Do Men Read Romance Novels?

[TheeGoatPig]

http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper999/stills/9bpywd3h.jpg

Men read romantic *stories* not novels. You won't see a guy on the subway reading a bodice ripper mainly because the main, pov character in such novels is female (men almost always want a male pov character unless it's a lesbian story), and because they don't want to get picked on by other men. But I get lots of responses on my on-line romance stories here from men. Note that all my romances either feature men as the main pov character or switch pov's between the guy and the girl.

My biggest hits with men in the romance category are "shy guy" stories where the guy is a lonely sort and the woman is very sexy, and the two rescue each other with romance and a lot of sex.

There are a lot of romantic gents out there, but the pov of romance novels rarely cater to them--it caters to female romantic fantasies, not male romantic fantasies.

I am so not a regular man. I prefer reading stories in the female point of view, how they feel when touched, kissed, penetrated.

I hate stories from the male point of view. They are always so distant from my own feelings, so violent, or so aggressive. I just don't care for them at all.

 

[3113]

I hate stories from the male point of view. They are always so distant from my own feelings, so violent, or so aggressive. I just don't care for them at all.

Well, we have to distinguish between stories where the female gets penetrated and where she just, er, falls in love

I can pretty much guarantee that if Harry Potter had been Harriet Potter it's have gotten almost no noticed and ended up just another series about a kid going to magic school. Boys want boy protagonists. Take note that there is not *one* female superhero that comes close to the popularity of the biggest selling male superheroes (superhero comics still have a 90% male readership. Other types of comic, like Manga, have more equal or female dominant numbers. Interestingly, the best selling comics in the late 50's were romance comics, which were read pretty exclusively by women).

And before you start waving Wonder Woman around, sorry, no. She's presented along with the big guys because she's one of DC's iconic heroes, but her sales numbers and popularity have never, ever come close to matching that of Superman, Batman, etc. And if you see a guy reading a WW comic, he's likely gay as she's very popular with gay males.

Boys or men who want to read a book or story that involves a female point of view are pretty few and far between, especially if the female pov doesn't involve a lesbian or sex.

Men I've met who do read novels with a female protagonist and no sex (like Jane Austen novels) are most often avid readers.

 

[Camilleon]

This discussion has gotten really interesting. I thank everyone who has posted.

My story is certainly more of a male fantasy. I'm only writing it because I kinda know the story. So, if a male fantasy is written from a female POV without all the silly goings-on of typical romance novels, will men read it?

Have I found my niche market?

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Well, we have to distinguish between stories where the female gets penetrated and where she just, er, falls in love

I can pretty much guarantee that if Harry Potter had been Harriet Potter it's have gotten almost no noticed and ended up just another series about a kid going to magic school. Boys want boy protagonists. Take note that there is not *one* female superhero that comes close to the popularity of the biggest selling male superheroes (superhero comics still have a 90% male readership. Other types of comic, like Manga, have more equal or female dominant numbers. Interestingly, the best selling comics in the late 50's were romance comics, which were read pretty exclusively by women).

And before you start waving Wonder Woman around, sorry, no. She's presented along with the big guys because she's one of DC's iconic heroes, but her sales numbers and popularity have never, ever come close to matching that of Superman, Batman, etc. And if you see a guy reading a WW comic, he's likely gay as she's very popular with gay males.

Boys or men who want to read a book or story that involves a female point of view are pretty few and far between, especially if the female pov doesn't involve a lesbian or sex.

Men I've met who do read novels with a female protagonist and no sex (like Jane Austen novels) are most often avid readers.

That is true about super heroes, but not the subject at hand.

And even without the penetration, I would care more about the seduction from the woman's view than the chase from the man's. Me write trash, while women write trashy

 

[SweetWitch]

Below is just one example of the countless comments sent to me by men. Men do read romance.

Greetings from a romantic old fool of a widower in Texas....

Just finished reading "Ten Years"...a great story!!!!.....

I'm in my late 60's and calloused enough not to be affected by what I would normally call sentimental gibberish. However, your most recent story moved me immensely. Perhaps it touched a part of my memory of something that happened to me years ago or maybe it was just the realness of situation between two people and the idea of a long lost love. Either way, I commend you on a wonderful piece of writing.

Also, the sex scenes weren't bad either, but that's not the real essence of the story, is it?

