Erotica author Mathilde Madden of Erotica Cover Watch reflects on why one of the covers (below, right) is not like the other one (below, left.)

Because – of course – this [the cover on the left —fl] fits into a whole I can see no menz tradition of erotica covers.

Because of that, because of the culture that surrounds it, this is just another insult. Another case where the need to never ever show a man on the cover of an erotica book seems to just be going to desperate measures.

I mean, really, there is a guy there, but he’s hiding!

Now, look at this. This is another cover [on the right —fl] where we see some sex through a half open door. The difference here is that this is an erotic romance book. And as we have discussed before erotic romance is different. In fact, erotic romance does some really lovely covers with men on them. But only because straight men are not the consumers of erotic romance.

Read the quote in context here.

And yet publishers claim they never put men on the covers of porn and erotica by and for heterosexual women because women would rather look at other women.

Because hey, why admit you’re just catering to your homophobic male customers when you can just reinforce empty stereotypes about women, narcissm and their squeamishness about men’s bodies instead?