Why Are So Many M/M Romances Written by Cis Women?

There is an absorbing improvement successful romance: a batch of M/M romances are written by women. This is thing I noticed 20 years agone successful the fanfic satellite and it’s conscionable arsenic existent successful traditionally published romance today, and I fishy successful indie romance arsenic good (but I americium not peculiarly well-versed there). But why? Well, I don’t know, but I person immoderate thoughts.

First of all, I privation to beryllium wide that I bash not really cognize that the pistillate authors I americium reasoning of are each cis. I americium going by publically disposable accusation and making assumptions! I person made each effort to beryllium accurate, but it’s imaginable I’ve made immoderate mistakes, and if that is the case, I americium genuinely atrocious (and would admit being alerted to my error).

A further note: arsenic of this writing, Amazon’s apical sellers successful cheery romance are astir wholly indie published, and see galore writer names that look to beryllium male. This is excellent! Again, I americium mostly referring to accepted publishing, due to the fact that that is the bulk of my ain reading.

The twelvemonth that I was 14 (1992–1993), 3 important things happened. (I’m definite much than 3 important things happened that year, but the remainder are not relevant.) One: The Tale of the Body Thief, the 4th caller successful Anne Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, was published. Two: I discovered that I americium not heterosexual. And three: I went connected a 2 week camping travel with a younker group, roadworthy tripping from upstate New York to the Florida panhandle successful a caravan of rider vans with 30 different teenagers and a roar box…and idiosyncratic had the audio cassette of Body Thief. It was my instauration to Anne Rice, vampires, and (overtly) queer fiction.

But Annika, you mightiness ask, wherefore are you talking astir Anne Rice successful an effort astir romance novels? Well, archetypal of all, she wrote one. (It’s called Belinda and I bash NOT urge it.) But much importantly, I don’t deliberation I americium the lone romance scholar oregon writer who grew up speechmaking Anne Rice’s books. Extremely acold from it — I deliberation astir radical presently successful our 40s grew up speechmaking Anne Rice, Poppy Z. Brite (Billy Martin), Stephen King, oregon immoderate operation thereof, and lone 1 of those isn’t cheery arsenic hell. (It’s King, if that wasn’t clear. And really, Pennywise is beauteous gay.)

Now, Anne Rice was arguably not a cis woman. She told The Daily Beast successful 2016 that she had “transcended gender” and considered herself gay, and she spoke of transgender radical arsenic “sacred figures.” But I fishy that galore cis women who grew up speechmaking The Vampire Chronicles, which are astoundingly gay, went connected to constitute M/M stories, whether fanfic, (romance) novels, oregon both. Is she the reason for that? Of people I can’t accidental that, and of people adjacent if she is a reason, oregon alternatively inspiration, she couldn’t perchance beryllium the lone one. But I bash deliberation that for galore cis women, our formative acquisition with cheery literature, including the enactment of Anne Rice, is an important factor. But I digress.

A batch of modern authors came from instrumentality fiction. As a young adult, I came up connected Buffy the Vampire Slayer fanfic, and portion a bully woody of what I personally work was Buffy/Spike, Buffy/Faith, oregon improbable friend pairings (Spike/Dawn was a amusive one), determination was plentifulness of slash fic, astir of it written by young women. Around the aforesaid time, Harry Potter fanfic was getting popular, and though I personally ne'er got into it, I knew respective radical who were into Snarry and Drarry fics (Snape/Harry and Draco/Harry), astir each of them women.

As an aside, I bash person clip to look astatine instrumentality art, happily, and precocious my favorites person each been based connected Our Flag Means Death, wherever the pairings thin to beryllium M/M.

But I digress…again! Slash fic, particularly M/M slash, is precise fashionable successful fandom, and a batch of romance authors are actively penning fanfic present oregon were fanfic writers earlier they moved into archetypal fiction. A non-queer illustration is Ali Hazelwood’s The Love Hypothesis being an adaptation of her ain Reylo fic. It is besides wide believed that queer romance writer Casey McQuiston (who is nonbinary) has an AO3 change ego. The conclusions practically gully themselves. But I statesman to wonderment if the “problem” isn’t connected a betterment people already.

I precocious took banal of my ain caller romance reading. I emotion queer emotion stories, with immoderate and each sex pairings. Just a fewer of the queer books I’ve enjoyed lately are by Cat Sebastian (M/M, M/F, and F/F), KJ Charles (M/M and M/F), Alyssa Cole (F/F and M/F), Alison Cochrun (M/M), Courtney Milan (F/F), TJ Klune (M/M, written by a man), Alexis Hall (M/M and F/F, written by a man), Susie Dumond (F/F), Akwaeke Emezi (M/F), and Rebekah Weatherspoon (M/F). This is simply a much divers enactment than I expected to find! (Please enactment that I included M/F pairings erstwhile astatine slightest 1 of the leads is not straight, due to the fact that those books are inactive queer.) In a way, it feels similar my ain speechmaking proves that determination is much retired determination than conscionable M/M romances written by women — which of people is the case.

It seems to maine that the occupation is not that cis women are penning M/M (although the question of Why? is inactive retired there) but that their M/M books are much apt to beryllium traditionally published than M/M books by men, non-cis, and nonbinary authors. Thanks (no thanks) to publishing bias, we extremity up with a glut of M/M romance written by cis women. This becomes a occupation not needfully due to the fact that of the books that exist, but due to the fact that of the books that we can’t get our eyes on, astatine slightest not arsenic easily. (Again, indie books exist! There are so, truthful many! But they tin instrumentality much enactment to find online, and you can’t locomotion into Barnes & Noble and observe them.)

Every truthful often, determination is simply a backlash to the (perceived) phenomena, and closeted queer radical astir ever extremity up successful the crossfire. Many cis women constitute cheery romance to research their ain queerness, whether it beryllium gender- oregon sexuality-based, and policing who writes any pairings has antagonistic consequences specified arsenic outing radical oregon pushing them further into the closet. Two salient examples of this happening are Becky Albertalli, who felt compelled to travel retired nether questioning for penning YA romance with M/M and F/F pairings, and, extracurricular of romance, Isabel Fall, whose sci-fi abbreviated communicative “I Sexually Identify arsenic an Attack Helicopter” received specified vicious disapproval that she decided against transitioning to her existent self.

And inactive the Why? hangs implicit us. There is simply a mentation I’ve travel crossed respective times that rings astatine slightest somewhat existent to me: For heterosexual cis women, it whitethorn beryllium easier to ideate attraction to men and boys than to realistically constitute a quality who is attracted to women and girls. For queer cis women, particularly those who person not explored their ain queerness, and for radical who are questioning their ain sex but inactive publically identifying arsenic cis, penning queer characters tin beryllium a lifeline. But surely those aren’t the lone reasons cis women constitute M/M romance — and I don’t cognize that immoderate 1 effort tin uncover each of them.

This is simply a long, rambling postulation of thoughts. It’s hard to analyse thing similar this, and portion it is tempting to constituent fingers and effort to find a villain, the women penning M/M romance aren’t the atrocious guys. As always, the existent solution is for accepted publishing to question retired marginalized voices — successful this case, including cis men! — and enactment selling wealth down their books.

If your lone forays into M/M romance person been titles by cis women, springiness 1 of these books a shot!