Again, my compliments on a job well done. I may just go back and read some one your other stories. Hope they're as moving as this one was.

Keep up the good work.

 

[Tzara]

I can pretty much guarantee that if Harry Potter had been Harriet Potter it's have gotten almost no noticed and ended up just another series about a kid going to magic school. Boys want boy protagonists.

Well, my goddaughter and my niece, both of whom were avid readers growing up, refused to even consider reading a book with a male protagonist, so that thing kind of cuts both ways. If we're talking about kids, I would probably agree that boys want boy protagonists. Girls mostly want girl protagonists as well, I suspect. That probably speaks more to gender identity development than anything.

Boys or men who want to read a book or story that involves a female point of view are pretty few and far between, especially if the female pov doesn't involve a lesbian or sex.

Men I've met who do read novels with a female protagonist and no sex (like Jane Austen novels) are most often avid readers.

That seems to me like kind of a tautological argument. Any examples of men who do read novels with a female protagonist and no sex are, by definition, "avid readers" and don't count?

I might grant your point that men who are casual readers probably read books with guy heroes, usually doing tough, manly things like foiling spies or rescuing beautiful women from scoundrels. I'd also bet that most casual female readers prefer books with female protagonists. I know my mother and her friends do. Based on my bookstore experience, I'd probably say that of most readers, avid or not.

So I guess I agree with the idea but not the absolutist way in which you phrased it. People are more complex than that. And if a book is good enough, there are enough avid readers to sell a lot of copies, anyway.

 

[elsol]

Male... Check.
Read Romance Novels... Yeap!!!

Romance novels can be anything and bring in any genre as long as they maintain the central theme to 99% of romance novel.

Also, to be 100% honest, ain't nobody bring that heat like those little Harlequin Temptations. I could be reading a story by my favorite online writer, in my genre, containing ALL my triggers... and I'd still put money that if I picked up a random Temptation from the book rack, jump to the sex, the sex scene would kick the online story to the curve.

I've read Temptation with things I don't like -- like role play -- and been off to take a cold shower.

 

[3113]

Well, my goddaughter and my niece, both of whom were avid readers growing up, refused to even consider reading a book with a male protagonist, so that thing kind of cuts both ways.

It can, but evidence is that while women do read (and for that matter watch tv shows) with male heroes and identify with said male heroes, men are less likely to do the opposite (how many men did go see the Sex in the City movie?). This is no surprise. The vast majority of literature and popular culture identifies male protagonists as "human beings" as "everyman" heroes who can stand for all of us. We have yet to reach the point where female heroes are identified as "everyman" human beings instead of females.

Take a look at most movies and you'll see that this is still the norm. The central, male hero has personality, foibles, and things happen to him, and arc to his story. He is a human being. Meanwhile, the leading lady at his side is often a generic wife or girlfriend who could be swapped out for any other generic wife or girlfriend. She is not a human being, she is the "girl."

The written word has had time to develop beyond that, and certainly if there is a female protagonist she is not usually generic, but the lesson is still there and still viewed that way among a lot of male readers. Boys can stand for us all, girls cannot. Hence, a girl can read Old Yeller or some other kid book with a male protagonist and feel for the hero. But a boy is very unlikely to even want to read Anne of Green Gables and, if he does, connect with the female protagonist.

As a bookstore owner, how many young boys did you sell Anne of Green Gables to? Heidi? Secret Garden? Little Princess? Or any other kid's book with a girl hero? And how many young girls did you sell kids books to that had male protagonists--like The Dark is Rising? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Tom Sawyer?

People are more complex than that. And if a book is good enough, there are enough avid readers to sell a lot of copies, anyway.

*Shrug* If you go down to an individual level you'll always find exceptions and always be able to say that some people are more complex--especially if you are a reader in a family of readers. But people in general? We could only wish they were more complex. With few exceptions, the most popular and widely read books indicate that people are not that complex at all.

 

[Belegon]

Like Elsol, I am a man who reads Romance. Course, I also write and edit it.

Like other genre fiction, there is a lot of contrived trash out there. No different than Science Fiction, Mystery, Thrillers or plenty of other genre fiction.

...and any dude that dares to give me attitude about it not being "manly" can step outside with me and I'll prove how "manly" I am. Or I'll just make a total ass out of him with words. Whatever works.

