Artwork dilemma

[snowgrouse]

I thought I'd turned all mushy what with all this romance I've been writing. But I feel all normal now because I rediscovered a stash of bad romance novel covers I had amassed at some point to make crackshops for B7 and Who. Oh god, NO. NO, NO, NO, NO, NO. *sobs* If I see one more contorted couple in period costume with atrociously modern hairdos

Comments

[snowgrouse]

MJÖLNIR. I'm not oppressing you. Just so you know. I can hear you thinking right there, and was actually worried that's *exactly* what you'd think, but MJÖLNIR. SHH. No oppressing or caricaturing of you as The Sort Of Chick Who Likes X and therefore Y stuff. I wish I didn't even have to say this, TBH...

I'm just sick and tired of romance novels and male pin-up calendars and male strippers and Guys Generally Thought To Be Fanciable By Women always having to be so fucking muscular. I notice the muscles exactly because I'm really turned off by them, as I'm turned off by all kinds of heavy masculinity. It's something really inborn, something I was scared as fuck of when I was as old as three or four, I remember. So it really feels awful when I'm constantly bombarded with messages that I should love something that squicks me (and has squicked me from way before I even realised this crap called gendered socialisation or the patriarchy or knew what "macho" was). No wonder people with my neurological makeup often become transsexuals because those messages are so fucked up. I am told I'm not a woman with heterosexual leanings because I like skinny, feminine dudes, so I should probably start identifying as a gay guy because that's the only group of people who fancies that sort, right? When I'm probably more fucking lesbian than lesbians, it seems, whatever the sex of the person I'm looking at.

[cavefelem]

No worries, I'm trying to say I agree with you even as a person who doesn't mind some beefiness. The male imagery women are supposed to be attracted to is really limited, and that sucks. That goes for inner qualities too, but that's my own pet peeve and a rant for another day. There needs to be so much more variety!

[snowgrouse]

When I was going through those covers I was also thinking that the monotonously similar guys made no sense, because it's a huge big thing that women aren't as fussy about guys' looks and often even a guy who looks like a cave troll will find a woman who only cares for what he's like on the inside. Although that also makes me wonder whether that isn't the exact reason that the romantic heroes *are* handsome as hell, because maybe the women who mass-consume them are married to cave trolls? Just like Mary Sues look how the writer/reader would want to look like.

And IDK, today my fetish for a skinny, wrinkly guy with crooked teeth and a pencil moustache would seem weird but women were crazy about Jaffar when the film came out. It really is about the way a person carries themselves, and he's probably a good example of how immensely majestic and dominant a guy can appear even if he's thin as hell and femme.

[cavefelem]

While we're on the subject of romance covers, the "Jääkansan tarina" covers had more variety, at least, but then it was a major plot device that some people in the family line were born looking like cave trolls. Though I don't think they went as far with the cave troll-looking women as they should have. There was one cover that was supposed to feature one of the frighteningly ugly women, and she kind of looked like me without make-up, which I didn't find amusing. The ugly guys at least were genuinely scary-looking.

The romance fandom is actually pretty critical of the tropes in the genre. There's a worst romance cover of the year contest and everything. (Previous years' winners are worth googling, I've laughed until I cried at some of them.)

[snowgrouse]

Oh, I know the romance fandom can be gloriously bitchy and intellectual in parts because so many writers are fanficcers. I think it's one of those sites I got some of the covers from in the first place. (I haven't visited Smart Bitches, Trashy Novels or whatever one of those sites was called in a long while, though; I wonder if it even exists any more.)

And I like some of the more painterly covers like we had on the Sandemo books. There were some good illustrators around in the Sixties and Seventies, with some nice textured painting styles, even if everyone still had modern hair. (Also, I've seen far too many Abhorrent Admirer characters that looked like me, so I feel ya.)