and no interest in it in the real world. I cannot recall ever having fantasies in that area, other than story=writing fantasies.

I've always enjoyed the stories as both a reader and writer. It's easy naughtiness. It's got built-in conflict. More than almost any other type of erotic story, they almost write themselves. Mom. Son. Attraction. Boom. You can make it short, or you can draw it out.

I have readers from time to time tell me that my stories make them think about their own experiences or memories, but those are the exception, not the rule. The readership for these stories is so huge that I suspect the majority feel about it more or less the way I do, and it's a minority that have any real-world experience with it.

 

[Voboy]

I wrote an incest story once, mostly just to see if I could do it in a way that was convincing to me. I pulled it off, but it's not a highly-rated story and I don't think it fits the category all that well. I think I/T, like many categories here, has a series of "expected" tropes that tend to do well, and it follows that the appeal of that kind of story lies in those tropes.

I'd need to read the category much more extensively if I was interested in making more of an impact there, I think.

 

[Djmac1031]

If you're looking for porn to watch, you invariably HAVE to ignore the incest scenarios lately; it's almost all of them lol.

I wind up choosing my porn the way most guys do: which woman in the thumbnail happens to do it for me at the moment.

If it's an incest video, so be it lol.

I think incest as a fantasy theme is in itself harmless. Most of us have a firm grip on the difference between fantasy and reality.

That said, I also fully understand those for whom it simply holds no appeal or even actually offends.

I've written a few incest stories although it's not my main genre.

I look more for an idea first. If that idea winds up involving incest, so be it. But I don't generally go out of my way to write incest themed stories just to write them because I know they're popular.

 

[AwkwardlySet]

Incest is one of the weirdest kinks definitely. I suppose the allure comes from incest being forbidden, but the perplexing part is actually that so many readers find it hot to read about it, as they imagine its someone's else mom or sister or dad or w/e, yet all of them shudder at the very thought of it happening inside their own family.
I myself won't write incest as a matter of principle, yet its popularity alone does make one to consider it.

 

[ThePitViper]

Sadly, and disgustingly, it seems to be very popular. YECH!!!

 

[GrantBricksly]

The story I am working on right now, is actually an Incest story. It focuses first on a Daddy/little dynamic of a married couple, and then naturally (or at least I hope it feels natural) works it's way into an incestuous relationship with the daughter as well. It's actually the longest story I've ever written by far. (so far my longest on here is 3.4k And this one is at 7.3k and counting and I don't think I'm even halfway through the story yet..) It was meant to be for the winter Holiday contest. I hope to have it ready for next year.

 

[MrPixel]

...don't mention Oedipus though - I've been triggered once today already!!

Ah, the ecstasy and the Antigone. The burning question is whether Sophocles' little stories would past muster on LitE.

 

[Djmac1031]

Agreed, but given the number of people that think there are microsoft chips in vaccines I do question how large the 'most' is these days. We seem to be becoming a minority - the more technologically advanced we've become the more people turn to superstition to explain the demons in the electrical wires...

Don't get me started on conspiracy theory nutters lol.

I still firmly believe they're in a very vocal minority.

Fantasy is in itself healthy, and yet it also gets tangled up in questions of morality and what we define as "decency."

As someone else pointed out, there are many of us more than happy to read an incest story, but blanch at the idea of actually participating in those actions with a real life family member.

I have a mother, a sister, and a daughter. I have never once thought or fantasized about them in a sexual way.

I am also well aware of the real life harm caused by incestuous relationships and that in far too many cases, they are NOT consensual.

That said, I don't see the harm in someone enjoying incest as a fabtasy genre anymore than I see the harm of enjoying stories, films or games that feature violence and horror.

Nor do I believe reading / watching incest porn is directly responsible for molestations any more than I believe video games or heavy metal music directly responsible for school shootings.

It's only if someone is already mentally unstable that these things become a factor. But that becomes a discussion on mental health care VS a repressive society and that's a whole other discussion lol

 

[Paul_Chance]

I think the big draw to both readers and writers of incest is a combination of two things - the first is the automatic thrill of the taboo nature.

The second is the ease of writing it. You start with a relationship already assumed between the characters. No need to build it. No need to establish it. Just cut straight to the sex parts.

 

[TarnishedPenny]

Is it popular?

Looking at the Stories page, story categories are listed as follow:

Erotic Couplings. 69k
Incest/Taboo. 60.4k
BDSM. 43.3k
Loving Wives. 40.4k
Non-Consent/Reluctance. 33.5k
Group Sex. 28.6k
Gay Male. 28.1k
E&V. 27.4k
Sci-Fi and Fantasy. 25.9k
Fetish. 23k
Romance. 21.7k
Lesbian. 20.8k
Novels and Novellas. 18k
Transgender. 17.2k
Mature. 15.8
Celebrities and Fan Fiction. 15.3k
Interracial. 14.9k
Non-Human. 14.2k
Mind Control. 10.1k
First Time. 9.4k
Anal. 6.3k
Audio. 6k
Non-Erotic. 4.9k
Erotic Horror. 4.6k
Toys and Masturbation. 4.5k
Humour and Satire: 3.2k
Letters and Transcripts. 1.6k
Reviews and Essays. 1.2k
How To. 1k
Illustrated. 840
Chain Stories. 553

Incest and Taboo is second on the list. That of course is the popularity of stories in terms of submissions, not necessarily reader popularity. I don’t think it unreasonable to assume a connection however. Not my thing, in any case.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Just from a quick look at Views, in I/T in a random selection of stories there's many with 100s of 1000s of views, and some over a million.

Erotic couplings - a few over 100k. Other categories, 50k is impressive.

I posted in I/T less than two weeks ago and have got 86k views already. This is over twice what any of my other stories have achieved in 5 years on Lit. Bonkers.

I don't think I'll post there again, though. Will be interesting to see if my 20 new followers run away once they see my usual fare...

 

[MajorRewrite]

It‘s hot when established relationships get upended and become sexual. That applies to incest but also to neighbors and coworkers, which are extremely popular subjects of stories too.