I am a very avid reader, and recently I’ve noticed a rather prominent trend creeping below the surface in mainstream Young Adult fiction. Although there are many very popular books featuring male-centered LGBTQ+ relationships, such as Simon Vs. the Homosapiens Agenda or Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, to name a few, the same doesn’t seem to be true for books featuring relationships between two female characters. Moreover, it doesn’t seem that books with female x female relationships simply aren’t as popular as ones with male x male relationships, but rather, they just don’t seem to exist at all. Why aren’t female LGBTQ+ characters being given the same attention as their male counterparts?
I want to start off by saying that I go out of my way to make sure I’m reading as diversely as possible. I don’t want to always read the same, repetitive books about straight, white characters, and actively try to look for diverse stories. Even with this outlook, I can’t remember the last time I read about a female x female romance in a contemporary YA novel. Moreover, I don’t remember the last book I’ve saved to-read, or even seen people talking about, that featured a romantic relationship between two female characters as one of the main plot devices. Unless I actively search for book lists with LGBTQ+ characters, I just don’t ever come across them, and even when I do find them, those with female main characters are never anywhere near as popular as ones featuring male characters. The few times I can remember reading about girl x girl relationships, they were often between side characters and were never the main focus of the book, almost feeling like an afterthought that was thrown into the book at the end for extra representation points.
This trend seems to extend past contemporary YA and into the Fantasy genre as well. The only two lesbian-centered YA Fantasy novels that I can think of off the top of my head are Once & Future and Gideon the Ninth, which are two very highly-praised books, but not very popular in comparison to Fantasy books with male LGBTQ+ characters. For reference, consider Once and Future’s roughly 5,000 ratings on Goodreads, to the 180,000 ratings for Carry On, a YA Fantasy featuring a romantic relationship between two teenage boys.
I understand the idea of supply and demand for books; if books with male x male relationships sell better, then this is what will continue to be written and sold. I also understand that publishers are probably looking at demographics of YA readers, noting that a large majority are female, and assuming that these readers would want to read about a relationship that had at least one man in it. The assumption though that all females are inherently attracted only to men is obviously problematic. I also have a hard time believing that books about LGBTQ+ girls couldn’t sell well. If straight readers can happily read about male x male relationships, why couldn’t we do the same for female characters?
Personally, I think that this topic is another example of a representational bias that exists when it comes to the way, and frequency of which, lesbian and gay male characters are portrayed in media. While I can name several positive depictions of male x male romantic relationships off the top of my head, whether it be in movies, books, or TV shows, I can’t confidently say that I’ve ever seen a lesbian relationship portrayed in a positive, non-sexualized light. The few on-screen woman x woman relationships I’ve seen on screen are hyper-sexualized, feeding into a negative idea about the value of lesbians being placed solely in the entertainment they give to men.
Don’t get me wrong, seeing the abundance of books featuring male x male relationships makes me happy, and I love knowing that people who see themselves in these characters can view positive representations of themselves and relationships they would like to have. However, I just wish the same stories were being written for women and girls as well. I can’t help but feel sad for the young LGBTQ+ girls who turn to media for solace, and either can’t find themselves in the media they consume, or only see characters like themselves in a hyper-sexualized way. What does the way that we present woman x woman relationships tell these young people about how we expect them to navigate their romantic feelings?
I really hope that YA authors start to notice this trend as well and step up to the challenge. If LGBTQ+ male characters can have their relationship be the main plot point of a book, then there is no reason that female characters can’t be given their chance as well.