 

[sr71plt]

Anything my wife reads winds up on my nightstand. So, yes, I occasionally read Romance novels. Happily, there's a limit to what she'll read.

 

[exploringwords]

I tip my cap to all the folks that as BOOKSTORE owners/part owners have thus far chimed in. I am merely a "bookseller" in one of the big chain stores, and have been for about 11 years (part time to support my reading habit through their discount). I wish I had the capital, the patience for the public, and the entrepreneurial sophistication to own my own bookstore.

That said, I guess it depends on where you draw the line that separates erotica/romance, fantasy/romance, horror/romance, for that matter literature/romance?

From personal experience I can tell you for sure that MEN are reading the "Letters to Penthouse" series at about an 85%-90% clip. Myself, Anais Nin is the author I would say "inspired" me to the finer points of "romance" writing, but is that Romance?

I watched the Paranormal Romance thing take off to the point where some authors are being shelved in the Sci-Fi/Fantasy section instead of Romance (L.A. Banks, and Laurel K Hamilton come to mind). I often think there has to be a Kiss/Bite ratio that some one tracks to decide upon the section a book falls into: one kiss for every six bites = fantasy, one kiss for every one bite = romance, twenty bites for ever kiss = horror? While not a lot, there are men that read books from kiss/bite authors 5-10% on my guess.

I also watched the entire "African American Interest" section spring up, largely on the back of an author that calls herself Zane. I would suggest that her short stories are Erotica bordering on the sophistication of the above mentioned "Penthouse Letters" and a must read for any of the men the prefer a little--ahem---chocolate, in their erotica (chocolate the skin color, not the poop chute).

As for myself, do I read Romance? I skim some Ellora's Cave publications only pausing for the sex, unless Anais Nin and Penthouse Letters count?

 

[Tzara]

It can, but evidence is that while women do read (and for that matter watch tv shows) with male heroes and identify with said male heroes, men are less likely to do the opposite (how many men did go see the Sex in the City movie?). This is no surprise. The vast majority of literature and popular culture identifies male protagonists as "human beings" as "everyman" heroes who can stand for all of us. We have yet to reach the point where female heroes are identified as "everyman" human beings instead of females.

I think we are agreeing by disagreeing. Are women or girls more accepting of male protagonists than men or boys are of female protagonists? Well, yeah, of course they are.

Do they still exhibit a bias for gender similar figures with whom they can identify? I think so. That's just a personal opinion based on behavior I've observed, but I think so.

As a bookstore owner, how many young boys did you sell Anne of Green Gables to? Heidi? Secret Garden? Little Princess? Or any other kid's book with a girl hero? And how many young girls did you sell kids books to that had male protagonists--like The Dark is Rising? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Tom Sawyer?

Personally? Like none. For two reasons: (1) I have like zero knowledge of children's books and avoided that section like the plague. It was the specialty of one of the partners and she did almost all the selling in that section. (2) You don't (generally) sell books to kids. You sell them to their parents, who may have very different ideas of what their child should read than what the kid him/herself wants to read.

Which could, of course, be part of the problem.

*Shrug* If you go down to an individual level you'll always find exceptions and always be able to say that some people are more complex--especially if you are a reader in a family of readers. But people in general? We could only wish they were more complex. With few exceptions, the most popular and widely read books indicate that people are not that complex at all.

The most popular and widely read books generally are shit. At least since Dickens died.

My experience was that people are much more open to things than one might think. Now I may have been encountering a small and atypical sample of the reading public, but I was always surprised and pleased at the range of its taste.

Your experience obviously has been different.

 

[oggbashan]

As a bookstore owner, how many young boys did you sell Anne of Green Gables to? Heidi? Secret Garden? Little Princess? Or any other kid's book with a girl hero? And how many young girls did you sell kids books to that had male protagonists--like The Dark is Rising? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory? Tom Sawyer?...

Unfortunately in 15 years as a secondhand bookseller I sold very few books of any sort to boys.

I sold many to girls and far more to parents buying books, that they themselves had liked, for their children.

My largest single sale by quantity was to two girls aged about 14. They bought 350 books from my sale table and had to ring one of their parents to come and collect their purchases. The books were priced at one penny each (approx 2 cents) and I gave them a quantity discount.

