A New Trend
There’s been some grumbling at Goodreads this year about a new trend in erotica. It’s called m/m romance. That means it’s a Male Romance. There is no heroine, just two heroes who meet, lust after each other, have lots of wild sex, and eventually fall in love with each other. It used to be called Gay Romance.
Okay, the discussion among some of my fans and readers has been why? What’s so appealing about this genre? Why are so many straight women going crazy for m/m romance? In fact many of my friends are so addicted to m/m romance it’s the only kind of erotica they read now. No kidding.
Let me say upfront I’m not a fan of m/m erotica. I don’t read it exclusively, and I don’t write it. But being in the erotica business and reading hundreds of erotica novels every year, I come across m/m sex from time to time in ménage novels. And it’s cool with me. Everyone knows I’m a kinky girl, so I have no problem with m/m sex whatsoever. It’s just not my fav genre to read.
So I was as mystified as some of my other Goodreads friends about this new trend. Honestly, I had no idea why it’s suddenly so popular with straight women.
Then I began listening to what fans of m/m romance are saying about why they adore it, and one reason became very clear. Time and time again I heard the same comment about m/m erotic romance: "The men are so sweet to each other and soooo romantic!"
Ah-ha!
Women have always said the nicest guys are gay. Do you straight men know that? If not, you do now.
And it’s true. Even though I know lots of nice straight men, almost all the gay men I know are incredibly nice. I’ve spent my entire career in the arts, so I have lots of gay men friends. They’re really nice, affectionate, intelligent guys. Love them! Not to mention a small segment of the fan base for my novels is gay men. But I’ll talk more about that later.
Here’s what I’m thinking. This new trend could be a backlash against the typical Uber-Alpha hero, who has been the norm in erotica forever. Think about it. Most of the heroes in erotica novels are policemen, cowboys, Navy Seals, Special Ops, construction workers, security specialists, business executives, etc. Classic occupations for Ubers.
Straight women readers are always complaining about these arrogant, self-tortured, perfectionist, demanding, insensitive, hot-tempered, clueless-about-women, and occasionally mean, egomaniac heroes. Ugh!
To tell you the truth, this typical hero has always boggled my mind. I figure these authors can’t be married to Uber-Alphas, right? If they were they certainly wouldn’t be romanticizing them in fiction, because these guys aren’t very romantic or affectionate.
Hey, just ask me. I’ve been fucking an Uber for 31 years. I know, okay? ROFL
Which is why you’ll NEVER find an Uber-Alpha or Alpha hero in one of my novels. My heroes are all straight guys, but they’re handsome, sexy, really nice Gammas and Betas. My women readers swoon over these incredible guys. And so do my gay readers. See? I told you I’d get back to this. 
So if any Ubers or Alphas are reading this blog post today, get a clue, guys. Women are tired of your caveman attitude. And they’re flocking to m/m romance in droves because these heroes understand what a woman wants.
And what is that? We want an affectionate man rather than an arrogant egomaniac. We want to be to be treasured rather than told when to jump and how high from a demanding caveman. And the way you guys are always torturing yourselves because nothing is perfect? Yeesh! Get a life.
Basically, women want to be passionately loved. And we want it NOW.
Oh, yeah. Looks like the clock just ran out on Ubers. And all I can say is it’s about time (no pun intended)!
ROFLMAO
xoxo
Laura Stamps (c)
Author of Erotica and Paranormal Romance Novels
http://www.LauraStamps.blogspot.com (to read excerpts from my novel series)
http://laura-stamps8.livejournal.com (my naughty Author Blog…updated daily *wicked grin*)
Laura Stamps (c)
Author of Erotica and Paranormal Romance Novels
http://www.LauraStamps.blogspot.com (to read excerpts from my novel series)
http://laura-stamps8.livejournal.com (my naughty Author Blog…updated daily *wicked grin*)
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August 18th, 2009 at 10:20 am
I’m doing a practical at an all-male school this time for teacher training, and can I just say that the guys who I’m sure will end up being Alpha drive me up and down the walls. They don’t want to work, and then they smile cheekily at you when you do want them to work.
However, tell them that you’re making them stay in during the lunch hour and suddenly they’re not quite so big and tough.