Re: Romance in SF&F
I think just about every combo is out there somewhere.
The keyword being "is" and for emphasis "now." Especially with the net and ezines running around. The word "somewhere" to me is very significant.
Was not long ago when you could not get a western published if the cowboy kissed anything except his horse, and that had to be on the nose or forehead; nothing kinky on the lips or on the nether end.
Earl Stanley Gardner got in trouble for even suggesting the hero may have seen the leading lady in her brassiere; which is why he never allowed any hint as to the possible out of novel (off screen if you will) relationship between Perry Mason and Della Street.
We inherit from the past: whether we recognize it or not. And if we don't recognize it we will write in ignorance.
When I first started writing a teacher could be fired for "moral turpitude" which included being seen kissing a man on the cheek who was not her husband. An adulterous affair could land you in prison for two years: a homosexual or lesbian encounter could land you in prison for three: and having oral - genital contact with your wife could land you in prison for five. Pornography that was going to lead to the moral decay of America consisted of a picture of a bare chested woman.
When my mother was young a cop patrolled the beaches with a tape measure and arrested any woman who proved her whoredom by exposing more than six inches of leg.
Any "gay western romance" should include the small fact that the surrounding population would feel justified in hanging those lovers from the highest tree, and would have no doubt have successfully cited Leviticus as justification to the local judge, is writing fantasy fiction.
Like it or not this is our heritage, and a very recent heritage it is; and our current literature suffers from it (If you think it benefits from it don't even bother to tell me, I'm having enough trouble getting back to sleep as it is.)
The fact these things are out there somewhere does not prove we are free of this heritage, it only proves that advances have been made.
Actually, they have always been "out there somewhere" but they used to be typewritten sheets passed secretly from lover to lover and friend to friend: Possession of pornography was also a criminal offense: Still is, but the definition has changed.
As near as I can tell many, if not most, mainstream genre fiction stays close to the moral climate that existed in the 50's.
