In a review of The Country Alpha: Veronica's Story by Penelope Peters, a reviewer (in a positive review) makes the following comment:I've switched to almost exclusively reading M/M romance these days, and this story helped me figure out why. It has nothing to do with genitalia - the sex scenes in both books were equally hot - and everything to do with the baggage that society brings to M/F interactions. There's a scene where Veronica rages at how arrogant and entitled Jake is, and it just made me tired, because her rage had less to do with him as an individual and more to do with society power imbalances. If Veronica had been a male omega, I don't think that scene would have fatigued me as much, since Alpha/Omega is a fantasy world. I also suspect the author might have written [it] a little differently.
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| In the Alpha-Omega universe, male |
| and female omegas bear children. |
Before I continue: I like and highly recommend Penelope Peters' Omega, Non-Shifter Universe novels. I have a kind of hate-fascination reaction to Omegaverse novels. So many of them seem to be settled by maudlin scenes of reproach followed by overblown claims of protection and fidelity. Not my cup of tea.
Peters creates a fully functional, non-supernatural but imaginatively "other" world in which omegas, alphas, and betas behave like regular people dealing with contemporary life. And her books are funny. And character-driven. And clever. And have actual stories that do not revolve around an omega getting pregnant and then being rescued from singlehood by the alpha. (Nothing against that trope--just, it's a little substanceless.)
Like the reviewer, I read The Country Alpha: Ned's Story (the two stories are "sliding door" stories with the same alpha protagonist but different omegas--kudos to Penelope Peters for being creative and taking a chance).
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| I always saw Taming of the Shrew as the story of 2 people-- |
| which is precisely why the BBC version works so well. |
The one awesome thing that M/M Romance does is focus on individual characters as people deserving of individual consideration--as opposed to characters as theoretical (and entirely abstract) constructions. A M/M romance is about how two individuals (more, if one is into polyamorous relationships) come to understand each other.
These two people--their issues, hobbies, delights, hang-ups, interests, backgrounds, perspectives, desires, inner and outer conflicts--are the point. Not what they supposedly stand for (and all the accompanying markers). They are people, not arguments. They are individuals deserving of empathy, not fodder for some (increasingly unhelpful) theoretical treadmill.
In M/M, if one protagonist decides to rescue the other, a whole truckload of offended "HOW DARE YOU! RESCUING IS SO SEXIST!" commentary doesn't came flying in from the wings to take over the dialog.
Likewise, if one character decides to behave in a tell-me-your-troubles kind of way, an entire sneering discussion of "YOUR GENDER: ALWAYS INTERFERING AND ASKING QUESTIONS IN THE NAME OF COMPASSION--WHAT A JOKE" takes a sideline.
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| John Lind--playing with gender is not the same as forcing |
| gender arguments on people. The better romances remember this. |
It isn't that these issues don't arise at all. In Elin Gregory's charming spy novel Eleventh Hour, Miles is less than happy with Briers's assumption that Briers can criticize Miles's performance as an agent, then turn around and expect intimate activities. But instead of Miles's irritation being blamed on female game-playing--or Briers's assumptions being blamed on trained male dominance--the issues find their roots in the individual's personalities. That's where they come to rest. That's where they are resolved.
Not only is this approach less tiring (as the reviewer quoted above indicates), M/M Romance is far, far, far less boring. Forcing people to react to political rhetoric that categorizes everything and everyone is--let's face it--dull. Survival and compromise by individuals in the face of specific circumstances is far more interesting.
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Excerpt: Here's where yaoi becomes useful. When I asked myself, "How do I solve this relationship's problem?" I didn't have to worry about two specifically gendered arguments (that I have heard throughout my life):
(1) "A good wife would stay with her husband and support his career; after all, if he cheated while she was away or because she refused to go with him, it would be her own darn fault. He comes first!"
(2) "A wife should never settle for being 'barefoot in the kitchen.' Any good husband would understand and support her decision to find a great job; otherwise, he would be a domineering, controlling, and possibly abusive jerk."
Regarding this story, I simply had to keep the marriage together.
