Reading romance: A feminist pursuit
Reading romance: A feminist pursuit
Reading romance: A feminist pursuit
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Hannah
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Is reading romance a ‘guilty’ pleasure for you? Do you read romance novels on an ebook so no one knows what you’re reading and judges you by it? Do you associate the words ‘trashy’ or ‘illicit’ or ‘low-brow’ or ‘anti-feminist’ with the romance genre?
Then may I suggest you read this fantastic article in Bustle: ‘7 Reasons It’s Actually Totally Feminist To Read (And Write) Romance Novels, Thank You Very Much’. The author, Maya Rodale, explains:
My inner feminist resisted reading romance novels because I thought these trashy books were somehow bad for women by filling their heads with unrealistic ideas about life and love. But the more I read them (and eventually wrote them), the more I realized that these books are totally fairytales for feminists.
She goes on to explore different reasons that put romance novels firmly in the feminist camp, like the fact that they are by women, for women and about women, and that they reward women. She writes:
Unlike any other literature, romance novels champion women who defy expectations, they validate their interests and experiences, they declare women deserve love, respect and pleasure, and they reward them for refusing to settle for second best. What’s more feminist than that?
Maya is the author of this book on the subject:
From the blurb:
Long before clinch covers and bodice rippers, romance novels had a bad reputation as the lowbrow lit of desperate housewives and hopeless spinsters. But why were these books—the escape and entertainment of choice for millions of women—singled out for scorn and shame?
Dangerous Books for Girls examines the secret history of the genre’s bad reputation—from the “damned mob of scribbling women” in the nineteenth century to the sexy mass-market paperbacks of the twentieth century—and shows how romance novels have inspired and empowered generations of women to dream big, refuse to settle, and believe they’re worth it.
For every woman who has ever hidden the cover of a romance—and every woman who has been curious about those “Fabio books”—Dangerous Books For Girls shows why there’s no room for guilt when reading for pleasure.
Maya also has a well-argued website at www.dangerousbooksforgirls.com which contains some compelling reading. I was especially fascinated by her infographics, based on a study she conducted, that give a broad picture of the romance genre and, especially, attitudes towards it.
If you have a little time, I really recommend checking out Maya’s writing. She’s a champion for all of us romantics. Thank you, Maya!