I get why some of you complain about gender locked books and I do agree that some books (like sunkissed or hfth) could âeasilyâ have a male mc. Most of all, I understand the complains about the mistreating of mlm players (lack of representation, fetishizing etc). But you guys complain about certain books being gl without even considering how a female only mc matters to the bookâs plot, or how important it is to women that certain mc are necessarily female.Â
-A Courtesan of Rome: a woman having that much power and influence in ancient Rome, that was historically ruled and dominated by men, is important representation.
-Platinum: the music industry is not nearly as cruel to men as it is to women. The Jaylen plot (the industry constantly putting women against each other, trying to create a feud) and the whole âcancel cultureâ make way more sense with a female mc. If mc was a man, her career wouldnât be over after the Vinylâs fiasco (if you think Iâm wrong, just remember Kanye and Taylor on the 2009 VMAs). No one would be trying to create rivalry between mc and Jayleen if one or both of them were men (do you see someone trying to put Ed Sheeran and Shawn Mendes against each other? You donât).Â
-Desire and Decorum: Everything about the plot with Duke Richards and needing to get married before inheriting her fatherâs estate makes sense with a female mc. In that time, women needed a husband to be validated- as we see in the book, everything is about finding a suitable husband. MC telling everyone to fuck off (in a lady like way), fighting back and refusing to do whatever Duke Richards told her to is the kind of representation we need. Not only did she not marry him, but she also exposed his plot and got him arrested. Iconic.Â
-MOTHER of the Year: yes, men can be single dads but the struggles they face canât compare to what single mothers go through. Also, we donât know much about the father but we do know he is a dick and probably walked out and let her to raise their child on her own, without any support- which happens to women way more than it happens to men.Â
-Bachelorette Party: girl squad bonding (also, one of the LI is a lesbian trans woman. That matters, thatâs representation, and it wouldnât be possible with a male mc).
-Red Carpet Diaries: same thing as Platinum. Hollywood is more cruel to women than it is to men. The assault plot in book 2, a white man trying to destroy mc's career because she told him no, wouldnât have the impact it does with a male mc, even if men are victims of sexual harassment too- but we canât pretend it affects men as much as it affects women. Â
-Ride or Die: the overprotective father who doesnât let his daugther be free and make her own decisions. Could it work with a male mc? Sure, but itâs the kind of struggle that is more likely to be faced by a girl than a boy.
-Wishful Thinking: Girl rivalry (Ellen and MC) being encouraged by their boss doesnât happen to men as often as it does to women. Three women (MC, Anna and Ellen) getting together to bring down not one but two corrupt white man is way more powerful than it would be with a male mc.
-LoveHacks: a man is constantly making inappropriate jokes towards his female coworker, which the also male boss doesnât care about. MC is always understimated by her boss- the same guy who praises TJ even if heâs an asshole. Also, Martin basically hired MC to look good by having more women in the office (the same reason why he wants to hire Leah).
-The Royal Romance: I donât think I need to elaborate here. As problematic as the whole women competing for Liamâs hand plot is, it wouldnât make sense for that series to have a male mc altough it could possibly make TRR more interesting
-The Crown and The Flame: okay I know this book isnât exactly genderlocked as we can play as Kenna and Dom, but could you imagine how lame it would be if Kenna was a man???
About the upcoming books: we donât know anything about Save The Date yet so we donât know if being a woman is relevant to the plot. As for The Royal Masquerade, we know itâs a âhistorical fiction book where the players will fight for powerâ. So, like TCATF and ACOR, itâs probably about a powerful and badass woman having an important role in history. We need more books (choices or real life ones) like that and I canât emphasize enough how being a woman fighting for power is different than being a man fighting for power.Â
I mean, this was only the emotional appeal of having certain books as gender locked. We know that straight women are choicesâ main audience- and they do put other players aside to please them most times, which is a whole other problem. Some books are gender locked simply because of financial reasons.
Anyway, Iâm not saying that all gl books are excusable but y'all are so focused on saying itâs homophobic to have that many gl books that you donât even realize you can be misogynist by saying that and ignoring the importance of some books having a female mc only.Â
