Reading the Romance
Radway argues that by reading romance novels women are more aware of their own self-worth and their ability to make a change in the patriarchic world. Some of you might disagree with this given your responses in class. So, I want you to respond to Radway's argument by grounding your thinking with the Nora Roberts' novel. Don't just agree or disagree rather do what Radway does: analyze, critique, and respond. Use the Radway reading, the selections from the Dangerous Men book, the Roberts' novel, and The Unsinkable Molly Brown (the movie) to evidence and support what you are saying.
250-400 words. Dialogue with one another.
Due: Monday, September 24, 2012 by class time.
“When it comes to romance novels, society has always felt free to sit in judgment not only on the literature but on the reader itself” (Krentz 1). I can attest to this. While reading 50 Shades of Grey on the subway in London, I was met with 7 glares, 4 peripheral sneaks, 3.5 smirks, and probably one eye roll. But the feeling of being unabashedly judged?
ReplyDeletePriceless.
Haha. Yeah right. It sucked.
Radway describes reading romance as “a way of temporarily refusing the demands associated with their social roles as wives and mothers” (Radway 207). Essentially, reading the swirling fairy tales depicted in romance novels today is a way to escape from the pressures of real life. The desire to escape is not a purely feminine wish. Men watch football, play golf with their buddies, go out for a beer- no one sees them getting 3.5 smirks. In a way, women temporarily taking a break from the stress of marriage and motherhood to read a romance novel is a form of empowerment. They are doing something purely to pleasure themselves.
The fact that men can ‘find their escape’ without facing any societal backlash clearly illuminates the hypocrisy and prejudice present in our modern patriarchal culture; women should be able to enjoy the simple pleasures a man seems to be entitled to. However, I don’t believe that women finding a healthy escape through reading romance novels is the same as actively making a change in our male-dominated society.
While writing this blog post, I discovered that I have conflicting opinions. On one hand, I think that women reading romance is a strong start toward empowering women. For example, the three cousins in the Nora Roberts novel have thriving careers; neither Laura, Gwen, nor Julia is actively searching for romance when the reader first meets them. The three heroines are perfectly content with their professional lives. In addition, Molly Brown in The Unsinkable Molly Brown knows what she wants in life (to get to Denver!) and takes it upon herself to meet that goal, even walking alone to Leadville at the start of the movie. Both Roberts’ protagonists and Molly Brown are good role models for women today; they all embody feminine independence. So, I do believe that women who read or watch the romance can find strong female role models.
It is easy to a have a role model though. Our gender struggles with converting ideas into action. We admire women like Laura, Gwen, and Julia, but we do not jump off the couch to go get a fabulous career of our own. We get stuck in this fantasy dreamland, and our inability to translate dreaming into action is holding all women back. We need to be our own real-life role models. As much as I believe that reading about these strong heroines is a start, it is not enough and it’s not going to make a change in our society.
Ladies, let’s put our bootstraps on and get going.
I think when women read romance novels, it is mostly used as a way of escape from daily stresses. The reader acknowledges that what they’re reading is unrealistic and simply a fantasy. The women don’t actually take away significance from the novels and apply it to their own lives, but rather read the romance novels to escape out of their world into a place where they can relax. While I’m reading the Roberts novel, I catch myself thinking about how unrealistic it is and that it’s just a fantasy, nothing more. Even though I recognize this, I still enjoy the novel because it gives me a sliver of time during the day to escape from everything I have to deal with in my life and just enjoy reading the novel. I realize that what happens to the characters in the novels will most likely not happen to me, yet I feel happy for the fictional couples because in this fantasy, everything in their lives seem to be played out fairly smoothly with out many complications along the way. Everything going on in the characters’ lives are all centered around the romance and love while in real life, there is so much more an individual has to worry about and deal with other than love.
ReplyDeleteSeeing as how our society is today, it has a strong influence on my own stance because nowadays, the divorce rates are so high, it seems to be as if women are becoming numb to finding their prince charming and know its just a fantasy that only occurs in romance novels. In The Unsinkable Molly Brown, it’s evident how quickly Molly and Johnny fall in love with each other and get married because they were both happy. Even though this was based off of the true story about Molly Brown, while watching it, I thought of how unrealistic it was for someone to just agree to marry another individual they barely knew, and that even if it does happen, it most certainly does not happen to the majority of people. But just like reading romance novels, watching a romantic movie is the same in the aspect of escapism. Although I was conscience of how unrealistic the romance was, it was still nice to see a happy couple and escape from my own life and relax while watching the movie.
