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Folks. I am not saying you have to check the race, gender, and sexuality of every author you read and enter it in a spreadsheet. I am merely saying that the context from which authors write can be interesting. And, that there's an issue here specific to Romancelandia....
When RWA held a member referendum on whether the genre definition of a romance should specifically state that only relationships between one man and one woman were acceptable, the people arguing for that definition often went even more broadly in trying to exclude people
There were many -- many! -- blog posts at the time arguing that romance novels were only for "white, Christian, college-educated women." No, I am not joking. At least ten people reading this can picture the website where I found that gem. One of them probably even has the URL.
So when you pop into a thread about reading romance that advocates reading diversely if you're going to offer professional critique and you go "Well, I'd never ask the race or sexuality of an author!" the authors who have been through this journey for a while are like "yiiiikes!"
I am not asking you to eat broccoli. Guess what, books by queer people and BIPOC are not fucking broccoli.
(Unless you love broccoli, then yeah, broccoli! May I suggest cheddar and red pepper flakes on it?)
(Unless you love broccoli, then yeah, broccoli! May I suggest cheddar and red pepper flakes on it?)
All I am saying is that you've stepped into a genre that is profoundly and legitimately political. Whether BIPOC people get to be happy, whether gay people are capable of experiencing emotional connection; whether disabled people feel joy: these remain current and ugly debates.
If you're going to write - for money! - about a genre that talks about love and happiness, you have to engage with the history and the politics and at least some of the books beyond those written to be aggressively and exclusively for white, Christian, college-educated women
(Note this nuance: there is a huge difference between "books written to be aggressively and exclusively for white, Christian, college-educated women" and "books written by white, Christian, college-educated women", or "books that white, Christian, college-educated women enjoy")
I do not have a huge amount of time to read and want books I'll love and that engage my curiosity. Thus, yes, I am at least vaguely aware of whether every single book I pick up is by someone exactly like me, because wow, I'd feel bored by that and inexpert on my field.
Read what you want to read. But if you're going to be writing about that reading professionally, then yes, I expect you to engage in a way that considers what context you need to do so effectively.
RWA was founded by Vivian Stephans, a Black woman. Many of the leading voices in the genre are Black women. You cannot offer an informed opinion on the genre without that context. If you have not previously had a reason to know that context, that demonstrates why context matters.
And before you come here insisting you don't know anything about the authors you choose to read and it's just coincidence if they're all just like you and how dare I? -- I'd ask you to start telling me about your favorite author. I bet you know a _ton_ about them.
I added this where I typoed, but I also want to put it here so people see it: Vivian Stephens is the correct spelling of the RWA founder's name. You can learn more about her and issues of race in romance here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vivian_Stephens