When the parent arrived she bought 50 more.

I sold large quantities of Mills and Boon paperbacks. I priced them at ten pence each or 10 books for fifty pence. Most purchasers bought 20 or more at a time. Some were male but they tended to say they were buying them for a wife/mother/girlfriend. One woman bought the "hot" versions by mistake for her great-aunt in a retirement home. They were a hit with the great-aunt and her fellow inmates, so much so that the home's proprietor came to my shop with a standing order for any "hot" Mills and Boon I might have.

The largest purchasers of Mills and Boon were a French family running an English language school near Paris. They bought Mills and Boon for their students to practise with because the plots were simple and clear and the English vocabulary required was fairly limited. Over the years I traded for myself that family bought about 10,000 Mills and Boon and perhaps several hundred English "classics".

I sold more Jane Austen to men than to women. Apart from one dedicated collector I sold more Zane Grey to women than to men but for whom were the books intended?

I could go on and on. But one general observation would be that secondhand chick-lit didn't sell to anyone. It was read new. The secondhand demand didn't make it worth stocking.

Og

 

[Camilleon]

But one general observation would be that secondhand chick-lit didn't sell to anyone.

Og

For me, that line packed a wallop. Thank you!

 

[sr71plt]

Alas, I'm sure the failure of second-hand chick-lit to sell probably wasn't for the reason I would hope. That probably is the case because all of the chick-litters bought and inhaled it on the first round.

 

[michchick98]

Alas, I'm sure the failure of second-hand chick-lit to sell probably wasn't for the reason I would hope. That probably is the case because all of the chick-litters bought and inhaled it on the first round.

Most of the stuff I've read over the last six months has been books from second hand stores. I've found a few really great reads. They also allow me to trade in any books I've already bout there (or bought elsewhere) and I get credit toward future purchases.

This will be an interesting question to ask the woman who runs the bookstore next time I visit.

 

[ishtat]

Well, I love Jane Austen's novels and they are all female POV. And when I read Persuasion it is Anne I identify with, not Captain Wentworth. It's her story, after all, not his.

I'm not sure that Ms. Austen is what you mean by romance or whether you mean what you'd find shelved in the romance section of a bookstore. Having been a co-owner of a bookstore, I have read some genre romance as well, though that was as much for background and out of curiosity as anything.

.

Jane Austen is positively anti romantic. Northanger Abbey is a parody of the romantic Gothic novel. The heroine only succeeds when she is more common sensical. In Sense and Sensibility the latter eventually loses out to the former.

In Persuasion Anne rejects Wentworth when he was poor but takes him when he becomes rich. How romantic is that? (still her best book though)

Finally there is a wonderful small scene right at the end of Pride and Prejudice where Elizabeth Bennett is tempted to tease her new fiancee Darcy but she decides, "it was rather too soon to begin" - calculating bitch, but it does make her an even more unromantic and more interesting character

 

[bobwhitecrow]

In Oklahoma & Texas

My first wife was an avid reader, especially Romance Novels. In Oklahoma & Texas the used book stores do a pretty thriving business in used romance books.

I picked up one or two of her Harlequin books and could not finish them. However, a few of the historical type of novels were interesting. But, I was more interested in the historical value than I was in the romance.

It was because of her, I read James Michner's, "Centenial". It was interesting, but I would rather have read the history and skipped all of the romance part. She on the other hand was more interested in the characters and how they interacted with each other.

So in answer to the original question, no men generally don't read romance stories unless they are of what a teacher I had labeled the "Lust and Thrust" variety. She called the other variety "Pet and Paw".

 

[Tzara]

Jane Austen is positively anti romantic.

Well, I don't really know the genre conventions, so you may be right. My thought was that Austen begat Heyer begat period romance novels, but I could very well be wrong about that.

Northanger Abbey is a parody of the romantic Gothic novel. The heroine only succeeds when she is more common sensical. In Sense and Sensibility the latter eventually loses out to the former.

I wasn't really thinking about Northanger Abbey, which is, as you say, a parody. In my opinion her least interesting book, as well.

My take on Sense and Sensibility is a little more complex, though. Granted, Marianne gives in to Sense (which is kind of sad, actually--saps all the liveliness out of her), but Elinor rather gets caught up a bit--just a bit--in Sensibility. What makes the book, in my opinion.

