Romantasy's gender gap takes center stage at Madrid Book Fair
Romantasy is dominating the Madrid Book Fair, but 95% of its readers are women. Why do boys steer clear of it?
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
Romantasy: the genre that thrives among girls and fails among boys
Romantasy has once again proven at the Madrid Book Fair that it is the commercial engine of the young adult sector. But it has also exposed an uncomfortable gap: 95% of its readers are women, and boys aged 11 to 16 simply pass. The question is not whether the genre works – it works, and very well – but why it fails to hook the other half of the audience.
Why don't boys read romantasy?
The specialized bookshops consulted by EFE – Liberespacio, Peripecias, Serendidias, Vualá, El Dragón Lector and La Imprenta – confirm that teenage boys look for other offerings: epic science fiction, manga, essays. Romantasy, with its combination of romance and magic, is perceived as a genre aimed at female readers, and the social label carries weight. A quirk of the sector: a lot is bought but little is finished, and memes about page 50 as a symbolic frontier circulate on social media.
A genre with labels that say it all
Behind the phenomenon lies a universe of subgenres few parents know about: Reverse Harem, where the heroine accumulates multiple suitors; Why Choose, with no obligation to choose; Omegaverse, with a hierarchy of alphas, betas and omegas with an almost zoological background. These are labels that define a highly standardized literary product. Part of the critical analysis argues that this formula explains both its massive success and its rejection among readers looking for less predictable plots.
From Corín Tellado to Marcial Lafuente: the gap is nothing new
The gender divide in popular reading has precedents. Half a century ago, Corín Tellado fed women's romantic dreams while Marcial Lafuente Estefanía covered the western niche for men. Romantasy would be nothing more than the latest episode in a historical segmentation of the market. What has changed is the scale: today's phenomenon sells millions of copies and dominates the new-release tables, but it still fails to cross the gender frontier.
As long as the industry keeps churning out romantasy in series and boys take refuge in other screens and other genres, the gap will remain. It will not close on its own, nor through marketing. It will probably take something more than a new subgenre for boys to start looking at the bookshelves again.
Romantasy has once again proven at the Madrid Book Fair that it is the commercial engine of the young adult sector. But it has also exposed an uncomfortable gap: 95% of its readers are women, and boys aged 11 to 16 simply pass. The question is not whether the genre works – it works, and very well – but why it fails to hook the other half of the audience.
Why don't boys read romantasy?
The specialized bookshops consulted by EFE – Liberespacio, Peripecias, Serendidias, Vualá, El Dragón Lector and La Imprenta – confirm that teenage boys look for other offerings: epic science fiction, manga, essays. Romantasy, with its combination of romance and magic, is perceived as a genre aimed at female readers, and the social label carries weight. A quirk of the sector: a lot is bought but little is finished, and memes about page 50 as a symbolic frontier circulate on social media.
A genre with labels that say it all
Behind the phenomenon lies a universe of subgenres few parents know about: Reverse Harem, where the heroine accumulates multiple suitors; Why Choose, with no obligation to choose; Omegaverse, with a hierarchy of alphas, betas and omegas with an almost zoological background. These are labels that define a highly standardized literary product. Part of the critical analysis argues that this formula explains both its massive success and its rejection among readers looking for less predictable plots.
From Corín Tellado to Marcial Lafuente: the gap is nothing new
The gender divide in popular reading has precedents. Half a century ago, Corín Tellado fed women's romantic dreams while Marcial Lafuente Estefanía covered the western niche for men. Romantasy would be nothing more than the latest episode in a historical segmentation of the market. What has changed is the scale: today's phenomenon sells millions of copies and dominates the new-release tables, but it still fails to cross the gender frontier.
As long as the industry keeps churning out romantasy in series and boys take refuge in other screens and other genres, the gap will remain. It will not close on its own, nor through marketing. It will probably take something more than a new subgenre for boys to start looking at the bookshelves again.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (96 replies).
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