Although Radway makes the claim that reading romance novels makes women more aware of their own worth, “romance readers of Smithton use their books to erect a barrier between themselves and their families in order to declare themselves temporarily off-limits” (Radway 207). Creating this barrier, between themselves and others, is thus a way of escaping their own lives into the novel. Many women who read romance novels have a clear definition between what is real and what is fantasy. Therefore, when actually reading the novels, they know it is fantasy and unrealistic to be able to apply into their own lives. I agree with what Aly says about women getting stuck in the fantasyland and women being our own role models rather than the women in the novels because to me, the novels are all focused on the romance and not a well-rounded coverage of what a regular woman’s life would be like. For many women they know the characters in the novels play out in a fictional world, in which they would not consider them to be their role models because it is just unrealistic.
The prevailing feminist perspective on romance reading seems to be that romance novels advocate a patriarchal society and “safety in dependence” on males. This idea seems almost laughable when reading Nora Roberts’ The MacGregor Brides. Laura Macgregor is the last person in the world anybody would call “dependent”. She works incredibly hard at her job as a lawyer, lives with her two female cousins, and is not looking for a relationship. In fact, she tells her cousin that she “want[s] a few more years of absolute freedom” before finding a relationship. Her love interest in the novel, Royce Cameron is the one obsessing over her in the beginning and she continues to turn him away. It is what Janice Radway refers to as an “inverted power structure”. Laura has the power in the relationship and Royce is the helpless one. This is the most common storyline of romance novels: a strong female lead brings the male to his knees.
ReplyDeleteWhat is extremely important to note is that one of the most significant factors relating to why a woman enjoys a specific romance novel has to do with identification with the main character. Since the most popular novels involve an independent and strong woman, it follows that women identify with these characteristics. Radway’s statement that reading romance makes women more “aware of their self-worth” can therefore be determined as true. Women can see these characteristics of the heroine in themselves and be empowered by that realization.
However, Radway’s next statement that the empowerment resulting from realizing their self-worth encourages women to make “a change in the patriarchal world” is not entirely accurate. Although many romance novelists, who were typically romance readers at one point, were somehow encouraged by the books to start their own careers and make a name for themselves (Nora Roberts is a great example), this certainly does not represent the majority of romance readers. Empowerment does not necessarily lead to action. Every woman who feels empowered by these books is not going to try to make a change in her own relationships or in the world around her. I agree with Aly in thinking that women are not making changes in the world even though they feel empowered and idolize these strong female characters. Romance novels might encourage change or the need for change, but they do not always make that change happen.
Female romance readers have been judged, packaged up, and labeled as one type: unintelligent, unsatisfied, wishful thinkers. It is important to always look beyond generalizations and understand that romance novels do not necessary attract one entity, just because they can produce common reactions and feelings (Krentz 7). Surely, romance novels are making many women feel “excited, satisfied, content, confident, proud, and powerful” (Radway 144). With that, these diverse women may take their reading and internalize it in whatever way they want. But, as Ally stated well, some may do something with empowerment and some may not.
ReplyDeletePersonally, as I read Nora Roberts, I find it enticing and get a sense of identification from it. Laura’s strong, independent, witty, female role is very influential. Although a fictional character, Laura allows me to develop new ideas of how females can think and act. Similarly, in The Unsinkable Molly Brown, there is an extremely independent, driven female lead, dedicated to her dreams. This certainly can allow a woman reader to relate and expand her mindset. When describing the female lead character, Krentz explains, “With courage, intelligence, and gentleness, she brings the most dangerous creature on earth, the human male, to his knees” (Krentz 5). These stories present females as heroes, while, at the same time, do not belittle males. Why shouldn’t they be empowering and trigger a change in patriarchal world?
To Fendi’s statement on increased divorce rates, maybe females are now becoming more empowered in their own lives and don’t need to depend on men and marriage to be successful, compared to generations ago. This certainly is a great example of a possible shift in the patriarchal world. Romance novel authors are very smart and mostly females. They have families, backgrounds in education, such as law, business, and engineering, and many say they are feminist (Krentz 3). It would make perfect sense that these novels would not necessarily detract from female integrity, but empower them. It is up to each woman to decide what to do with this empowerment.
