Racism In Romance: “I hate to say it, but I think AA romance is niche reading.”
Thursday, June 26, 2008Posted in: Is It Because I Is Black?, Racism in romance
December Quinn has a racism in romance post over on her blog, which I found interesting, if not earth shattering.
That is until I came across this comment by an anonymous poster:
I know that AA romance is out there, but I just don’t have an interest. It’s too far outside my cultural comfort zone. I’m a white person, so in my head I visualize hot white guy. So why would I go purchase an AA romance? I wouldn’t.
It’s a bit of a “No she didn’t!” comment, but at least she was honest.
She also says that she has a black friend who prefers AA romance to be shelved separately.
I’m not so sure if I believe she has a black friend.
Her comments about AA romance being outside her cultural comfort zone is very revealing methinks. (I guess being friends with a black person allegedly doesn’t count) Basically, she thinks that black people in love are different to white people in love, a theory which is strengthened with this comment:
You are assuming that shelving is what is causing AA romance to have less sales. I don’t think that is the case. I hate to say it, but I think AA romance is niche reading. Seems ridiculous, but it’s true.
She seriously wrote that.
I suspect that her feelings on the subject aren’t a one-off. I suspect that lots of romance readers feel exactly like she does, they just wouldn’t ever admit it in public.
Sad isn’t it?
Ebony
June 27
5:06 pm
I have to applaud her for her honesty; no matter how backwards it may sound.
It’s strange though–AA readers read books with non-AA main characters all of the time and don’t complain about it. They are able to enjoy a good story for what it is–a good story; so I don’t see why it’s such a big deal for non-AA readers not to be able to pick up a book with AA main characters and get the same enjoyment.
Somebody please explain this to me (I’ll go read everybody else responses now).
Ebony
June 27
5:17 pm
ME…that’s a sad world you live in–unfortunately it’s not reality…reality is AA and non-AA are the same (except for the color of their skin).
Ann…sorry, but in America, unfortunately race is still an issue so we have to break it down as African-American, Asian American, etc. The only time race isn’t an issue is when I go out of this country and people see me as an American first.
kirsten saell
June 27
7:15 pm
Yeah, but I think, and I know I’m not alone, that AA romance is niche reading because it’s squirreled away in a niche in the bookstore. That in itself is the publisher’s way of targeting that niche readership. I think if it moved out of the AA section and into the regular romance section, it would cease to be niche.
And I do think that Greek billionaire type romances are niche reading–yeah, it might be one giant niche, but it’s still a niche, and one I have no interest in–not because the hero is Greek, but because it is a certain type of story that doesn’t appeal to me.
That would be simplest for everyone, I think, but there is a movement in North America, spurred mostly by the PC media, to imply that the term black is racially insensitive. (Just like you can’t say waiter or waitress anymore–you have to say server, bluh, I’m a freaking waitress, dammit, not a server.) Which just irritates me.
The fact that those books are shelved in a different section of the store implies that there is something different about them, something that will not appeal to readers who are not black. So yeah, it’s probably ignorance on the part of white readers, but in America, it is the publishers and a large segment of the black readership who are content to keep us white folk ignorant.
Living right next to a Native reservation, I see every day the negative aspects of segregation, even when it’s voluntary. And it saddens me to think that it is black readers and black authors to a large degree who are perpetuating this kind of segregation in bookstores.
Monica
June 28
8:06 pm
Shoot, Roz and Seressia, I kinda wish I still lived in in the Atlanta metro area [sniff].
I use AA when I use EA (European American). Otherwise, I use white and black. I believe in simple.
All the AA niche arguments are simple too. Just apply them to any other race, particularly white and see how they fall on your ears. If blacks are shelved by race and it’s a good thing, why aren’t other races shelved by author race?
I don’t avoid books because they are written by whites or have white characters in them. If I did, no matter how I rationalized it, I’d be acting in a racist way. Saying
I won’t buy Nora’s books because I don’t relate to white people is ridiculous. Good story is good story.
I do buy black authors to support them–and to keep books by blacks on the shelves. They weren’t there a couple decades ago. Publishing assumed we didn’t read for fun and was astounded when they discovered we did.
So I’d take publishing edicts about black folks and the efficacy of the AA niche with a grain of salt.
Turn that around and substitute women for blacks. Wouldn’t you support women authors if they had only been published in numbers for the last fifteen years?
We can look for our fav authors like anybody else. I do. They are usually shelved alphabetically.
kirsten saell
June 28
10:47 pm
Yup, I would–partly by demanding they be treated as any other author. And I’m pretty sure if female authors were shelved in a separate section of the bookstore, everyone and her aunt would be screaming sexism, and rightly so. Substitute religion (the author’s religion, not the book’s subject matter) and see how long it takes to get everyone in a tizzy. So I just can’t understand why black authors and readers not only put up with it, but are largely in favor of this kind of segregation.
