About a month ago I posited the question as to who wrote the most romancey tales in the m/m genre? Were they females, males, GQ/T* people, who?
The majority of commenters believed gender and/or sexuality had no bearing on the level of romance and sex in a story, yet the generalisations continue; for example, the rumours Sean and I are one in the same because his books are ‘too romantic’ to have been written by a boy.
Given this, I decided to conduct a poll on the subject to see what readers would say if they had the opportunity to comment anonymously.
The poll is in the side bar and will be up for about a week.
I encourage you all to participate, and to pimp it *pretty please* in order to get the views of the broader m/m community.
So, with that in mind, I’ll leave you with one of my responses from the last post:
“I think it is very true to say that your personality and interests would come through in the style of your writing and in the story building as well.
While gender and/or sexuality may have played a role in the development of your personality, it doesn’t mean that you actually write with your genitalia, etc.”
Kris + Books = Good. *Sometimes*. 
Where have all the comments gone? :-O
I've been boycotted??
I'll comment! Just so you know that we are still out here 😉
I honestly think that a person's experiences and personality will come through in their writing but that their sexuality isn't a factor. I have read some of the raunchiest (and loved every min of it!) m/m lit. that was written by a hetero woman. So if said woman who is just using her brain and imagination to write sex can come up with some pretty believable scenes, why then is it so damn hard to believe a man can do the same with romance? Or who *gasps* is actually romantic? I say FUCK 'EM……..but then again that tends to be my take on any close mindedness >.<
Voted!
Kassandra: *sniffles* Thank you. *sniffles* I feel so loved… by you. The rest of those fuckers can get lost. Rudeheads.
*ahem*
“So if said woman who is just using her brain and imagination to write sex can come up with some pretty believable scenes, why then is it so damn hard to believe a man can do the same with romance? Or who *gasps* is actually romantic?”
*high fives*
Shocking, isn't it. Apparently it's all well and good to bill and coo over romantic male leads, but when it comes to RL?? Nope.
And I probably shouldn't have said that cos now we'll have those idiots come back with their whiny 'but it's only fantasy', blah, blah. *yawn*
Orannia: *smooches*
Going to vote now
I totally agree with what Kassandra said.
Thanks Angel! And, yep, me too.
Went to check out my Google reader after a month of two of absence while writing, and you've only gone and posted LOADS of great, thought-provoking stuff!
I'd say that there are styles I would identify as being more “masculine” and “feminine”, but that they don't necessarily match up to a particular gender of writer. It's more a shortcut to say certain writing seems more driven by testosterone and some by oestrogen – but we all have our higher cortexes to override these things, and women are just as capable as men are of writing raunchy, amoral smut.
Then again, this might just be a way of me admitting that I'm not terribly romantic in the way women are encouraged to be, yet I still love romance. I just want male characters to read like men and not go all mushy and break down in tears constantly. They can do it occasionally, under great duress. I'll allow them that 😉
Jo: 'I just want male characters to read like men and not go all mushy and break down in tears constantly. They can do it occasionally, under great duress. I'll allow them that ;)'
Awww. Look at you being all romancey womany. It's enough to being a tear to my eye. No really.
I think, because I'm trying to become more aware of gender, sexuality and the rainbow of identifications, I've been challenging my notions of 'male' and 'female' and the expressions thereof. Therefore, the idea that one particular gender or sex is more romantic just seems limiting to me, not to mention wrong. More of that binary mindset a lot of us have. Does that make sense?
Also –>> '… you've only gone and posted LOADS of great, thought-provoking stuff…'
Why is this such a fucking surprise?! I do thought-provoking shit all the bloody time! *hmpf*