The Debate Goes On
In the event you are looking for a pro/con argument, I would point you to this article called Harm in reading romance novels? My view is that there are many harmful things out there for women. Reading choice is just not one of them. It is, however, on Shaunti Feldhahn’s list of concerns. She takes up the anti-romance side of this debate and quotes mental health professionals who share her belief that romance novels set up unrealistic expectations and, in turn, affect the real-life romance choices women make. I say women are smart enough to know the difference between fiction and reality and don’t need to be protected by having someone decide what they should and should not read. Feldhahn says:
In fact, many of today’s romance novels actually have a huge soft porn influence, as nearly all major publishers are rushing to put out mainstream “erotica” titles to meet exploding demand. At what point should we admit that there is little difference between graphic images to men and seductive, graphic words and feelings to women? Erotica romances provide the porn-laced story with no worry about a spouse catching you online.
Journalist Diane Glass takes up the pro side. She manages to defend romance novels and still take a shot or two at them. Still, she points out that: “The difference between erotica and porn isn’t the lighting, it’s the content.” She also says:
Romance novels are about entertainment, not the dissemination of seriously dangerous notions. I don’t think Harlequin readers believe they’re doing in-depth gender research or that Fabio is going to ride up on his white horse. I think they’re indulging in a little female pornography.
I continue to be stunned that this debate goes on. The anti-side almost always includes an unspoken belief that women, purely by virtue of being women, need someone to tell them what they should read. I find the argument insulting and, frankly, anti-woman. But, that’s me. You can read and decide for yourself where you come down on this argument.
August 14th, 2007 at 11:17 am
It is insulting and anti-woman. The cry that “romance novels are bad” seem to have been taken up very strongly by the “submissive wives” movement, those who believe that the way to cure many of the problems with the family is for the wife to let the man be in charge. The means being ruled by him in virtually every way. The book Shaunti Feldhahn’ recommends, “Finding the Hero in Your Husband,” is a book in support of that movement.
For people who believe the wife needs to be ruled by the husband, even traditional romances are dangerously subversive because the heroines think for themselves. We may see women giving up “glamourous” careers in the Big City to settle down to a traditional family in some, or the frank escapism of a shiekh carrying away his virgin secretary, but women make these own decisions and it’s made clear that the men are attracted to the women’s intelligence and independence. If you want a woman to believe that she needs to rely upon her husband for every move, that it is in fact her place to do so, the last thing you want to do is wanting her to read a book that encourages her to think for herself.
August 14th, 2007 at 11:21 am
My fiance pointed me in the direction of this ( http://girl-wonder.org/girlsreadcomics/?p=82 ) which is on a similar vein. thought you might find it interesting.
August 14th, 2007 at 11:34 am
I had no idea that Dumb and Dumber had a column.
August 14th, 2007 at 11:54 am
Interesting that there’s never a debate that men’s reading habits might be dangerous, inspire James Bond-type antics that results in injuries, or make them more violent. I guess that Y chromosome means they’re protected from the harmful effects of reading fiction. *rolling eyes*
August 14th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
How in the world does that woman justify what she spouts? She makes women sound like brainless robots.
August 15th, 2007 at 4:05 am
Amen Charlene! Seriously, a lot of the readers and writers I’ve talked to have no fantastical illusions about relationships. I prefer to think that romances are more about empowerment - emotional, sexual - than about dependent, clingy women who need a man to survive. And the majority of people I know read romance to escape, to fantasize, not as their own personal romance bible.
But whatever. I think they’re all jealous of Nora.
August 15th, 2007 at 10:32 am
As the mother of five and the wife of a man who I think is wondeful ( but quite normal) I don’t believe I have had any unrealsistic expectations from my many, many years of romance reading.
As the only books I won’t read are horror I am more inclined to wonder what influence reading Westerns, Thrillers, Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Non-fiction have had on me??
August 25th, 2007 at 8:43 pm
Wow. I’m still having a hard time believing that these people are actually serious. Maybe it’s because of my tiny fragile woman’s brain that I can’t comprehend how a book can change my total thought process. If that was the case wouldn’t I think I’m a vampire (Had an Ann Rice obsession in high school) or doing whatever the heck someone who reads a lot of John Saul would be doing?