Why do so many BL novels do it?

[Deleted member 68927]

I talked myself into getting a Scribr subscription recently, so I can sample more professional novels. You know, to enjoy a story which won't be dropped, and that is completed. But I keep facing one trope in particular.

The women in these novels, when they are in relationship with one of the men, are painted as idiots. Like they don't have feelings, and can become insane at the drop of a hat.

Don't the BL authors know that women understand the word No just like everybody else? That they won't cut tires, break windows, or guild trip their exs into keeping them around?

I mean, women are humans too, people!

It just makes the whole book sort of... shallow. And that is a shame because the authors put so much showing into the books. Painted a picture worth a thousand words. And yet, they can't describe a normal woman? Seriously?

Hey, do the GL authors do something similar, but for the men? I want to see if both genders are ready to throw characters under the bus.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

Hey, do the GL authors do something similar, but for the men?

Some do.

 

[Deleted member 68927]

Some do.

That sucks, you know. And bad.

 

[RepresentingWrath]

That sucks, you know. And bad.

A simple case of shit writing. The fact you paid money for books doesn't give you a guarantee you won't see shit writing.

 

[ThrillingHuman]

sometimes.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

I blame monogamous people for glorifying revenge.

 

[Laius]

Some woman are like that.

Some man too.

You know what they say about rotten apple in a basket.

Plus author fear common sense and normal things in their stories since they are afraid that readers will get bored.

How often have you read an adventurer's story and everytime they reach a new location something "has" to happen.

I swear Skyrim would have been fine if the dragonborn had died at the start of the story.

 

[ACertainPassingUser]

Making high quality character with depth is hard. Especially when they're supposedly unlikeable and the evil, and to be thrown out later.

It applies everywhere. Good stories is hard to get, especially the Original ones. Even more that the original good story that fit your liking.

Well, I always turn my brain off and use my delusions to fill the missing detail and depth to any story I read.

 

[Zirrboy]

Hey, do the GL authors do something similar, but for the men?

The very same archetype exists in hetero romances, the sole difference being that you have a counterexample with positive sentiment of the same gender by design of the narrative. I've also come across some where one of the love interests is in a relationship with someone of their own gender starting out who end up in a straight one.
I haven't read enough BL/GL to warrant any conclusions about how frequent this is compared to the rivaling relationship being same gender too, though.

 

[LilRora]

I haven't read much BL (like, two or three books plus some snippets) so I might be a bit off, but I'd say that something similar happens in great majority of romance stories, especially dramas. It's just that in BL the easy and sort of popular way to advance the plot/romance forward while keeping the opposing force clear and easily comprehended is the (mad) woman.

It's in fact a very similar thing to bigot parents in trans and GL stories or evil ex thing in various romance novels. Even if it's not particularly realistic, it's an easy to comprehend, simple, and clear opposing force in the story.

As for that:

Hey, do the GL authors do something similar, but for the men? I want to see if both genders are ready to throw characters under the bus.

I'd say that GL authors rarely do that. They tend to focus on individual feelings much more, and if something similar happens, it's mostly a girl (often a bully) who says girl's love is disgusting etc. Which, important note, pushes the romance and the plot forward (or, uh, backward, but the point stands it's a kind of plot device).

A much easier to see analogy is in trans stories with bigot parents and the church. Vast majority of those portray the church and the parents that believe in its teachings in a way that's extremely one-sided and not very realistic, but simple and clear, just like the situation you described in BL stories.

 

[Aefener]

While I personally haven't come across the archetype you're describing (I guess I'm either lucky or read different genres), I also hate it when women in BL are shallow, sterotypical or almost non-existent. An extreme example of that is the vastly popular Junjou Romantica which contains exactly two female characters, both of them shallow side characters. To be honest, it's a mystery to me since BL fiction is predominantly written by women. I hope I'm doing it right in my own BL novel.

 

[georgelee5786]

They do because it adds drama to the story, I assume.

 

[Ilikewaterkusa]

I talked myself into getting a Scribr subscription recently, so I can sample more professional novels. You know, to enjoy a story which won't be dropped, and that is completed. But I keep facing one trope in particular.

The women in these novels, when they are in relationship with one of the men, are painted as idiots. Like they don't have feelings, and can become insane at the drop of a hat.

Don't the BL authors know that women understand the word No just like everybody else? That they won't cut tires, break windows, or guild trip their exs into keeping them around?

I mean, women are humans too, people!

It just makes the whole book sort of... shallow. And that is a shame because the authors put so much showing into the books. Painted a picture worth a thousand words. And yet, they can't describe a normal woman? Seriously?

Hey, do the GL authors do something similar, but for the men? I want to see if both genders are ready to throw characters under the bus.

It’s just easier to make 1 dimensional characters. Plus there probably is some emotional trauma and stuff guiding these perceptions

 

[AliceShiki]

Hey, do the GL authors do something similar, but for the men? I want to see if both genders are ready to throw characters under the bus.

Bad writing exists on all genres out there. That is not something that can be avoided.

But most GL manga I read simply doesn't have men involved in the romance aspect usually. Or sometimes you just don't see any men in the story at all.

So, AFAIK, it's not something particularly common. It can happen at times, as bad writing is everywhere, but it's not something I commonly see.

 

[Iamnotabot]

The women in these novels, when they are in relationship with one of the men, are painted as idiots. Like they don't have feelings, and can become insane at the drop of a hat.

Women