Reading a book to determine you own self-worth? Hmm…!! Why can’t women just know they’re worth it, and value themselves for who they are? Women don’t need to be locked away from their world in search of a fantasy world in order to be aware of their self-worth like Radway argues. Don’t take me wrong, it is not bad to read romance. As Ann Krentz mentions in Dangerous Men and Adventures Women “ The most popular genres of fiction are based on fantasies, creation of the imagination which are not intended to conform to real life” (Krentz 2). Reading choice on science, action or romance is a personal choice, but what upsets me is the fact that romance reading has been taken to a different level beyond a form of entertainment. Radway was hired to analyze reading motives, habits, and rewards. Romance reading is no longer just a reading for fun, but a reading with a lot of meaning behind it. In Radway's investigation she discovered that women read romance for two reasons. One to escape, to “declare independence” (Radway 207). Second “to address the women’s longing for emotional replenishment” (Radway 208). I don’t disagree with Radway research, but I disagree with the fact that the purpose of reading romance novels is to make women more “aware of their self-worth”.
ReplyDeleteIf we take a look at Roberts’ novel of “The MacGregor Brides”, her character Laura is a strong, professional, beautiful, and aggressive character. She is not a character that needs to bubble herself into a world to determine her own self-worth. She knows who she is, and she knows her self-worth.
Now let’s look at Molly Brown in the movie “Unsinkable Molly Brown”. She is a character that from the beginning had self-worth. She would repeatedly say, “She was the queen”, and “that no one can put her down”. Brown knew her self-worth and didn’t need a book either. She also knew her ability to make a change in the world; nothing stopped her from going out for what she wanted.
My point is women should know their self-worth and their ability for change. Radway is not wrong about her conclusions, being that Krentz has a similar perspective, romance is an “empowerment” to women (Krentz 5), but it doesn’t mean it is right. Women should start growing more confidence about knowing their capability and worth to this world, such as Laura and Molly Brown.
I completely agree with Aly, men don’t need to ‘find their escape’, and women should not depend on the words of others to ‘find their escape’, it shows how women make ourselves dependent on others for empowerments, or recognizing our self-worth. I agree with what Aly said “we get stuck in this fantasy”, and it’s time to throw that book we use for shelter out the window, and begin taking steps to becoming the heroine we want to be.
Women today choose to read romance novels as an escape; they want to be a part of something that is greater than their current life. And to read romance novels for the purpose of finding your self-worth may be a little unheard of but not unrealistic. Romance helps women to figure out who they really are and what they really want out of life. Take Molly Brown for example, she thought she knew who she was before she met the love of her life: desiring to live in Denver with a rich man. Once she achieved what she thought she wanted and then lost it all, she realized all she wanted was the other person. Like Radway says, “Romance reading, it appeared, addressed needs, desires, and wishes that a male partner could not,” (208). In the Molly Brown example, she realizes that her need for companionship is greater than anything else she desires in this world. Women in general love to have a home away from home per say, and through the use of romance novels, women find comfort and happiness in their chaotic lives.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree completely with Sarah when she says that, “It is important to always look beyond generalizations and understand that romance novels do not necessary attract one entity;” so many different people, both men and women are looking for an escape, it just so happens that women enjoy a happy love story then guys beating each other up. Our modes for escape differ but women as Aly mentions are more harshly judged for how they choose to relax and get away.
On the contrary, I think Nora Roberts’ The Macgregor Brides may take women a step back in their hopes in changing the patriarchal society because patriarchal societies are ones based marriage and a male being in charge. Indirectly Daniel Macgregor is in control of all of his granddaughters’ lives whether they like it or not. Also Daniel Macgregor is nudging them into this traditional form of life: marriage and all of the women have complete control over their choice, but choose to fall into this ancient tradition. So although romance novels have helped women to take control of their lives, it exemplifies ancient beliefs and patriarchal control that all women fall for.
Reading a romance novel is a more complex decision than one might think. When explaining to a guy that your favorite type of books are romantic ones he will usually label you as a girl he can never satisfy because she is too wishful and move on. I completely disagree with this stereotype. Sarah expressed my exact thoughts when she says “romance novels do not necessary attract one entity.” There is a stereotypical romance reader but I don’t believe that represents all women who chose to read romance novels.
