I’m a lesbian who trends definitively on the side of masculine. I’d refer to myself as “butch.” I’ll read pretty much anything, especially when it comes to fiction, and I can find something to like in almost any genre. Romance is my one big weak spot. I usually don’t really enjoy books where the romance is the main point of the story, and I prefer it to be a side element. If it is the main point of the story, I like there to be a bigger problem the characters have to solve than just poor communication.
When I do read books with a lot of romance, I almost exclusively read F/F, and sometimes M/M. While reading the last M/F romance book I tried, I kind of pinpointed what my issue with most of these books are. Even when I try to put myself in the shoes of someone who’s attracted to men, I find next to nothing attractive about overly “masculine” men. I hate reading about men who get angry and scream or get physical over minor things. I don’t find men being extremely muscular and fit interesting or appealing. A lot of things that people claim are “emasculating” in men are things that I enjoy reading about, like men being sensitive, willing to cry, more emotional intelligence than logical intelligence, or a preference for “feminine” hobbies or even clothing.
I also know a lot of people read romance because they want to put themselves in the shoes of one of the characters, usually the female lead, and I find myself rarely able to do that. Even in F/F books, usually both of the leads are quite feminine, and while I can enjoy them as characters, I rarely am able to project onto them at all. My favorite female characters in books tend to be closed-off scientific types with trouble understanding their own emotions. I’d also love to see more women warriors, or basically women fulfilling any archetype that’s usually filled by a man. Women who actually feel uncomfortable in skirts, dresses or makeup (and DON’T have a makeover or fancy party scene where they actually turn out to look incredible completely made up in a dress and full face of makeup) is also something I’d really like to see more of.
I’m aware this is probably a super niche ask, but I’m not even sure how I’d go about looking for stuff like this by myself, and I want to see if there’s something out there that could possibly pull me in on the level that books of other genres do.
The leads don’t *both* have to be gender non conforming (though it’d be cool if they were), since this is already a hyperspecific ask on its own, lol. Thanks in advance!
by cryptogothic