(First of all, I would just like to point out that apparently I’m only good at remembering that I need to do a TBT post on Wednesdays and Fridays. *eyeroll*)

Anyway, did I ever tell you guys how I got into M/M? Probably not. It all started long ago and far away, back in my twenties. I decided that I wanted to read more than the horror and supernatural stuff that comprised 99% of the books I owned . But I didn’t want to read the straight stuff because, frankly, I’d read enough of that as a kid to last me a lifetime. Instead, I wanted to read F/F stories, because those were way more up my alley as far as interests went. Unfortunately, the problem I ran into was that a lot of the lesbian/bisexual-themed stories I found weren’t exactly my thing. Most of what I came across was a little too… eh, sweet for my own personal tastes. I was looking for stories with some bite. Maybe I wasn’t looking in the right places, but it seemed to me at the time that the only stories that had the kinds of plots that caught my eye were of the guy-on-guy variety. And, being ever the optimist, I figured what the hell because at least I would still be dealing with a same-sex relationship, which was what I really wanted to read, even if I couldn’t necessarily relate to having a penis.

Later on, when I got into manga and anime, I stuck with the M/M theme thanks to the awesomeness that is yaoi (I do have my issues with yaoi but that’s a story for another time). Though I don’t have specific numbers, I think it’s safe to say that many yaoi creators are female and the stories tend to cater to a primarily female audience. That’s just the way it was and I never thought to question it. Mostly because I was too busy inhaling as much of it as humanly possible. While there were some yuri titles I liked, I found that I was coming across the same problem in that there weren’t the kinds of stories I wanted to read (which, as I previously mentioned, led to the creation of my woman-loving assassin, Kira).

Coming from that particular background, and having finally jumped headlong into the wonderful world of M/M storytelling, I’m noticing for the first time that there seems to be some very strong feelings by some toward female M/M authors and readers. Did you know that we’re all straight—and usually white—women who fetishize gay men? I had no idea! I mean, I’m not exactly clear on how writing about two men falling in love is any different than writing about two women or a man and a woman, but apparently some people see this magical distinction. (Also, I’m not straight or white but who cares about details when making generalizations?)

Am I allowed to awww over this image or am I fetishizing via admiration?

Also, to imply that women are not capable of writing about relationships between men seems as silly to me as saying that people of one race are not qualified to write characters of another. Or sexual orientation. Or nationality. Or religion. Or whatever. I write about vampires although I have, to date, never drank anyone’s blood (though I do sleep most of the day so take what you will from that). I write about angels and God knows I’m not one. See what I’m getting at? Think about all the stories that might have never been told if people never wrote outside the box. Yikes.

Look, I like reading and writing M/M stories. Obviously. Most of my female friends enjoy it as well, even though their reasons may not be the same as mine. Oh well. Who cares? Judging by what I’ve seen on the rare occasions when I step onto the social media playground for more than five minutes, a LOT of women are M/M fans. It’s a done deal, folks. And for anyone who thinks that we shouldn’t be here, well, I’m sorry to break it to you but from the looks of things, we’re not going anywhere. So hate on. ❤

E*

 

Image courtesy of janeb13.