So. Not sure if this question has been asked before (Probably. Nothing new under the sun and all that.) but what's the deal with the gay shifter genre? I'm not really sure why this is a thing and for the life of me I can't seem to find any sort of explanation online. This is, of course, not to say there's anything wrong with the shifter genre - I've read some very engrossing (and sexy) shifter novels and have nothing against them. I'm just not really sure why it's such a big thing in the gay writing community. Is it the parallels between how werewolves/bears/badgers/ducks/etc are made and how the general (that is to say homophobic) public thinks gays are "made"? You know, you meet one then you get bitten by the gay bug or whatever, and the genre is sort of our way of highlighting the utter ridiculousness of this idea? Or is it just a weird thing that caught on at some point and now, for no particular reason, makes up roughly half of all gay ebooks on amazon? Is there an explanation, and if there isn't one do you all have any ideas or opinions on the matter?
Thank you for your input on this truly vital topic and have a nice day.
-MOH