Will they use a condom? Cover art of an historical romance novel by Tom Miller, c1960s, courtesy anoldent/Flickr
It’s perhaps the most common controversy in the world of ideas: how does the content of art and literature change us? Do representations of violence and sex corrupt us? Is porn bad for us? And what about … romance novels?
A couple of weeks ago, writer and relationships columnist Susan Quilliam published an essay on the potentially harmful effect reading romance novels might have on their readers, who are predominantly women. The headline-grabbing essay echoed claims reported in early June by a Christian psychologist that she was treating “more and more women who are clinically addicted to romantic books”, and that these books were the cause of some of their relationship dissatisfactions.
The essay has sparked widespread debate. Strangely, a good deal of the discussion seems to hinge on… condom use. But the discourse about romance fiction more broadly seems to mirror the debate on how pornography affects men: do these representations of sex and romance – as the case may be – diminish their users?
Melbourne academic Lauren Rosewarne has another take. She objects to the presumption that consumers of art and entertainment should be such easy touches. “I don’t doubt for a moment that romance novels provide problematic information about sex,” she writes for The Conversation. “But to pretend that the only message, or even just the strongest message received, comes from steamy paperbacks is simplistic at best and conservatively deceptive at worst.”
In her Lunchbox/Soapbox address, In Defence of Trash Fiction, Toni Jordan spoke about the challenges of writing romance fiction.
Er.... this is such an old and boring debate, isn't it? Like "do cartoons make our children violent?" or "does pop music make teenagers more promiscuous?". And I think all the studies have shown that the answer is fairly consistent to all of these questions. IT DEPENDS! It depends on who is doing the reading, watching or listening, what their background/ current situation/education/perception/level of intellect/temperament/predisposition is. Non?
*sigh*
Margaret
14 July at 02:37PM
Here's a novel idea: all of the people passing judgements on the romance genre should go away and actually read a romance. I am heartily sick of reading "research" and opinions based on some sort of hand-me-down stereotype of what a romance novel is - and yes, as a romance author myself I have a dog in this fight, I'll declare that up front. Romance novels are written by women (mostly) for women (mostly), and they are sharper, smarter and more subversive than any outsider can imagine. They tackle difficult subjects like domestic abuse, substance abuse, infidelity, body image and a host of other issues that affect women in their day to day lives. They empower women, exploring female sexual desire and sexual agency. And they are also enormously fun, sexy, entertaining and exciting. So please don't stand on your soap box and preach about a vastly varied genre that incorporates everything from inspirational/Christian romance to highly erotic paranormal fantasy. Romance can't be pigeonholed so easily, and it certainly shouldn't be denigrated and dismissed by a bunch of people who haven't even deigned to explore the genre.
sarah mayberry
14 July at 02:43PM