Some of you might be screaming, men need to stay away from our romance. They dominate too much as it is. And woman are basically invisible in scifi and fantasy.
I’m not going to argue that men have it harder than women. But they still have challenging stigmas to overcome. I think in order to have real equality, we can’t be all man vs woman. We’ve got to work together.
And if you don’t think there is a stigma against male romance authors (and even male readers)…
I read a lot, but sometimes it feels like there is something missing. Maybe I think more along the lines of a stereotypical male. Because of that, I might jive better with a book written from that prospective.
All I’m saying is that there is no one way of thinking for men or women, though marketing studies do show similarities between the majority of each sex. I’ve never been on either edge of the gender spectrum, so I think it’s time we start embracing all authors of all genders to write all genres, because one of them will write your perfect book.
And here’s the thing, reading a romance where the male author shows how guys actually feel about women…swoony. Bring on the man tears and vulnerability. Honestly, before reading romance written by men, I saw a lot of male vulnerability as the woman writer’s wish fulfillment with a cheesy delivery. Getting to experience romance by and for different genders broadens understanding and shows romance in a variety of ways that sticking to a single gender of author may not have achieved.
This isn’t to say that sex matters; that’s something biological. But gender, a social construct, can play a role in the thought patterns of the person, and I want to read more of what lies in the middle. That means letting everyone write romance.
As for my romances, you’re not going to see the stupid girl who jumps to a conclusion and spins 20% of the book angry before contacting the love interest and making up. I also hate writing girls who think they can change the guy. Also, don’t have girls dating douches, that just makes them look stupid. And there is nothing more annoying than a stupid girl.
Oh my, can we stop these tired tropes? Or at least, if there is a misunderstanding, you make it to where even the reader believes what the protagonist does because all signs point to it being true (that’s what I do)?
I can deal with these tired tropes reversed because there’s not a real world stigma of these against the male species, but a full dismissal is preferable.
Any character can be anyway, just make sure if you’re the writer, you’re writing them that way because that is how they are and not because that’s how you think “boys” or “girls” do or should act.
Well, it seems I’ve hit some sort of soap box record. Let me know in the comments if you like reading books by the minority gender for that genre. Do male author or female author books tend to jive with you more? (For me, it’s more the individual though I tend to see myself more in the male characters since they tend to think more pragmatically.) Is there’s a genre of books you wouldn’t read by a certain gender?
You’ve heard my thoughts, now sound off with yours.
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Heather Dowell 