It's funny. In the gaming world, women are marginalised and publishers do all they can to sell to men, using tough male heroes and shallow eye-candy women for maximum appeal. And there are shitstorms ever a-swirling around the issue.
On the other hand, in the writing world, men are marginalised and publishers do all they can to sell to women, using relatable female heroines and shallow eye-candy men. And nobody gives a crap.
I mean, people act like this is a new phenomenon with Twilight and 50 Shades selling like hot cakes. It isn't! Women have dominated the reader market for decades, and erotica novels have dominated the market for just as long (the creepier and more depraved the better).
It's reached the point where as a new, aspiring writer, you just won't sell a novel unless you've got at least two really dirty gratuitous shagging scenes.
And, as someone who takes writing seriously, it saddens me to see the great craft basically reduced to 'lady smut production'.
