What is a reverse harem

Sarah S. Twitter: missbookgoddess Instagram: Sarahbookgoddess. View All posts by Sarah S. But have you heard of reverse harem romance books?

This weekend I came across a post on Reddit discussing the Reverse Harem genre and how what we call it may or may not have unanticipated connotations. I have been thinking a lot about how the Reverse Harem genre has evolved since I first became interested in it and, more recently, how requests on the blog have evolved. After researching this topic off and on, I decided it was time I actually took a stab at articulating my thoughts. In my university days, I had a fabulous professor who focussed heavily on the etymology of words, word choice, and their deliberate use in literature. Etymology looks at the root of a word, with a focus on its evolution and usage over time.

What is a reverse harem

Home » Reverse Harem Romance. Your email:. A new sub-genre is on the rise in popular romance fiction: the reverse harem. In the five years since its beginning, the themes of these novels rose from obscurity to a buzzword thrown across book titles and descriptions. The reverse harem novel stands apart from other romance novels due to many of its basic characteristics, the most obvious of which is the makeup of the main characters. Just as a harem is made up of one man with multiple women, a reverse harem consists of one female protagonist and three or more male love interests. However, this is not a situation where the woman must pick her one true love by the end of the novel; instead, the woman simply does not choose. She gets them all, and they all live out their happily ever after as one united family. The HEA of a traditional romance still exists, though it is a happily ever after for the entire family unit, not between just one of the men and the woman. The reverse harem genre recently arose from its roots in the Japanese Otome games and anime to gain popularity in Western romance fiction. While sharing a name with the traditional harem, the reverse harem has many different core themes from the harem novels from the s to the present day. Reverse harem character and plot archetypes follow many of the same themes as seen in other romance novels. Just as in a typical romance where the two protagonists meet and feel a strong connection, so does the heroine meet her men and all experience these feelings. Entering into this atypical relationship is completely voluntary and something all members of the harem agree upon.

The heroines in reverse harem romances are not slaves, and neither are their love interests.

Books featuring a single heroine and multiple men, all of whom she is in a committed relationship with, are hardly new. Their golden years were from roughly to , give or take a few years. From a sociological perspective, there are a couple of things I could discuss — the increasing acceptance of alternative lifestyles, the new ease with which indie authors can get themselves recognised, etc, etc. Manga of course gets an honourable mention. Harems are common there, and from that we get the shiny new genre name: reverse harem.

But what does it mean? What is Reverse Harem anyway? Simply put, Reverse Harem, also known as RH, is a romance story that involves multiple love interests of 3 or more men. You get the picture. Then I read one. And another one. And yet another one. And then a crappy one.

What is a reverse harem

Namera is currently an English student at the University of Cambridge who loves romance novels, Harry Potter, true crime stories, and cats. You can find her over at her blog, The Literary Invertebrate. She can be contacted by email at namera. View All posts by Namera Tanjeem.

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Archived from the original on April 27, While sharing a name with the traditional harem, the reverse harem has many different core themes from the harem novels from the s to the present day. The intention is often to leave the chances of him ending up with any of the girls in specific as ambiguous as possible, specially since as this characters are recognized as a self insert, not picking a girl allows the male viewers to fantasize with an scenario where they can end up with their favorite girl without having to dismiss the canon of the series. Written by Bisco Hatori. Category Portal. Bloggers and authors alike mention C. Sci-fi and dystopian and fantasy, too. Fandom Post. Urban Dictionary. Here are a couple of other definitions:.

Sarah S.

Perhaps the main controversy is with the very term itself. However, tearing the heroine away from the others would hurt not just the other men but also the heroine herself. I am not going to attempt solving that puzzle in this post, but author T. Email Address Sign Me Up. Stunich, C. Her entrance into the harem and into this new world puts her on the same playing field as the men she falls in love with. In addition, some sensual reverse harem novels do include sex between the male love interests, but this is not a requirement for them. Mixed harem: a female protagonist has multiple partners of mixed genders with the focus still being on the heroine. All are equal and active participants. However, this is not a situation where the woman must pick her one true love by the end of the novel; instead, the woman simply does not choose.