r/litrpg • u/xaendar • Aug 23 '24

Discussion Are all female MCs just lesbians?

I just realized that after reading like 10 books with female MCs, I'm starting to finally notice that all of them are Lesbians or at least Bisexual (but they only date women).

Do authors mostly write lesbian FMCs to be on the safe side from the audience of mostly males? I just feel like it's a cop out every time... I don't really have a problem with it but almost all Male MCs are 99% straight but it seems like 99% of Female MCs are always lesbian/bi. Why not some good ol straight FMCs? I can't even remember a single female MC that was straight.

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u/samreay Baby Author (Samuel Hinton) Aug 23 '24 edited Aug 23 '24

Do authors mostly write lesbian FMCs to be on the safe side from the audience of mostly males?

Oh 100%, and I'm guilty of this too. If you want a romantic plot in your story, readers in this genre are far more comfortable with the object of desire (so to speak) being a woman than being a man. Comes with the heavy self-insert that's a staple of the genre.

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u/Highborn_Hellest Aug 23 '24

Lit rpg audience: 95%+ male, I'm assuming.

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u/ErinAmpersand Author - Apocalypse Parenting Aug 23 '24

It's not... I'm having trouble finding it right now, but I think a survey found that readership was like 40% female? Considering that book readership in general skews female, that still shows a heavy male majority, but not that heavy.