Like many prepubescent awkward teens, I became interested in sex when I was younger. Through reading smut, I was able to explore what sex was.

I’ve read smuts about TV shows like “Sherlock,” and bands like 5 Seconds of Summer. Today, as a 19-year-old, smut is still one of my favorite ways to destress after a stressful week.

Smut is defined as “sexual fiction” by internetslang.com. Websites like Tumblr, Wattpad and Quotev are just some of the places you can read and publish smut.

While I think porn is entertaining and takes less effort to pay attention, I believe that reading smut is better than watching porn.

A majority of porn is marketed for the male gaze.  Much of the porn that I’ve seen has been in the male point of view and usually focuses on the male’s pleasure.

While there is female-centric porn, there’s less available than “male-centric” porn.

This lack is primarily due to women not being typically seen as “porn producers” capable enough to create a product that men want.

Men are considered porn’s primary consumer, according to a March 20 Daily Beast Article, and so their interests are much more represented in the porn that’s widely available.

What mainstream porn lacks, smut provides. There are badly written smuts, but many that I’ve read have had more meaningful and emotional connections between characters than those in porn.

A smut about characters who reunite after a long time apart is more intimate than porn about a pizza guy and a girl with no money.

While smut does have lots of corny plots and dialogue, it is much more realistic, ranging from enemies to lovers and friends with benefits turning into something more.

The emotional depth in smut allows readers to get inside the mind of the character, letting them imagine themselves in the situation. Imagining is more interactive than watching it.

It’s fun to watch porn with wacky plots, but sometimes seeing something that you can actually imagine yourself in can be much more exciting.

Smut, like fan fiction, allows people who aren’t usually represented in these stories to be visible, according to a March 2017 Bustle article.

I’ve seen loads of Tumblr smut accounts write exclusively about people-of-color love interests for a fandom’s favorite character. I’ve also seen many more body types in smut than in porn.

“Sexual fiction” is also great at informing teens about protection and consent. Many smuts I’ve read have disclaimers to always wear condoms or include scenes where the characters discuss protection.

Some writers include scenes with the characters giving each other clear, verbal consent. Often, they write scenes of consent using dirty talk.

This makes consent seem less of an awkward question. Lots of porn I’ve seen doesn’t have spoken consent or discussions on protection.

Reading smut also teaches readers to participate in kinks in healthy ways. Extremely  kinky porn usually makes kids exposed to it very anxious, according to an October 2015 CNN article. Some may think it’s what’s expected of them, causing them to be afraid, according to the article.

Safewords, aftercare and helpful tips are scattered throughout lots of smuts.

If I never read smut, I wouldn’t know how to properly choke someone or to prepare rope. Mainstream porn often doesn’t do any of this.

Another aspect of smut, and fan fiction in general, that I love is that it’s written mostly by women, according to a June 2016 Vox article.

Since mainstream porn is still mostly dominated by what men want to see and by men who own the companies, it’s great that women are writing what they want to see and experience.

Smut allows readers to imagine a realistic and emotional connection  that porn doesn’t give justice to.

It can also help readers imagine what kinks, plots or erotic media forms suit them best.

The next time when you’re feeling in the mood, give smut a chance and let your imagination run wild.