Article about m/m in the Globe and Mail

[erastes]

This article was going to go out in December, but then they decided to run it near Valentine's Day, which is quite sweet.  There are a few inaccuracies in it, I have to say: I'm NOT 47, although I wish I was, I'm a few years older—and I haven't been married to a man for 15 years. God knows where they got that from. For the record, not that it's really anyone's business, I was married for a year in 1988, and that was only because I had to wait a year before I could start divorce proceedings—he'd been unfaithful around six months so I chucked him out!

Anyway—it's not a bad article, despite the usual slanted nonsense and inaccuracies. The comments are rather amusing though. They range from WHAT WOULD JESUS THINK? to YUK to HURRAH!.

Alex Beecroft and Heidi Cullinan and I are quoted.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/valentines-day/what-women-want-gay-male-romance-novels/article1902774/

Comments

[gingerhead76.livejournal.com]

I agree with what Heidi Cullinan says “One of the reasons why more women are ravenous for these books is that they want to read something about gay men that doesn’t involve them suffering from [HIV/AIDS], committing suicide or getting bullied. I know I was,”.
That's why I avoid all gay-themed books and movies with tragic plots or unhappy endings. ;-)
As for the reasons why this kind of fiction is so popular among women, a while ago I read a very interesting book. It's "Warrior Lovers", by Catherine Salmon and Donald Symons. I'm sure you know it.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I agree - I like the tragedies too, though.

Never heard of that book, though! I don't equate gay fiction these days to slash--i prefer to be disassociated from slash fiction,even though I did come up from the ranks of fandom.

[gingerhead76.livejournal.com]

Well yes, gay fiction is quite different from slash, but I think that the conclusions drawn in that book can apply also to the female readers of gay fiction. The book (a short essay, actually) is more of a study of psychology, of the differences between male/female psychology and of eroticas. The subject of slash comes up only in the last two chapters. Besides, the book came out in 2003, when gay fiction was not as popular as nowadays.
I don't know if there are other (and more recent) books about the reasons why female readers like gay fiction: this is the only one I found...