ReplyDeleteRomance readers use it as an escape not necessarily to get stuck in a fantasy. Nora Roberts is my favorite author but I’m also not stuck in a world where I believe this type of romance should happen. I have career plans and am independent and am not sitting around waiting for someone to sweep me off my feet. Therefore I disagree with Aly when she says “We get stuck in this fantasy dreamland, and our inability to translate dreaming into action is holding all women back.” I don’t believe I am stuck in a place I can’t get out of just because I read romance novels. I recognize this is the case for some women. But going back to romance readers encompass all sorts of women not just the stereotypical ones.
I believe adding romance does not take anything away from a woman but adds to it. In the MacGreggor Brides Laura’s life doesn’t change with Royce. She is still a Lawyer and a strong female character but she adds Royce to her life. Honestly I believe romance can sometimes enhance feminism. Radway discovered “when the difficulties of accounting for the complexities of actual romance reading produced a more intense and personal engagement with feminist theory and its analysis of women’s situation” (203) it can make the two come together. Romance can just add to a feminist’s life it does not necessarily take away from it.
Romance novels have the potential to make women more aware of their self worth and empower them if they are not taken too literally. I believe they encourage women to find their power in the relationships they have with men. Take Molly Brown, for example. She is a strong, independent, and determined woman who refuses to take no for an answer. She demonstrates to women viewers that women can be strong and make their own decisions, while still maintaining a successful romance. Molly is very much in charge of her marriage to Johnny, and he will do anything she asks. Although this movie may be fairly unrealistic, Molly Brown can be used as an inspiration for a powerful feminist woman who is also in love. She is the perfect example of a woman taking charge in a patriarchic world, which can inspire women to do the same.
ReplyDeleteSimilarly, Laura’s character in the Nora Roberts book is an independent feminist who has a strong hold on her romantic relationship with Royce Cameron. As Lexie mentioned, Laura is far from dependent and does not rely on her relationship to bring her happiness. She is an intelligent lawyer and is very strong-willed when it comes to her opinions. She is stubborn and like things done her way. The Nora Roberts book is also unrealistic, but it may have a way of encouraging women to be strong like the MacGregor sisters and give them the idea that they can have power in society and their relationships. Romantic novels often also show that males are attracted to strong female characters. Royce is drawn to Laura and is impressed by her defiance and strong opinions. It seems evident that, “In the romance novel…the woman always wins” (Krentz 5). This is certainly true in the romance novels that I have read. As Lauren said, these romance novels are often very unlike reality, however, “Like all other genres, romance is based on fantasy and readers know it” (Krentz 2). Readers also see that, “The books celebrate female power” (Krentz 5) and, “Portray woman as heroes” (Krentz 5). The characters in the novel can still be an inspiration to those who read the novels, even if women cannot be exactly like the heroine in a novel.
As Aly said, romance novels are a way for women to gain pleasure and fulfillment, which is something women should not be chastised for. Men have their way of escaping for a few moments whether it be watching sports, playing golf, or sleeping, so what is so wrong with women reading romance novels for the same sort of escape from reality? Nothing. Romance reading is a woman’s, “Longing for emotional replenishment” (Radway 208). Romance also, “Addressed needs, desires, and wishes” ( Radway 208). If reading a romance novel is a way to replenish and fulfill and woman’s needs, then it is a positive thing. Romance novels allow women to escape their womanly duties for a brief period of time, and have the power to inspire woman to be assertive in their relationships with men. Radway states that, “Romance reading as a form of individual resistance to a situation predicated on the assumption that it is the women alone who are responsible for the care and emotional nurturance of others” (Radway 207). Romance novels, although often unrealistic and unattainable, inspire women to find the balance between power and romance in their relationships.
While I believe it is true that women can become “empowered” by reading romance novels, it is only in the sense that the rest of the population can become empowered by other types of books. Kids grow up reading stories about superheroes like batman, superman, or spiderman, and they want to become heroes just like them. When women grow up to read about the heroines in romance novels, is it so strange that they too might want to act similarly? “Furthermore everyone understands that the readers know the difference between real life and fantasy and that they do not expect one to imitate the other. But, for some reason, when it comes to romance novels critics worry about women who read them can tell the difference between what is real and what is not”(Krentz 2).
