The rise in popularity of the male/male romance novel subgenre has led to a number of contentions in the romance community. In order to understand these grievances and just why so many women read m/m romance novels, this paper conducts an examination of the subgenre as a whole, starting with the history of m/m romance novel publication. The author continues by detailing women’s stated reasons for reading these novels and the push-back this has engendered within the community and without. The following section demonstrates how m/m romance authors might engage with these questions by subverting or enforcing them through specific analysis of the work of m/m romance novelist KJ Charles. The paper culminates in an evaluation of the field of m/m romance as it currently stands and the ongoing attempt to delineate this genre from the wider sphere of gay fiction.
","abstract_html":"<p>The rise in popularity of the male/male romance novel subgenre has led to a number of contentions in the romance community. In order to understand these grievances and just why so many women read m/m romance novels, this paper conducts an examination of the subgenre as a whole, starting with the history of m/m romance novel publication. The author continues by detailing women’s stated reasons for reading these novels and the push-back this has engendered within the community and without. The following section demonstrates how m/m romance authors might engage with these questions by subverting or enforcing them through specific analysis of the work of m/m romance novelist KJ Charles. The paper culminates in an evaluation of the field of m/m romance as it currently stands and the ongoing attempt to delineate this genre from the wider sphere of gay fiction.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Whalen, Kacey"],"institution":null,"degree_name":null,"degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"English","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2017,"date_issued":"2017-06-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2017-06-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:04:00Z","subjects":["romance novels","homosexuality","popular literature","gender roles","literary criticism"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://via.library.depaul.edu/etd/228","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Whalen, Kacey"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2017-07-06T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["English"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["romance novels","homosexuality","popular literature","gender roles","literary criticism"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://via.library.depaul.edu/etd/228"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["The rise in popularity of the male/male romance novel subgenre has led to a number of contentions in the romance community. In order to understand these grievances and just why so many women read m/m romance novels, this paper conducts an examination of the subgenre as a whole, starting with the history of m/m romance novel publication. The author continues by detailing women’s stated reasons for reading these novels and the push-back this has engendered within the community and without. The following section demonstrates how m/m romance authors might engage with these questions by subverting or enforcing them through specific analysis of the work of m/m romance novelist KJ Charles. The paper culminates in an evaluation of the field of m/m romance as it currently stands and the ongoing attempt to delineate this genre from the wider sphere of gay fiction.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["A consumption of gay men: navigating the shifting boundaries of m/m romantic readership"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Whalen, Kacey"],"dc:date.available":["2017-07-06T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["The rise in popularity of the male/male romance novel subgenre has led to a number of contentions in the romance community. In order to understand these grievances and just why so many women read m/m romance novels, this paper conducts an examination of the subgenre as a whole, starting with the history of m/m romance novel publication. The author continues by detailing women’s stated reasons for reading these novels and the push-back this has engendered within the community and without. The following section demonstrates how m/m romance authors might engage with these questions by subverting or enforcing them through specific analysis of the work of m/m romance novelist KJ Charles. The paper culminates in an evaluation of the field of m/m romance as it currently stands and the ongoing attempt to delineate this genre from the wider sphere of gay fiction.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://via.library.depaul.edu/etd/228"],"dc:subject":["romance novels","homosexuality","popular literature","gender roles","literary criticism"],"dc:title":["A consumption of gay men: navigating the shifting boundaries of m/m romantic readership"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["English"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:04:00Z"}