What's with all the romance gatekeeping these days?

[NickRowler]

Why does society worship [x] but rapidly attacks [y]?

Maybe these aren’t the same people???

It feels like you are trying to take all the opinions on the internet and sort of turning it into a monolith.

[candiedcotton]

It's an example because GoT is easily the most popular tv show in the west. I have met countless people who loved GoT but then turned around and hated on the aforementioned tropes and themes.

I actually made a reddit poll about it six months or so ago, lol.

[NickRowler]

I don’t watch GoT, not for me. So I don’t have much to say.

My guess however is that most people do not enjoy the show because they are into SA or other taboo things. And I am pretty sure there are people who like GoT yet dislike those parts.

It is also not fair comparing it to YA lit which is recommended for a younger audience.

[candiedcotton]

That's not a fair argument.

That's proposing that people who read taboo topics are into those things themselves IRL, which goes back to "reading about two dad swans isn't gonna make your kid gay". It's nonsensical. I know of an ongoing webcomic that's really popular which has a hugely toxic relationship, and the comments from readers are almost entirely all about hoping the MC escapes the relationship and hating on the abuser.

YA is still adult. Adult is adult, no?

[Lucky_Foot]

I can understand how you feel. It can be frustrating to see certain tropes and themes get ridiculed while others are celebrated. It's important to remember that everyone has their own preferences and opinions when it comes to media. What one person enjoys, another might not. It's okay to write what you want to write and read what you want to read, as long as it's not harmful to others. At the end of the day, it's all about personal choice and respect for others' choices.

I see your internal clock is messed up like mine XD

[candiedcotton]

That's exactly how I feel. It just seems there's a lot of completely unfair judgment going around and it really bothers me.

Yeaaah. I've had insomnia ever since my teens and sleep about every 20 hours or so, lol. My schedule has never been normal.

[NickRowler]

YA is for 12-18. Yes adults can still read them but they are still for a younger audience than GoT.

[BlairFujin]

Then why is it called like this? The name suggests that it should be more for 18 to mid twenties, not for teens. (I'm genuinely asking)

[candiedcotton]

I honestly don't know the ratings so that's fair.

But media with adult themes is usually rated for adults, not kids. So I still don't see the point of your argument.

[Lucky_Foot]

ouch... I recently quit my job, and now my body doesn't know how to handle not being inside a bright store.

My body be like

[candiedcotton]

I assumed that too. Ratings are weird though.

Either way, it doesn't matter because you aren't going to have adult themes in kids' media. That stuff tends to be heavily controlled.

[NickRowler]

I don’t think we should have young teens be reading romance stories that romanticize SA. People out there who are adults can enjoy adult media with darker themes while thinking that YA shouldn’t be normalizing those things.

I am trying to say that just because people like GoT or other adult media doesn’t mean they romanticize SA. Your OP made it seem like people who like GoT aren’t allowed to criticize other media.

[NickRowler]

I didn’t name the genre but when someone says YA books, they mean books for teenagers.

Young adult fiction

[candiedcotton]

I'm pretty sure sex scenes, either consensual or not, are not permitted in media made for kids. At least not in most modern countries.

No, I'm saying there's a hypocrisy. People who enjoy GoT presumably do not get off on SA. People who enjoy comics that HAVE SA do not presumably get off on said SA. It should be fair across the board.

I'm also fairly certain most teens have the same level of access to GoT as they do to adult comics.

[micniactoon]

Nah, young adult is starting from 18 for sure. Nothing "adult" from 12-17.

[BlairFujin]

I think after 200 years english speaking part of the world should update this term so that it would make more sense with modern definition of an adult... 'xD

[LouisWinter]

The world hasn't evolved yet (and are selective of what OK or not) and I anticipate this. I think you should keep doing what your doing.

[Katzalcoatl]

Short answer GoT had naked people. Plus it was the first medieval fantasy they ever saw in quite a while.

Tons of other medieval fantasy exist but most people didn't like watching anime or old movies.

Also people follow trends by years/generations. It is not until they grow up that they find out their trend was nothing new/different and it was probably dumb.

Remember how the squid games got super popular? But the concept wasn't new. It has been done in multiple anime. Remember among us? The concept isn't new it is the game of wink murder. Their cute animations plus streamers is what made among us boom.

But yeah, people love naked people on tv shows/series since its a good pretext to see naked people without getting judged. They also love beleiving that what they watch/play is unique and has never been done before.

Did I mention naked people? 🤣🤣🤣

[NickRowler]

I do agree with you. I think some of the appeal of GoT was that is was violent and sexual. A lot of network television has to deal with strict regulation and censorship. HBO, being a private subscription network, does not need to follow these rules. When it came out in 2011, that was before a lot of the streaming wars, so I think people liked the whole shock value of the show.

I mostly just found it boring.

[cherrystark]

Speaking from a publishing perspective, romance in novels is a cottage core industry. Throw in any buzzword you want about women supporting women and there will be gatekeeping. Women make careers out of writing smutty romances which include all the toxic tropes we hate. You insult their income stream, gatekeeper will happen.

With the examples you referenced, I think I has less to do with the idea of "romance" and more to do with the effects of p*rn and how culturally accepted violence against women is. A Handmaid's Tale was written as a warning dystopia but the show, from the ads, seems to highlight more a world where abused women are fighting to reclaim the power. GoT feeds into the idea a lot of male writers have about fantasies being "historically accurate" so it's okay to assault women.

With standard romance novels, the readers don't care. As long as the books provide them a "safe" place to experience the traumas in the book. They don't care if she was beaten, gaslighted, SA'd or nearly assaulted - as long she's "happy" by the end of the book and her primary love interest "loves" her, the audience is willing to forgive all sorts of crimes. You try to fight the diehard fans, they'll gatekeep.