With the rise of gay romance, many people have questioned why women specifically are drawn toward it.
Why do women want to see two dudes in love? The truth is that gay romance satisfies women’s desire for sex and romance without violence or misogyny.
“Heated Rivalry” came out Nov. 28 and has since snowballed into popularity. The show is about two hockey players who are secretly in love, and the main actors, Connor Storie and Hudson Williams, have been shot into stardom. Hounded by interviewers and podcasters everywhere, everyone wants a piece of them and the action.
The Golden Globes Awards even squeezed them in at the last minute to present an award. Their red carpet looks, interviews and screen time flooded the internet appealing to a vast audience of ages, nationalities and sexualities.
The online response has many people questioning why women, particularly straight women or women in a relationship with a man, are eating this show and other gay media up.
Women have been fed with love story after love story displaying the man who is in charge and wears the pants, while the woman is belittled, petite and submissive.
These stories often appeal to the patriarchal way of life. The man wins the girl, they have a family and live happily ever after.
Or in recent years, movies like “It Ends with Us” or “Fifty Shades of Grey” use abuse as their main plot point.
Gay romance has long been coveted by women. In recent years media like “Call Me by Your Name” and the 2022 series “Interview with the Vampire” has been edited and shared on social media with women flooding in the comments how they yearn for a love like the one presented.
When done right, gay romance offers something straight love typically doesn’t, and that’s love without violence.
Every woman knows someone who has dealt with sexual assault, so to be able to witness sex between two people without a woman involved can be a relief from the anxiety, internalized pressure and even trauma many women face.
In “Heated Rivalry” there is also consent and communication with pleasure prioritized for both parties, which is not something experienced by women. The gender norms today promote a rigid and an emotionally avoidant version of straight masculinity.
Even the porn consumed today by a mass number of men are profiting off violence towards women. The graphic films normalize hitting, choking, degradation and many other aspects of BDSM that many women are not always comfortable with.
I’m not shaming women if they are into BDSM, that’s for them and their partner to consider with full consent. What I’m talking about is that the new norm of sex is violence. Women should not feel ashamed to just want some soft love with their partner.
That’s why many fans crave the yearning and vulnerability that the two main characters, Shane Hollander and Ilya Rozanov, present. Seeing this kind of emotion between two very masculine hockey players is both foreign and therefore enticing as women aren’t used to seeing this type of behavior from a male love interest.
So, while yes, the show starts off horny and full of sex scenes, as the show progresses a beautiful love story unfolds for the audience.
Women don’t want to see over sexualized and abused reflections of themselves, we just want true love full of vulnerability, yearning and consent, and that’s exactly what gay media offers.