Monica
June 29
12:09 am
I don’t understand either.
GrowlyCub
June 29
5:07 pm
Just thought I’d share my recent experience with bookstores (hadn’t been out and about traveling in a while). I found only two that had AA romance shelved separately (I was in new and used bookstores).
Borders had a humongous AA romance section, that, while not at the front of the store (that was taken up by bargain books and new releases) was not by any means in a dark and dusty corner. And at the B. Dalton the AA romance section was the first thing you saw when you looked into the store from the entrance. I was in a few B&Ns and AA romances were in the romance section in all of them.
I’ve noticed in the past that some stores have a separate erotica section (where they shelve Aphrodisia, Spice, etc.). On this trip it seemed that more stores are now shelving these books in the general romance section along with the AA.
I have a couple of friends who used to work in (new) bookstores and both said that AA romance was shelved separately due to reader demands rather than due to corporate dictates. I think this might be a bit like the egg/chicken question. Not clear what came first, reader demand for separate shelving or corporate decision to do so.
I don’t think books should be shelved differently due to the author’s skin color and it seemed there was less of the ‘niching’ going on this time around, but then it could just be the stores I happened to be in (in OH, MI, KY).
I’ve read AA romances and loved them and I’ve read others and could not relate at all, same as I’ve read romances with non-black characters that I either loved or could absolutely not relate to.
Personally, I cannot relate to stories in which the heroine obsesses about straightening her hair. Mostly because I perm mine and wish my straight hair to perdition. I don’t obsess about my hair one way or the other, so reading a heroine who gets into a fight with her SO over this is outside my experience and if it’s brought up again and again in a story it will throw me out of the reading experience. There are other examples of why AA romance can be a ‘different’ read. I started one where I couldn’t follow most of the conversations because as a non-native speaker, non-American and non-black person I was unfamiliar with the terms and abbreviations used. You could say that I did not finish that book because I could not relate, but I’d get really annoyed if somebody said I was racist because I couldn’t relate to/understand what was happening in the book.
Not being able to relate is a valid concern for any story and I don’t think it’s productive to accuse folks of racism if a non-black person says they couldn’t relate or didn’t want to relate to concerns that are central to the experience of black characters.
I find it a bit weird to have people tell other people what they ought or ought not read due to their personal agendas and to accuse others of racism or other personal failings if these folks stand up for themselves and say they don’t want to read book X or genre X. I can also not help but think that people admonished in this manner are highly unlikely to try book X after being told what assholes they are for not wanting to.
kirsten saell
June 29
8:22 pm
Totally.
It’s nice to see the whole AA section thing isn’t across the board anymore. And part of me is okay with putting romances with AA (or non-white) characters in a separate part of the romance section, if it helps readers find what they’re looking for. But as far as shelving by author’s skin color, this is blatant racism. As a practice, its benefits are questionable at best. The whole idea leaves me with an icky taste in my mouth.
Nonny
June 30
2:04 am
Wow. I guess I can applaud her for being honest. I don’t feel that way about AA romances myself, though I can see the point that many romance readers probably do and won’t admit it.
In regards to ME’s comment about her experiences growing up… I can kind of understand that. There are a lot of romances featuring military heroes, which are a personal turn-off to me because the military people I knew growing up were rather abusive. It doesn’t help that some of the personality traits that can turn bad are often exemplified as characteristics in alpha heroes, so reading those books will bring back a lot of bad memories for me.
Logically, I know all military people aren’t like that. Hell, I’ve had friends that are military or military wives, and I don’t judge them by that. But I can’t see them “that” way, and I know that’s my own hang-ups. *shrug*
projectrevo
June 7
6:50 am
@Laura Vivanco:
You do realize that different people of racial backgrounds are different culturally? And romance books involving them are also written differently? At least for the most part? She wasn’t wrong, AA romances have a different style, and just because she doesn’t prefer it doesn’t mean it’s bad, that’s literally what a preference is. It’s subjective. Just because it’s sold in the American market doesn’t mean that all romance books in the US are similar in style. Maybe you need to read more… Get over yourself.
AztecLady
June 7
1:45 pm
@projectrevo: You do realize that this post–and Laura Vivanco’s response–are from June 2008.
Seven years ago.
Having interacted with Dr Vivanco throughout that time–something I’m happy to bet you haven’t–I know that she is not static or inflexible in her views. In other words, she has likely read more, learned more, and ‘gotten over herself” long ago.
You, on the other hand…Good luck.