#is this an American thing? why are 'booktok girlies' so obsessed with being victims? its not misogyny its criticism

[dear-sciaphilia]

Alright, I wanna talk about booktok and bookish space for a sec, that cool with you guys? Yes? Alrighty.

Booktok does have an issue when it comes to romance and erotica books and calling anyone who points this out misogynistic and lazy (looking at you Emma) is making it worse. Of course there is more to booktok than just smut but it's hidden under a thick layer of 'does it have spice' comments. To put it in perspective, let me use my country as an example, what's the first thing you think of when someone mentions Georgia? Maybe Khinkali or Khajapuri, or maybe the fact that it's English name is the name of a state in the United States, of course there's so much more to my homeland but this, our cuisine is something we are recognized for, that's because it's a very prominent part of our identity. Similarly, if you search up '#booktok' on TT or any other social media platform, you will get the same five books. If you walk into Barned And Noble, you will be greeted by a good-old 'booktok section' what will you find in that aforementioned section? You guessed it, the same five books. Of course certain books being popular is not an issue, the same way Georgia being famous for our food isn't an issue, but people demanding that YA books be more 'spicy', calling books filled with domestic and sexual abuse 'the most romantic thing they've ever read', calling character focused stories 'boring' and giving authors who are problematic and who write problematic things a huge platform, is. If I, as an asexual, want to find books with no romance / ace/aro rep that isn't a side character who was mentioned in passing, I have to dig my way through chilly pepper emojis, paperbacks with cartoon characters and e-books with abs on the cover. If you want a space where something other then white, cis-het romances are recommended, you have to carve it out for yourself, because booktok isn't for you, you have to make it yours, no matter how hard. And God forbid you talk about how hard that is, God forbid you talk about the fact that the majority of it is just erotica novels. Why, that's my only question here, why? Why must trans people, POC people, disabled people, not be able to talk about the fact that booktok needs to do better? Why must they be silent, lest they be called lazy and misogynistic? If one were to say that they didn't feel safe in my country, I wouldn't look at them and say 'if you want to find a community where you don't feel like an outcast, you should look for it yourself, you're lazy for saying that this space makes you feel rejected. If you don't like it here, find another place to be, we're not obligated to cater to your needs' because that would be an asshole move, wouldn't it EmmaSkies?