So over in the Vampires in Contemporary Supernatural Fiction thread we've started talking alot about the male/female breakdown in the genre today.

I.E., it seems that 3/4+ of the fiction currently on the shelves in your local Big Name Bookseller (can't say anything for presses too small to get into BNBs, etc) billing itself as contemporary supernatural/occult/fantasy features strong female leads, is penned by female authors, and contains strong elements of romance (not just relationships between characters, but a focus on romantic interludes and sexual encounters between the lead and characters in the work). 

What does everybody else think of this?

Talking Points:

Are male authors uninterested in working in this subgenere?  Discouraged from doing so? 

Are male readers uninteresed in this subgenre?  Discouraged from being so because of the current face of content?

Is there a PERCEPTION that male readers are uninterested, and is that perception borne out in the numbers? 

Does the subgenre require romance elements?  (not Romance in the literary sense, of which the whole bag is included, but romance in the "her soft womanhood yeilded to his turgid prominence" sense.)

Discuss!

--fje