ReplyDeleteWhether or not women feel empowered by reading romance novels cannot be directly measured by the action they take afterwards. Little kids might dress up as their favorite superhero for Halloween, but no one expects them to change lives. Both kids and adults use these escapes as vices to deal with their own lives, but they understand the difference between the two. “In effect, what chapters two and three try to do as a result is unpack the significance of the phrase ‘escape’ by taking it somewhat more literally than have most analysts of the media in order to specify the origin and character of the distance the women find it necessary to maintain between their ‘ordinary’ lives and their fantasies”(Radway 207)
Personally, I enjoy reading romance novels very much, but not because I am empowered by the women in them. True empowerment, the kind that leads to action, comes from inner strength, not something that can be gained after reading one novel. In this sense, I also agree with Aly. While Nora Robert’s book portrays strong female characters, they are not so inspirational that I feel the desire to immediately become a lawyer, or doctor, just to be like them.
On the other hand, the fact that a girl can stand in society and say that she is reading a romance novel, that is when true empowerment occurs. “The verdict is always the same. Society does not approve of romance novels” (Krentz 1). If one is brave enough to face the disapproval of those surrounding her, then perhaps she is also brave enough to put her other ideas into action. I agree with Alexandra when she says that women should know their self-worth and their ability for change. In this sense, it is not what women are reading in their romance novels that empowers them, it is the fact that they are reading them at all.
My initial reaction when we were assigned to read a Nora Roberts book was that it would be an easy read. After reading the introduction of Dangerous Men and Adventurous Women and analyzing the text I realized that Nora’s books, as well as romance novels in general are more than just “mind candy” as my aunt likes to call them. Throughout reading the first eighty pages of the book I quickly discovered that although Nora’s books may come across as “mind candy”, if you look deeper you will find many hidden themes.
ReplyDeleteOne of the most prominent themes in romance novels is women empowerment. As Jayne Ann Krentz said about the lead female characters, “With courage, intelligence, and gentleness she brings the most dangerous creature on earth, the human male, to his knees. More than that, she forces him to acknowledge her power as a woman” (Krentz 5). Laura’s role in The MacGregor Brides shows how successful and independent a woman can be without having any sort of relationship with a man, and that when she does find a man they have mutual influence over each other (they both “sweep each other off of their feet” so to say). Laura inspires me to become a more driven woman while her personality also makes the book entertaining to read.
Another theme I noticed throughout the first part of Roberts’ novel is hopefulness. Krentz also states, “There is a deep-rooted optimism inherent in the romance novel that crosses cultural and political boundaries” (Krentz 6). If women were more optimistic about their social status and lives in general think about how different the world we live in would be. I think that women often think of this world of optimism and women empowerment as a fantasy that is not able to be achieved in the real world. This leads me to agree with Aly and Lexi when they say that “Romance novels might encourage change or the need for change, but they do not always make that change happen”. When women read fiction, they often times decide not to apply what they might interpret in the story to their own lives. My hope is that one day all women realize how they can benefit and learn from reading romance novels in order to alter their own lives for the better.
Romance novels, such as “The McGregor Brides”, are not necessarily utilized as a tool to build self-worth or make a change in the patriarchal world. I completely agree with Fendi and Aly when they stated that most women delve into the romantic world in order to escape reality and delude themselves of the harsh reality of romance and love in the real world. As Alexandra said, Men don’t need an escape from reality as opposed to women. Thus, women are already controlled by the patriarchal world because they are reliant on “ethnographic popular literature” (Radway) in order to get through rough times, while men are able to stick it out and “man up”. I found Radway’s quote about the act of reading romance novels as a “declaration of independence” (204) to be very contradictory. Like I previously mentioned, women do not use romance as a way free themselves from patriarchal rule, but rather to fantasize about an ideal romance that can only exist with a patriarch within their lives.
ReplyDeleteI personally agree with Lauren when she states that Nora Robert’s books make women take a few steps back as opposed to progressing forward. Although in “The McGregor Brides” all three of the women are professionals that are self-sufficient, they are portrayed as half-complete because their lives are not exciting until the passionate male comes along to sweep them off their feet. This contradictory story line gives women a skewed perception of their self-worth. They may think that no matter how much they achieve in their professional world, with their families and with their friends, they will always need rely on a guy in order to put the icing on the cake.
