Female writers of gay fiction pretending to be male - Fraud or OK?

The vast majority of the books on that list were written by actual gay men, OP, so I'm unclear what you're banging on about.

Patricia Highsmith and Mary Renault were renowned writers who wrote gay characters. I would take their books over Armistead Maupin any day.

It depends on whether you mean fiction or erotica. Fiction, whether or not it’s under a male pen name, is great. Erotica written under a male name, to me; is creepy in the same way that “lesbian” erotica or straight erotica written by men from a supposedly female point of view is creepy. I’ve read some of this “gay” erotica and stuff that’s written incorrectly breaks the spell when you’re not exactly reading for literary quality.

"Roger stared goggle-eyed at Frederic's magnificent dick as the latter unsheathed it from his pants and it proudly rose to attention.

'I would like you to spoon and cuddle me right now,' Roger insisted urgently. 'And tell me how special I am.'"

There used to be a lot of this on Nifty 20-25 years ago when I read erotic stories there. The female ones gradually revealed themselves with way too many buildup chapters, a preponderance of emotional arcs and dramas between male characters, and an under-ponderance of explicit homosex.

Erotica and legitimate fiction are two different things, R3. I don't know what's "creepy" about women writing gay erotica, but women erotica writers writing gay fiction have had a fair amount of success, so take it up with their readers.

The OP reads gay romance novels and can’t tell if they were written by a man or women, But if he did know then it would be important.

The OP must be Bi a real gay man would know.

OP, get a life.

[quote] Personally, it rubs me the wrong way when a female writer hides her gender

Fuck you.

And OP what about gay actors that have the stones to play a straight man? Think of how many poor souls just like you that have been deceived.

If you’re referring to romance/erotica, I assume most of this stuff is written by a committee anyway and published under a “brand” name. There’s no way one writer is writing an entire series of 5 or 6 titles for publication in the same year or 18 months. And in this genre, it’s not like they’re going to publish a series over 5 years or so. Publication is much more rapid than that.

It doesn’t pay to be a purist. I think find some “authors” you like and enjoy their work. The hallmark of these series is acceptance anyway, where every character is gay or bi-curious or at least an affectionate ally. Like most writing, the best ones succeed based on the quality of the characters, in this genre, usually if they’re clever or witty or appealingly self-deprecating. The really masterful ones are quite good with the sex, how well integrated the dynamic is with the characters, etc., how they build and maintain tension. But I don’t think you can be too critical. They’re just an escape, a diversion. And it’s the one type of media where you can find all kinds of gay characters doing all kinds of hay things. It’s like tv, an enjoyable escape. The tropes are unavoidable and take on a charm of their own. And some of them really are very well written. And you can learn a lot.

[quote] If you’re referring to romance/erotica, I assume most of this stuff is written by a committee anyway and published under a “brand” name. There’s no way one writer is writing an entire series of 5 or 6 titles for publication in the same year or 18 months.

Actually, R11, one writer can ans does write 5-6 books a year. And they maintain blogs and do all sorts of promo all the time. That's the only way they can make a go.

Certainly the fanfic writers on LiveJournal were able to output that kind of volume back in the mid 2000s when I moved through fannish spaces like that. If you were lucky you found stories written by adults who understood how sex worked mechanically, and who didn't turn the (always) smaller bottom into a submissive ultra-feminine woman in all but name.

STRAIGHT women are stealing gay writer jobs. Meet Cora.

Meet Michele. She "dabbles in all tropes, genres, and genders". Except her own heterosexual one.

Meet Andi....ANOTHER trick the straight female writers use is using gender neutral names.

Imagine that - women writing fiction and pretending to be a man. Well, I never!

R17 It's not funny in 2025 that gay men are being shoved aside because STRAIGHT WOMEN want to pretend to understand the gay male perspective. A lot of gay authors are trying to make it in the business. If you need Elle and Sarina to tell you a GAY story, have at it.

No idea, i read mysteries and thrillers. One's sex of the author makes no difference to me as long as it's written well and keeps me guessing.

I don’t know why they bother. Some of the best takes I’ve read on the female mind we’re written by men.

If you use Evelyn or Vivian you could be a woman or a British man.

Maybe we can clamp down on this once men stop writing from a woman’s perspective? Otherwise, OP’s proposal just seems like he’s punching down on women.

Meet CHARLIE----a WOMAN. She writes books about GAY MEN. You might think SHE was a HE if you didn't look up HER name. Congrats to Charlie for all HER success in writing books about gay MEN.!!

Meet Spencer. Another woman using a MALE name to sell books about GAY MEN. Yes, I know Spencer can be a womans's name but as the previous posts show---many women use gender neutral (or men's) names to sell books.

OP, you’re retarded. Why don’t you write a book?

Spencer!!~Cha-Ching!!

[quote]OP’s proposal just seems like he’s punching down on women.

Oh, don’t start with that punching down shit.

[bold] Meet LEX. [/bold] Another woman using a MANs name to sell to gays. It's insidious. For every woman peddling a gay book, that's one less gay author getting his due.

I'm sick of seeing only female writers in general, but certainly with gay fiction. Where have the male writers gone? If I'm reading Gone With the Wind, I'll take the female perspective of a female writer, but if I'm reading gay male fiction, I want only a male author writing from a male perspective.

