The Motorcycle Misogyny, Why Do We Like It?

I'm a feminist. True blue, through and through, great balls of fire feminist. And I like books about MC's (motorcycle clubs). Although admittedly I'm reading Defiance by Stephanie Tyler and it's bringing up some issues for me.


Defiance is based in a post-apocalyptic motorcycle club where women are less than men and have the same rights as goats. Or chickens. They're allowed to have sex, they're allowed to be claimed and if they piss off someone who has clout, they're allowed to be raped to death. Literally.


I'm not far in the book and the hero Casper isn't down with all that and I'm pretty sure he's planning on changing the rules of the club. And his love interest Tru also wants to change the rules since her daddy beat and raped her and well, that's what happens when you're property.


And it seems, with the exception of Kristen Ashley whose motorcycle men are pussies with bikes and guns, most MC books are down with the women being sub-par as sweet asses and old ladies and just available pussies. Or house mouses. But not equals and with the exception of the romance of the book, they're miscellany in the men's lives.


In reviews I've read of these books, women continuously say that although the women in these books might be called one thing or treated a certain way, they actually hold power because... um, well because these are romance novels. And the heroine holds power because she holds the hero's heart.


I don't think so.


I think these situations scream misogyny and we like/love them for a reason. But I'm not sure what exactly that reason is.


Needless to say, my history as a childhood sex abuse victim guarantees that Defiance is pushing buttons for me and I might not be finishing it depending on how it goes. But I've read other MC books and will keep reading them and...


I wonder if there's a feeling of liberation for women to escape into a world where they don't have to be strong. As a single mother drowning in bills and anxiety and responsibility, I'd love for someone to come into my life and take over. It's like being a child and knowing that Mommy or Daddy will take care of things.


Or is there something inside of us that is so beaten down by societal standards that we already feel like nothing and the world of the MC answers that? In that world women are worth only what the men deem them worth just as in the real world we are only worth youth and attractiveness? The older we get, the less attractive we're deemed, the less we're valued in society.


The women in the MC are valued by their bodies generally and even those who are married, who have children and jobs are still voiceless in the world they exist in and are cheated on and still treated as less.


Do you like MC books? What do you like about them? And how do they make you feel?