Lastly, the “Molly Brown” musical that we saw was in no way advocating a females’ self-worth in a positive light. I highly disagree that a women who has been running around town to find a man with money to marry has any bit of self-worth and should be looked up to as a model for independent females. Within the movie, Brown was extremely reliant on money and wealth that she wouldn’t even love her husband until he struck a gold mine. I believe this movie took women’s suffrage a few years back. It basically portrayed Brown as a gold-digger, which is no way for an indpedent women to be treated.
“What I was trying to explain was the fact that the Smithton women apparently felt an intense need to be nurtured and cared for and that despite their universal claim to being happily married (a claim I did not doubt), that need was not being met adequately in their day-to-day existence. Romance reading, it appeared addressed needs, desires, and wishes that a male partner could not” (Radway 208). Whilst reading the article, this quote truly stuck with me. I thought of the fact that all women, regardless of feminist status, need an escape of some sort. Many women choose the romance novel route for their form of escapism. Our society has polarized the idea of a feminist woman reading a romance novel, but in reality, it happens all the time. How do we feel when we see a feminist woman acting girly, or doing something like reading a romance novel? We judge her. When I think of my escape, I think of the television network Bravo, the Real Housewives shows or Top Chef are just two examples of ways I can escape from my daily life. People in general need their escape, and regardless if you're a feminist or not, no one should be judged on their escape.
ReplyDeleteWhile I agree that women can become empowered through the act of reading romance novels, I do not feel that this is due to the romance itself. As a form of "escape," romance reading can be compared to the reading of many other genres (or activities) that are used by people all around the world. As Aly said, men often use activities such as sports or "bro time" to achieve this feeling, while women use things such as romance reading. Therefore, the empowerment lies not in the romance itself, but in the act of reading it.
ReplyDeleteAs Radway mentions in her article, many women view romance reading as "a way of participating in a large, exclusively female community" (Radway 207). To these women, being a part of a large phenomenon was involved in their empowerment because it made them feel as if they belonged. However, this feeling can be achieved through many other outlets - such as joining a sorority, becoming a volunteer, or countless other things. My point is that the possibilities are endless, and for some, romance reading may not be what empowers them.
Personally, I do not feel empowered when reading a romance novel. To me they are fun, somewhat unrealistic stories that give me something to do when I'm bored. While reading Nora Roberts' novel, I have to admit that more often than not I have been scoffing at cheesy lines or thinking about the fact that most of these events would never occur in real life. So for me, romance reading is not my form of empowerment. But there are many other things out there that can empower me and help me realize my self worth.
In short, while romance reading can empower women and make them understand their own self worth, this is not true for every woman. This is because it is the act of reading rather than the romance that causes this. Women don't need to read romance to feel empowered. True, it works for some. But we must realize that it is about the act of doing something for ourselves, not the ideology of romance.
Romance novels get women thinking. They make women examine their lives more deeply. In my personal experience reading "The Macgregor Brides" by Nora Roberts I find myself imagining a greater potential for my future. Parts of the story seem unrealistic in my eyes, but nonetheless those unrealistic aspects are what I believe push our thinking further. I begin to ask why do I see this as unrealistic? Could it potentially be realistic? In the book there is a part when Royce Cameron comes to pick Laura up for their date and he not so subtly pulls her in and intensely kisses her. When Laura questions why he did this Royce replies, "To thank you for the dress you're almost wearing." (Roberts 53). In this moment Royce is being very forward and concise about his feelings and thoughts. I have no personally experienced a boy be this genuinely forward with me. If a man were to say this to a woman she might have her guard up and assume they are saying it as a pick up line. This scenario makes me wonder why I view this as unrealistic. Perhaps women should read romance novels in order to see that these type of scenarios can be realistic and there could be men out there to fulfill them.
ReplyDeleteI've noticed that men in these novels play a role that does not always seem like the stereotypical male. Although like Sarah pointed out these novels do not belittle males. In the excerpt from the "Dangerous Men" book Krentz states, "The stories make it clear that women value the warrior qualities in men as well as their protective, nurturing qualities." (Krentz 6). The unique thing of romance novels is that they display the qualities of the male that females want to have in their lives. These books almost act as a guide for women on what type of things to look for in a male when seeking companionship. Some would argue that it would be impossible to find the type of men that play the leading heroes in these novels. To those that respond that way I say they are settling or missing out.
There is a reason why romance novels are in such high demand. It is important that instead of criticizing those who read them we look at why so many women do. I believe that women read these novels to explore greater potentials and use them as a guide to reach that potential.