{"id":64494,"date":"2022-08-24T00:03:28","date_gmt":"2022-08-24T04:03:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=64494"},"modified":"2022-08-24T00:03:28","modified_gmt":"2022-08-24T04:03:28","slug":"why-do-we-like-to-see-people-read","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/why-do-we-like-to-see-people-read\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do we like to see people read?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\nA few years ago the dating website\u00a0<\/span>eHarmony<\/span><\/em>\u00a0found that profiles that included reading in their list of hobbies were more attractive to the opposite sex.\u00a0Specifically, the data revealed that men who mention reading as one of their personal interests receive 19% more messages, although, in the case of women, those who claimed to read received only 3% more.<\/span><\/p>\n

So is reading\u00a0<\/span>sexy<\/span><\/em>\u00a0?\u00a0<\/span>The writer Jeanette Winterson thinks so<\/span><\/a>\u00a0, because, in her opinion, \u201cwhat emanates from the photo is absolute concentration, and nothing is\u00a0<\/span>sexier<\/span><\/em>\u00a0than absolute concentration\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

Marilyn Monroe reading\u00a0Ulysses<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n

It should be clarified that Winterson is referring to some specific photos: those of Marilyn Monroe reading\u00a0James Joyce’s Ulysses\u00a0<\/span>.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

One summer day in 1955, Eve Arnold, one of the few star photographers of that time, went to look for her model to take the agreed series of photos.\u00a0When Arnold and Monroe stopped at a park, the latter was engrossed in reading\u00a0<\/span>Ulysses<\/span><\/em>\u00a0while Arnold fed a film into her camera.\u00a0When she was ready, she couldn’t resist photographing the actress in that trance.\u00a0It is suspected that the initiative to take these snapshots came from Marilyn herself, who felt as attracted to the world of literature and theater as she was to the spotlight.<\/span><\/p>\n

On the other hand, reading was her main tool to combat her\u00a0<\/span>dumb blonde<\/span><\/em>\u00a0image .<\/span><\/p>\n

It’s obvious that Marilyn Monroe (or Paul Newman, say) is\u00a0<\/span>sexy<\/span><\/em>\u00a0with or without reading.\u00a0However, what Winterson is really talking about is the fascination exerted by the image of a reader, any reader.<\/span>
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Marilyn Monroe reading Ulysses by James Joyce.<\/p>\n

#InternationalLiteracyDay<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a9 #EveArnold<\/a>\/#MagnumPhotos<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/tHX8D1AYyh<\/a><\/p>\n

— Magnum Photos (@MagnumPhotos) September 8, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n