Very disheartened today in my #amquerying process to come across an agent said they aren't "here for" 1) stories about redemption arcs for bigoted/abusive people or 2) romances with problematic power dynamics
To clarify, I don't have an issue w/ agents having preferences! +

Everybody does. And if an agent isn't into the type of story you're writing then they won't be able to sell it with any conviction. That's the nature of the business. What discouraged me was 1) the incredibly judgemental tone (lbr, when someone says "I'm not here for x" it's

got some very specific tonal connotations), 2) the way redemption arcs for bad people were presented as a bad trope, and 3) the vagueness.
After combing thru literally 100s of agent profiles I've gotten the sense that shitting on tropes & genres you dislike as an agent is +

considered bad form. Maybe I'm wrong here. But idk, I've come across several other agents who've said things like "please don't send me stories that deal with issues like rape or abuse" with zero shade cast on ppl who DO write that. The agent just says it's not for them & moves +

on. Value-neutral language. No hard feelings, it's just not their bag. NBD. So an agent using tonally loaded language to communicate that not only do they dislike certain tropes, but that those tropes are Bad, was very surprising.
I also get being tired of redemption arc tropes +

especially lazy or poorly-written ones. Again, if it's not your thing, fine. But something about the specificity of who they don't want to be redeemed was...idk. Troubling? And the vagueness! What counts as redemption? What counts as an arc? Can villains learn and grow, +

or is any hint of that strictly forbidden? Does this include stories of reconciliation and healed relationships? How do you define abuse? How do you define bigotry? How "bad" does the abuse/bigotry have to be before redemption/reconciliation/healing is a no-go? +

Like, would you accept a story in which a previously fatphobic mother eventually apologises to her daughter for body-shaming comments & they reconcile & grow past it? What exactly does this entail? Frankly, given current YA discourse, all it did was give me the vibe that +

if you, for example, like certain popularly-hated ships from certain famous scifi movie series, or if you appreciate certain morally grey wizards from certain famous children's books, then you're not only unwelcome w/ that agent, but morally judged - and that they want you +

to know it.
Finally, I'd like to ask: what the fuck are problematic power dynamics in a relationship? EVERY relationship has power dynamics, but "problematic" is a REALLY subjective term. When does it get problematic? What counts? Does an age gap have to get to a certain size? +

Are income & influence disparities problematic (ex: retail clerk dating a millionaire pop star)? Like where does a romance cross the line from thrillingly unusual to problematic???
Anyway I'm not meaning to dump on anyone & I'm NOT naming this agent or identifying them +

bc they don't deserve any shit over a single paragraph on their profile page. But like...this kind of rhetoric has ALREADY been a big issue in the YA fandom, w/ certain readers campaigning to ruin the careers of debut (often minority) leaders for having "problematic" books +

& discouraging other aspiring authors (like myself) from following our dreams & sharing our creations bc of the fear of getting stamped with the "problematic" scarlet letter. & NO I'm not talking about the many ppl having good-faith critical discussions about YA lit tropes. +

But after watching this growing trend of saying "well so-and-so likes x ship which means they're okay with letting bigots off the hook!" has been deeply worrisome, & now seeing an agent using the exact same language as that brand of wokester YA twitter...well, it's a bummer. +

Anyway, I don't take personal umbrage at agents having preferences, nor am I hurt that this agent probably wouldn't be interested in my stories. It is what it is! But the tone of "not only do I dislike this, but something is wrong with YOU for writing it!" felt uhhhh shitty. +

Most agents I've communicated w/ & looked at have been nothing short of professional, respectful, & encouraging, even the ones who weren't buying what I'm selling. But as shame-heavy rhetoric has gotten more & more prevalent across certain parts of the internet +

IRT fiction, is it too much to ask agents to consider how they adopt that rhetoric when communicating w/ potential clients? Is it too much to ask for just a polite, generalised "hey please don't send me stories about x" without the additional tsk-tsking?