Are you an insertionist or a voyeur?

Some of us in the r/MM_RomanceBooks crew were discussing this and it seemed like a good topic to bring over here.

How much do you insert yourself into the story when you read? Our little group fell into two broad categories, which I've (semi-jokingly) named insertionist and voyeur.

Insertionist: You insert yourself into the place of at least one of the main characters and imagine yourself in their shoes. The characters feel like real people to you. You experience the same emotions as the character whose place you inserted yourself into. As such, bad or taboo things happening to them might bother you a lot, to the point that there are some tropes or situations you can't read because it's not something you want to imagine being part of.

Voyeur: You watch the characters from above, like you're playing the Sims. You might sympathize or empathize with them, but not like it's happening to you, or you might not really empathize with characters at all. You're more aware when reading that these are not real people. As such, bad or taboo things happening to them might not bother you as much.

Discussion Questions!

• Which of these categories do you fall into, or is there another way you'd describe yourself?
• Does your reader type affect what you're interested in, or willing to, read?
  • My hunch is that people who strongly identify with characters are less likely to read romance involving very dark or taboo themes because those things are harder to read if you're imagining them happening to you, but I would love to see arguments for and against this theory.
• Does the extent to which you insert yourself into the story affect how likely you are to feel that the author is making a moral judgment in the way they present traits you do or don't personally have?
  • For example, if the FMC is Not Like the Other Girls and you are Like the Other Girls, how annoyed or offended are you? Do you think your level of annoyance relates to your level of insertion into the story?