So I'm browsing the Kindle Deals page for funzies and I come across one that's a

[conuly]

Beauty and the Beast retelling. Okay. Let's check out the negative reviews, those are the best!

At one point Prince Rhen comes to Harper’s rooms to check on her and Harper gets into such a fit of fury based on her circumstances, that she slaps Rhen in the face! I have looked through reviews and no one is outraged by this. Had it been Rhen slapping Harper and their roles reversed, there would be an outcry. Harper was upset that she could not be with her family on earth and was furious that she was separated from them but Rhen is just trying to break the curse and save his people. In order to do that he needs a woman to fall in love with him. The choice to bring her to their realm is nothing personal but Harper doesn’t consider his side of the story or anything but her own selfish concerns. It was Grey that chose to bring Harper back to their Realm but he can only travel between realms one time per season. Even if Rhen wanted to return Harper to Earth, there is no possible way to do so as it is against the rules of the curse.

Harper would also constantly countermand Rhen’s orders to his people and make demands of her own. This showed a total lack of respect for Rhen and it also emasculated him as he let her walk all over him: not an attractive look.

You know what's not an attractive look? Kidnapping and hostage taking! Geez, talk about your skewed perspectives! I don't care what his reasons were, this gal has a legitimate complaint and if ever violence was allowed it should definitely be against the person holding you captive, no matter how polite they are.

Sometimes I do not understand people.

Edit: Although now that I think more about it, I kinda do want to see a gender-swapped Beauty and the Beast. And perhaps a few non-heteronormative versions.

Comments

[thornsilver]

Did a man write that review?

[conuly]

I don't know. I also don't know if it was a man that said that they don't like it when heroines are "snotty" and that the only reason to do that was some sort of "agenda".

[thornsilver]

I have a suspicion.

[oracleofdoom]

Juliet Marillier wrote a version of the story called 'Heart's Blood' that I found really sweet. In her version Beauty works for him, rather than being his prisoner.

[conuly]

Noted, thanks :)

[konsectatrix]

....From the way that reviewer was going on, I had a moment of thinking that the Beast in this one was the girl (yeah, even despite your post title). Which might have been interesting, honestly.

[landofnowhere]

I had that moment, too! I'm surprised I don't know any gender-swapped Beauty and the Beasts (though Sir Gawain and the Loathly Lady is close).

[conuly]

YES IT WOULD BE AND NOW I WANT IT.

[landofnowhere]

For non-heteronormative: are you aware of Briarley by osprey_archer? It's a WWII England M/M retelling where Beauty's father refuses to turn his daughter over to the Beast and ends up staying around because he wants to.

[conuly]

Oooh!

[aurumcalendula]

re: non-heternomative versions: In the Vanishers' Palace in one with queer ladies set in a Vietnamese inspired post-apocalyptic world.

(and seconding the rec for Briarley)

[conuly]

Thanks.

[offcntr]

Not gender-swapped, but not conventional either: T Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon)'s Bryony and Roses, which shows that what you really need in a fairytale retelling is a good sturdy pair of pruning shears.

[conuly]

Ursula Vernon is a genius, and I'm buying all her books one at a time, month by month.

[highlyeccentric]

Did Ursula also do a retelling of the Ballad of King Henry? That's not exactly a *gender swapped* Beauty and the Beast, but more like a gender-inverse-folklore-logic version.

(I could also swear I've read a version where the woman was a straight up bear at the time of the first encounter, but I can't track it down anywhere.)

Any of the Loathly Lady tales probably qualify as gender-inverse Beauty and the Beast, in which case, uh. *coughs gently* I may have committed a queer retelling of one of those. Not to toot my own horn, or anything.

[aurumcalendula]

Any of the Loathly Lady tales probably qualify as gender-inverse Beauty and the Beast, in which case, uh. *coughs gently* I may have committed a queer retelling of one of those.

Neat! (Er, could you point me in the direction of it?)

[jack]

...Yes. I mean, it probably depends on the kidnapper if slapping them is the most effective course of action or not, but when someone is actively kidnapping you is like #1 on the list of "times when violence is most likely to be justified even if you don't approve of violence".

I think people's reaction to a lot of books is influenced by knowing what's supposed to happen: a lot of the problems with "that's not romantic, that's stalking" are because the reader knows that in THIS situation that probably is a desirable outcome, so some people are more likely to overlook "but HE doesn't know that" and some people aren't.

Like, the Disney animated B&tB was really good here, it showed a sympathetic side to the beast while showing that kidnapping her was really wrong.

I do remember seeing a gender swapped Taming of the Shrew. It was still rather painful, but quite interesting. Male-Kate was more physically imposing, bigger and angrier, but trapped by society in the situation. A gender swapped B&tB would hopefully be more welcoming.

[conuly]

...Yes. I mean, it probably depends on the kidnapper if slapping them is the most effective course of action or not, but when someone is actively kidnapping you is like #1 on the list of "times when violence is most likely to be justified even if you don't approve of violence".

Whether or not it's likely to be effective, I think it's morally okay.

[highlyeccentric]

I do remember seeing a gender swapped Taming of the Shrew. It was still rather painful, but quite interesting. Male-Kate was more physically imposing, bigger and angrier, but trapped by society in the situation.

Oh, man, that... I kind of wish I'd seen that!

I saw an all-woman production in Australia in 2009. It didn't switch pronouns, but nor did the 'male' role actors really cross-dress, other than wearing trousers. It was very easy to read the whole thing as a peculiar butch-femme drama, and to fall into the trap of expecting that to soften the ending somehow. They didn't even try; in fact I think they played it much more bare-faced as violence and abuse than many productions do, and that. That sure was an experience.

[moon_custafer]

I think I saw a post a few months back about a M/M Regency-romance retelling where the situation was something like “petty thief on the lam cons his way into job as butler/stewart for a reclusive, eccentric lord whose relatives are angling to have him declared insane.

[aurumcalendula]

Is this the one?

[moon_custafer]

Yes that’s it!