manfiction en · NOUN
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *mon- Proto-Germanic *mann- Proto-West Germanic *mann Old English mann Middle English man English man Proto-Indo-European *dʰeyǵʰ- Proto-Indo-European *-né- Proto-Indo-European *dʰinéǵʰti Proto-Italic *θingō Proto-Italic *fingōder. Latin fingō Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin fictiōder. Old French ficcionbor. Middle English ficcioun English fiction English manfiction From man + fiction.
Meanings
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(informal, uncountable) Literary fiction which appeals to, or is marketed toward, men, typically written by male authors and centering on male characters.
And current manfiction certainly gives women a better deal than they got in the pulps of yesteryear, when most were presented as barracuda debs in frilly negligees.
2008 October 12, Stephen King, “Who Says Real Men Don't Read?”, in Entertainment Weekly:He sang the praises of Elmore Leonard, Chabon, Malamud and a host of tough-guy “manfiction” novelists, to use his affectionately satirical term.
2007 March 18, Ben Neihart, “Prince of Darkness”, in The New York Times:A professed affinity for Manfiction was a central tenet of this precarious Cool Girl identity; a Cool Girl was always ready to support the literary analysis presented by the dudes, even after consuming a fifth of bourbon at three in the morning.
2010, Amanda Hess (quoting Tiger Beatdown), "The Morning After: Manfiction and Mandles Edition", Washington City Paper, 1 June 2010