Hudson Williams and Connor Story in HBO Max’s Hot Rivalry.
Courtesy: Sabrina Lantas | HBO Max
When the holiday season rolled around last year, Margaret Hecox knew exactly what her grandmother would like.
The 23-year-old wrote in the card about “Heated Rivalry”, breakthrough Canadian television series following a secret love story between two male hockey players. Hecox watched several episodes with her grandmother, and encouraged friends and other family members to tune in.
“I knew she was going to love the show,” Hecox said. – Obviously, she did.
The grandmother-granddaughter duo is part of a sizable female fanbase of books, shows and movies centered around love stories between two men.
This type of romantic content – in some Asian cultures has long been called “yay” or “boy love” — has been produced for decades. But consumers and experts told CNBC that the buzz surrounding “Heated Rivalry” has pushed the angle LGBTQ+ The media is further into the mainstream, especially among straight American women.
incl TikTokover 900,000 videos have been posted using the hashtag “fujoshi” a Japanese slang term for female fans of these stories. Google At the end of last year, the number of searches for terms related to the yaoi fandom rose to unprecedented levels, highlighting the growing popularity of the subgenre domestically.
“That’s it, pun intended: Women are coming out of the closet with the genre they invested in,” said Champagne Graves, who consults and hosts a podcast about female consumers. “It’s not a new phenomenon. It’s just something women feel comfortable talking about and sharing with each other.”
Everything she said
HBOthe American streaming platform for “Heated Rivalry,” said about two-thirds of the series’ viewers are women. During the series’ press tour, the creative team and cast were repeatedly asked questions about why they thought it resonated with women in particular.
“‘Hot Rivalry’ created a naturalistic woman who said, ‘Okay, we want more of this,'” said Emily Sare, a social media content creator who has made several posts expressing her affinity for the show.
Hudson Williams and Connor Story in HBO Max’s Hot Rivalry.
Courtesy: Sabrina Lantas | HBO Max
Demand for this type of content surpassed the six-episode series Hot Rivalry.
“Call me by your name” coming of age drama from Sonyhad the ninth highest number of female-identifying fans of any narrative feature film on the movie review platform Letterboxd. This is 46 slots higher than the equivalent list for men.
Almost seven out of 10 viewers Timothée ChalametAccording to Nielsen, in the first three months of 2026, women were engaged in motion pictures.
“Red, White and Royal Blue” a political novel of 2023 Amazonwas 61% female viewers, Nielsen found.
Lionsgate shared Nielsen data with CNBC showing that women make up 60% of viewers since the beginning of last year. “The Adventures of Being a Wall” chronicles a same-sex romance involving a football player.
Armie Hammer and Timothée Chalamet star in Call Me By Your Name.
Credit: Sony Pictures
Next Twilight?
Female readers also focused their attention this year on “Hot Rivalry” and other romance books by the writer Rachel Reid on A fablea book discussion platform owned by Scribd. Having worked through Reid’s catalog, it seems that they are picking up other titles in the subgenre, e.g “Song of Achilles” a reinterpretation of Greek mythology published in 2011.
“This isn’t just another in a long line of small trends,” said Kim Ale, Fable’s chief marketing officer. “It seems like something much more important than that.”
Accurate book sales statistics by gender can be difficult to track. But anecdotally, the lion’s share of readers of male-to-male romances are straight women, according to Jennifer Bokal, president-elect Romance Writers of America trade group.
The Hot Rivalry series of books by Rachel Reid is on display at Target, Queens, New York.
Lindsey Nicholson | UCG | Universal Images Group | Getty Images
Bokal said she saw women wearing “Heated Rivalry” merchandise “everywhere” at BookCon in April. With the excitement for the show and the book, Bokal said it catapulted into a league of “Fifty Shades of Grey” and “Twilight” franchises.
At first glance, Rivalry and other male-to-male love stories may be an unexpected choice for women, given that they are not featured as protagonists or love interests. But Alley said female Fable users are so taken with the depth of emotion in the subgenre that “yearning” has become a buzzword to describe what draws them to the books.
“It shows people the kinds of love and romance they deserve, regardless of gender,” said Jana Saad, 30, whose bookshelves are filled with novels in the subgenre by authors including Scarlett Drake and TJ Clune. “There’s a deeper level to everything that happens in books like this.”
Demonstration of different stories
Some of these titles became mainstream hits thanks in part to word of mouth from female-oriented fans.
Reid’s novels have been among the most-read e-books on Scribd’s Everand subscription service this year, according to company data released this week. More broadly, Fable’s Allee said that love stories between men have gone out of place “romance” as the most popular type of romance book.
Amazon said The Red, White and Royal Blue attracted new subscriptions and quickly became one of the most popular romcoms on its Prime Video platform. The Red, White and Royal Blue movie and the Hot Rivalry TV series are in the works.
Audiences could see more gay love stories among athletes on screen as producers look to replicate “Heated Rivalry,” said Tom Nanan, a producer and former network and studio executive who now teaches at UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television.
But Noonan said the main lesson for Hollywood should be that creating original and authentic stories will be rewarded by audiences. The industry has long sought to appeal to women — who typically make up the majority of scripted entertainment audiences — with a variety of thought-provoking storylines, he said.
“When shows like Hot Rivalry come along, it reminds us what a rich part of life is worth exploring,” Noonan said. It’s also a reminder to “make sure we’re filling our shows as accurately and authentically as possible because it’s a win-win scenario.”
Taylor Zachary Perez as Alex Clairmont-Diaz and Nicholas Galitsyn as Prince Henry in Prime Video’s Red, White & Royal Blue.
Courtesy: Amazon MGM
While these releases have generated fanfare and recognition, LGBTQ+ advocates also warn that the community’s overall representation on screen is shrinking.
PLEASE, a non-profit organization for the promotion and monitoring of LGBTQ+ media, said that the share of LGBTQ+ inclusive scripted films from major distributors fell by about 14% from 2023 to 2024. LGBTQ+ characters on TV According to the organization, in the 2024-2025 season, the number of exhibitions decreased by about 23% compared to three years earlier.
“On the one hand, I think it’s encouraging,” Kathryn Sander, a Cornell professor who studies LGBTQ+ media, said of the excitement over “Rivalry.” “But on the other hand, I don’t think we should be too optimistic.”
“All I Can Think About”
Of course, not all male love stories have a majority female audience. The Heartstopper series on Netflixand “Love Simon” romcom from DisneyAccording to Nielsen, in the first quarter, both 20th Century Fox skewed slightly toward male viewers.
There is also evidence that fans of the genre extend beyond women who identify as heterosexual. During CNN’s New Year’s Eve special, co-host Andy Cohen asked the musician Brandy Carlisle if only lesbians were as obsessed with Hot Rivalry.
“That’s all I can think of,” Carlisle replied.
