Are men dropping their end of the valentine?
I was commenting on a post by +Evelyn Chartres on Google+ today and I got into something I have been wondering about for some time now, are men not carrying their end of the valentine?
I see many, many, many love stories these days that are intended for a female audience, written by women, and marketed with covers showing shirtless, hairless, broad chested men depicted as cowboys, pirates, Scotsmen, etc. (take your pick). I was wondering why there is such an abundance of these novels. Are men not giving women what they need in the romance department and I'm not talking about male author as here either. I mean are we men failing in this area?
I don't mean sex either. I mean romance. I have to assume that this is what these books offer over reality. Actually I hope that is what these books offer over reality, otherwise ... I don't want to consider the otherwise. I am simply asking if men are failing in the romance department.
In my first novel, Hosting (available for free on Kobo, $0.99 on Kindle any Google Books ... couldn't resist the plug) there is a love scene where the protagonist is interrupted by the alien who is sharing his consciousness when she tell him he is not doing it properly. She proceeds to instruct him on what to do to obtain the result he and his girlfriend want. The actual instructions are not as important as one of the underlying ideas, which is that anticipation is paramount. Is anticipation missing from your romance?
The idea of anticipation is not new. It is a well-used device. We see it in film, literature, and marketing all the time. The anticipation of that first touch, that first kiss, that first ... whatever. It has sold many books and has kept fans coming back for more even when plots and writing have failed, but are we not using it, men, in real life? Do women have to turn to fantasy to get what they need?
It might be a question we men want to ask ourselves, especially on this, Valentine’s Day.
I see many, many, many love stories these days that are intended for a female audience, written by women, and marketed with covers showing shirtless, hairless, broad chested men depicted as cowboys, pirates, Scotsmen, etc. (take your pick). I was wondering why there is such an abundance of these novels. Are men not giving women what they need in the romance department and I'm not talking about male author as here either. I mean are we men failing in this area?
I don't mean sex either. I mean romance. I have to assume that this is what these books offer over reality. Actually I hope that is what these books offer over reality, otherwise ... I don't want to consider the otherwise. I am simply asking if men are failing in the romance department.
In my first novel, Hosting (available for free on Kobo, $0.99 on Kindle any Google Books ... couldn't resist the plug) there is a love scene where the protagonist is interrupted by the alien who is sharing his consciousness when she tell him he is not doing it properly. She proceeds to instruct him on what to do to obtain the result he and his girlfriend want. The actual instructions are not as important as one of the underlying ideas, which is that anticipation is paramount. Is anticipation missing from your romance?
The idea of anticipation is not new. It is a well-used device. We see it in film, literature, and marketing all the time. The anticipation of that first touch, that first kiss, that first ... whatever. It has sold many books and has kept fans coming back for more even when plots and writing have failed, but are we not using it, men, in real life? Do women have to turn to fantasy to get what they need?
It might be a question we men want to ask ourselves, especially on this, Valentine’s Day.
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