Women Were Writing and Reading Fantasy Long Before Romantasy Existed
Since Romantasy exploded in the market, I keep hearing readers and authors gush about how Romantasy is “women taking back the fantasy genre.” At a glance, it sounds great. Women authors and readers are taking over fantasy like never before.
But Fantasy has been around for a long time, and the Romantasy authors from the past several years are nowhere near the first women writing fantasy novels. The millions of romantasy readers are far from the first women readers of the fantasy genre.
There is Nothing to “Take Back.”
Historically speaking, the majority of published fantasy authors have been male, and the character casts have been predominantly male. That was a marketing trend within the genre. However, that doesn’t mean there haven’t been women authors in fantasy forever. Did they have to follow the genre trends of their timeframe, sometimes, as that is the nature of selling books and building an author career.
Claiming that women are now “taking back” the fantasy genre due to the inception of romantasy, is demeaning to the women who made a name for themselves at a time when publishing for women, let alone in male dominated genres, was even more difficult.
Women writers as a whole have become more present in publishing over the years, which is likely more a result of women’s suffrage, feminist movements, and diversity and equality success. It makes sense that there are more women publishing in fantasy now, because there are more women publishing in general. It doesn’t mean that more women are publishing in fantasy now because of romantasy or because they’ve found a way to break into the genre.
There is nothing for women to take back, because they’ve been in the genre the whole time.
10 Women Fantasy Authors published before 2000:
- Tanith Lee
- Mercedes Lackey
- Marion Zimmer-Bradley
- Robin Hobb
- Jane Yolen
- Margaret Weis
- Diana Wynn Jones
- Katherine Kurtz
- Susan Cooper
- Malanie Rawn
And they are far from the only women who built full writing careers authoring fantasy novels before romantasy existed.
From a reader’s perspective, claiming that romantasy has opened up the fantasy genre to women readers is also very demeaning. I’ve been reading fantasy since I was in elementary school (the 90’s), and my mom read fantasy novels before me. Women have been reading fantasy for decades.
Just because the statistics show that the majority of fantasy readers are historically men doesn’t mean there haven’t been avid women fantasy readers over the decades. Claiming that romantasy has made fantasy a “women-friendly” genre does two things. It implies romance needs to be present for women readers to enjoy a genre, and it implies that there weren’t women reading fantasy beforehand.
Neither of which accounts for those of us women who have always read fantasy, whether or not romance is involved.
It may surprise many newer authors and younger readers that a lot of fantasy includes romance subplots, even the fantasy written before romantasy was a genre. Urban Fantasy is particularly well-known for the steamy tension and romantic undertones. Romance has been part of fantasy for a long time, as have women readers and writers.
I’ve also heard enthusiasts talk about how romantasy has opened the door for stronger female casts in fantasy novels. This one does hold some weight, but don’t get me wrong, a ton of fantasy in the past has had strong women heroines. Looking at the Southern Vampire Mysteries novels by Charlaine Harris (technically published after 2000, but not by much), Cassandra Palmer novels by Karen Chance (also published post 2000, but before romantasy), the Avalon books by Marion Zimmer Bradley, we see many instances of large women character casts, main characters, and primary leads.
Romantasy tends to include at least one exclusive female character POV as a primary narrator in the story. So, yes, it has played a role in bringing more women characters to the forefront, but it didn’t create the role of the strong, female lead POV character within fantasy. Like romance, women writers, and women readers, that’s been happening from the beginning.
If women have been present as writers, readers, and lead characters in fantasy the whole time, there is nothing for them to “take back,” and implying there is damages the efforts and existence of women fantasy writers, readers, and lead characters prior to the advent of romantasy.
Why is the Addition of Romance the Defining Factor for Women’s Inclusion?
The other issue I have with people saying that romantasy has made the fantasy genre women-friendly is, why does the inclusion of romance equal friendliness for women readers and writers?
Yes, it is true that the romance genre as a whole has been consumed by women ravenously, and they are the primary readers of the romance genre. However, that does not mean the majority of women readers, or all women readers, want to read fantasy, or won’t read a genre if it doesn’t have romance in it.
From the writing standpoint, it implies that a genre is only women-friendly when women can write romance within that genre. Again, not all women writers want to write romance, even as a subplot, or enjoy writing it.
This kind of thinking pigeonholes women readers and writers into only being present in genres and subgenres that include romance elements. Not only is this damaging to the inclusion of women readers and writers in all genres, but it also attaches romance as a defining factor for including women.
The same is true for having female characters. The idea that they are more prominent in leading roles because romance is part of the genre paints the picture that women leads should be romantic interests. I think the more inclusive way to approach fantasy would be women leads who aren’t expected to be a love interest.
If someone claims romantasy has made the fantasy genre more inclusive for women writers, readers, and characters, they discredit and ignore all women writers and readers from before the romantasy era. On top of that, it attaches the necessity of romance to female leads and the inclusion of romance as a defining factor in whether or not women readers and writers are welcome in a genre.
I find this thinking far more damaging to women authors because if they don’t want to write romance, it becomes harder for them to get published if romantasy is seen as the “women’s corner” of fantasy. Not only that, but it starts to exclude women leads who aren’t love interests. In fact, this thinking pushes women right back into the corner of being objects to covet romantically, sex objects if you will, and not taken seriously in publishing outside of romance.
Now, I like romantasy. I write romantasy sometimes. I read romantasy sometimes. It’s a great genre, but the views around it and how it has “elevated” women writers, readers, and characters in fantasy can damage the hard-won place women have already earned in the genre and other genres.
Women writers, readers, and authors shouldn’t be reduced to romance and love interests, and that shouldn’t be what makes a writing or reading space “women-friendly.”
My fellow SFF nerds, don’t forget to check out my Books. You never know what you’ll find to pique your interest.
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