In Persuasion Anne rejects Wentworth when he was poor but takes him when he becomes rich. How romantic is that? (still her best book though)

Anne is too given to paying attention to her elders originally, specifically Lady Russell. The Romance (capital R) to my mind comes about because once she has rejected Wentworth, she cannot do anything active to reverse that. He has to do it. And he is, of course, peeved at her, hence that whole comfustible muck-up with Louisa.

I mean, what's more romantic than girl has guy, rejects him, then has to endure his chasing after other women to put the hurt on her while she is simply meek and darling only to finally get him back in the end?

Whew.

I think it's her best book, too, and my favorite, though Pride and Prejudice is hilarious.

Finally there is a wonderful small scene right at the end of Pride and Prejudice where Elizabeth Bennett is tempted to tease her new fiancee Darcy but she decides, "it was rather too soon to begin" - calculating bitch, but it does make her an even more unromantic and more interesting character

I dunno, maybe it's me being 21st century emasculated guy, but there is nothing more romantic or fitting than to be matched with a woman who is in every way your intellectual equal.

Or even just a tad bit overmatched. Keeps you on your, uh, toes.

 

[Mark_Ilaan]

Something I learned during my recent bout with stupidity, romance, when done right, is good. But when you stop to think about it, all fiction is romance. I came to that conclusion during my time as an invalid. I read everything I could get my hands on. Of course, most of the people getting books for me were women. They brought what they liked and I read it all.

Romance isn't just about star-crossed lovers. It can be the emotion a man has for a faithful old dog, or the guitar handed down by his grandfather.

Yeah, I'm a guy and I like romance. There, I said it. Besides, my favorite author writes romance. She'd kill me if I didn't say I liked it.

 

[Tricialen]

Something I learned during my recent bout with stupidity, romance, when done right, is good. But when you stop to think about it, all fiction is romance. I came to that conclusion during my time as an invalid. I read everything I could get my hands on. Of course, most of the people getting books for me were women. They brought what they liked and I read it all.

Romance isn't just about star-crossed lovers. It can be the emotion a man has for a faithful old dog, or the guitar handed down by his grandfather.

Yeah, I'm a guy and I like romance. There, I said it. Besides, my favorite author writes romance. She'd kill me if I didn't say I liked it.

Sigh....Mark I think I could fall for you......

 

[Mark_Ilaan]

Sigh....Mark I think I could fall for you......

Just as long as you land on top of me when you fall, gorgeous.

 

[SlickTony]

I have a friend who's been in either jail or prison since last July. He has always been an avid fiction reader, and on one floor of the county jail he was in, he was reduced to reading a Harlequin, because there was, as he put it, a plethora of them there in the library. He said one was enough, and he was very glad to be transferred to another floor where the library had a greater variety in it. Why a men's jail should have received a bunch of Harlequin romances, I don't know, but I suppose it's a case of beggars can't be choosers.

Diana Gabaldon, author of the Outlander series, enlisted her husband as one of her critics when she was in the process of getting each book in the series written. One of his margin-notes that stands out in my memory was "Nipples again?"

 

[dr_mabeuse]

One half of all fiction sold in the United States today is Romance.

That's a lot of Romance.

In a genre that covers everything from Jane Austin to "Prisoner of Anal Sex Island", it's pretty hard to generalize. We should perhaps at least distinguish between chick lit, genre Romance and romance that has pretensions of Literature. The new (well, new 8 years ago) romance with graphic sex is still known as Romantica and is a genre of its own. It was the fastest growing segment of the Romance market, and the most popular Romantica was supernatural, with erotic vampires leading the pack.

 

[Belegon]

One half of all fiction sold in the United States today is Romance.

That's a lot of Romance.

In a genre that covers everything from Jane Austin to "Prisoner of Anal Sex Island", it's pretty hard to generalize. We should perhaps at least distinguish between chick lit, genre Romance and romance that has pretensions of Literature. The new (well, new 8 years ago) romance with graphic sex is still known as Romantica and is a genre of its own. It was the fastest growing segment of the Romance market, and the most popular Romantica was supernatural, with erotic vampires leading the pack.

actually, I thought your publisher had slapped a copyright on "romantica" and was aggressively defending it...

The word, not the genre. BTW, I have nothing against EC. Which is good, since I know so many of their writers...