Eh, but wouldn't all male characters in love written by male writers reflect male perspectives? If it was such a hindrance, no male character from books by men would ever appeal to female readers, which is clearly not true. And it would arguably affect fic readers even more than romance novel readers or general female population, because they read so much about male characters written by women, but again I don't see this happening in any significant amount?
As for Raoul being too young for what is expected for a romantic lead, I think it is a part of it. I also think that readers/viewers with interest in Gothic romance specifically may distrust the "good guy option" character because 1) well, this type of man is not the one that makes them interested in these stories to begin with 2) I think in many Gothic romances these characters are presented as both boring and not even good people? I heard that happens a lot in the Modern Gothics from the 1960s and 1970s. I think this trope came from Jane Eyre. Basically, as Angela Carter put it, "a prig is worse than a cad" and so the Gothic romance fans are projecting this "prig" trope on Raoul.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2025-02-23 12:49 pm (UTC)As for Raoul being too young for what is expected for a romantic lead, I think it is a part of it. I also think that readers/viewers with interest in Gothic romance specifically may distrust the "good guy option" character because 1) well, this type of man is not the one that makes them interested in these stories to begin with 2) I think in many Gothic romances these characters are presented as both boring and not even good people? I heard that happens a lot in the Modern Gothics from the 1960s and 1970s. I think this trope came from Jane Eyre. Basically, as Angela Carter put it, "a prig is worse than a cad" and so the Gothic romance fans are projecting this "prig" trope on Raoul.