From time to time I run across acrid commentary about women writing male male romance or straight men writing gay love stories, or the arrogance of men writing romance between a man and woman.
Seriously? Why on earth would anyone think one gender had a great claim to expertise in writing craft as applied to any particular genre?
History offers many example of women being discriminated against. Here's where I get really confused. I would have guessed our own history of oppression, prejudice, and discrimination would have made women more sensitive and less tolerant to this kind of injustice. Reading commentary written by women, vilifying men who dare to think they can capture romance on the page, dismays me.
Are those women railing against male authored romance unaware of D.H. Laurence, T.S. Eliot, Leo Tolstoy, and William Shakespeare?
Practicing gender bias makes no sense. Thankfully the vast majority of readers are too smart to be bothered by an author's gender or sexual orientation or race or any other irrelevant label.
Right? Uh, you all aren't prejudiced against men writing romance are you?