[quote]The vast majority of the books on that list were written by actual gay men,

Looking at the top ones, I see male authors, but they are from yesteryear. We need current male authors.

[quote]Meet LEX. Another woman using a MANs name to sell to gays. It's insidious.

[quote]Lex is a human who lives in a house and likes to write silly books and eat chocolate and occasionally get lost in the woods with her really, really cute pitbull. She enjoys romance that makes you smile so hard your cheeks hurt, snowy days in the forest, lifting heavy weights, dessert items, and the aforementioned pitbull.

Lex's About captures why I don't want to read a female author in this category. I don't want to read any book written by a person who fits that description or who would write that about herself thinking it's cute.

Meet AJ. WOMAN who writes GAY novels.... "AJ Sherwood believes in happily ever afters, magic, dragons, good men, and dark chocolate. [bold] She often dreams at night of delectable men doing sexy things with each other."[/bold]

What the FUCK?

[quote]I'm sick of seeing only female writers in general, but certainly with gay fiction. Where have the male writers gone?

They’re all about queers and trannies now. None of them will admit to be gay. Everything is a soap box. Gay men in the arts are completely insufferable.

Meet Nicky, who writes about the m/m tales of romance.....[bold] PLOT TWIST!! Nicky is a WOMAN who uses the name "Nicky"... [/bold]

How about straight men writing books about women? How about gay men writing tv shows about women like Sex in the City? This isn’t new.

[quote]Female writers of gay fiction pretending to be male - Fraud or OK?

Depends on if they are paying for dinner.

Last one...I promise.....Meet E.M. Lindsey.....(initials are another sneaky trick some people use). Notice her bio referenced NO gender and she had NO photo? Dead giveaway. I knew immediately this was going to be a woman writing MM novels.

If someone has never driven or owned a car, and never had a drivers license, would you buy a book from them about car repairs and passing drivers exams? What if they called themselves H.R. Ford?

Why is OP reading trash by no-name authors?

He could go back to the classics like GAYWYCK…. essentially the gay REBECCA.

I think this link is a podcast about the groundbreaking romance novel:

[quote]Gaywyck was published by Avon in 1980. Set on the Long Island estate of the wealthy Gaylord family in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Gaywyck charts an inter-generational terror born of abuse, madness, and unrequited love. We follow the protagonist Robbie as he arrives at the estate as the librarian. Like most gothic romances of the era, Gaywyck is a book that takes a microscope to cruelty. Please join the Rakes as we discuss people’s obsession with “good representation”, the Dr. Jekyll / Mr. Hyde aspect of twins, cyclical violence, war profiteering, and Virga’s many movie references.

I think a lot of gay romance is written by women for women.

If so, it’s interesting that straight men are turned on by girl-on-girl sex in porn, while women like reading about gay romance in fiction.

[quote]I think a lot of gay romance is written by women for women.

That's absolutely the case. A lot of it is written for Kindle Unlimited, a subscription service that primarily caters to straight women in search of smut, true crime, and "Gone Girl"-inspired marital mysteries.

What White people are told by editors and publishers now when they write about other races and ethnicities: "You are not the person to tell this story."

That should also apply to women writing about gay men.

^^ write to your Senator about it

[bold]A woman named ELI is writing about gay college jocks!![/bold] Does she look like anyone who ever went out with a jock? Ever?

I think there should be a truth in publishing law in which authors should be clearly identified by name. No uncredited ghost writers, no masquerading in assumed identities. That goes for J K Rowling going around in drag as Robert Galbraith.

[quote]How about straight men writing books about women?

It's good that you mention that. Women writers, including for movies and TV, are at the forefront of pointing out that the gender of the writer makes a big difference in the product. The same is true when it comes to gay fiction.

Straight women often can't wrap their head around the fact that gay men are still men. I don't want female sensitivities intruding in the gay fiction I read. It should be somewhat hard edged. Men should be telling their love interest, "Bitch, suck that dick!" or words to that effect.

It’s pathetic to me given how gay men have suffered that we would tell an author, “Based on your gender, certain themes are prohibited in your writing.”

Some of you nimrods sound like the social police in sharia-based countries.

If you start reading a book and you don’t like it, just stop reading. Or is that too complicated for some of you?

[quote] Some of you nimrods sound like the social police in sharia-based countries.

R48 needs WOMEN to tell him about the gay male coming out experience. Might I recommend JESSE? [bold] spoiler alert = Jesse is a woman [/bold].

For penises, by penises.

Okay - all bitching aside re: women writing in a male voice, men writing in a female voice aside - one of the best novels I’ve ever read is “I Am Mary Dunne” by Brian Moore. (He also wrote the novel that the Maggie Smith movie “The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearn” is based on.)

It’s written in the first person, describing the terrible day of a house wife who’s either having a nervous breakdown or just experiencing PMS. I can’t describe why it’s so good… it just is. It’s beautifully written.

R39, the summary alone of Gaywyck is mind-blowing. This needs to be a trashy Flowers In The Attic type mini-series.

I've read a few. Pretty crappy. All the men behave like women. Not written for men. Most of the sex scenes are laughable. And then the aftermath... when the eat chocolate.