Point
1: Romances are all the same. This
view is reinforced by the sympathetic
academics, who try to identify commonalities
across the genre of romance. Their
analytic approach obscures the fact
that many different types of romance
novels are written, and that they
appeal to varied audiences. Most studies
of romance novels utilize only a handful
of novels. Most importantly, they
don't compare and contrast different
types of romance novels.
Point
2: Romances are produced by publishers
who demand conformity to a set formula,
not by authors exercising full creativity.
Academics and critics who don't
read romances think categories are
"romance novels." Every
academic I have talked to believes
that Danielle Steel writes romance
novels (I make it a point to enlighten
them); only one had ever heard of
Nora Roberts. Frankly, there is
some truth to the belief that publishers
tend to enforce conformity to a
formula in many cases. (What requires
more examination is whether romance
novelists are under more pressure
to conform to a formula than are
authors in other genres.)
Point
3: Romances promote a conservative
message about male-female relationships.
The concern here is that romance
novels encourage women, particularly
young and impressionable women,
toward views that reinforce gender
inequality. The concern is not that
readers mix up reality and fantasy.
Rather it is the belief that readers
are subconsciously attracted to
a latent message in the books that
subverts feminism.
Point
4: Romances are borderline pornography.
Unless they read a lot of popular
fiction, academics are unaware how
much variability there is in sexual
explicitness. But I understand part
of their point here. Romance novels
contain much more explicit sex than
mainstream fiction and other fiction
genres. Several sympathetic academics
have mentioned how uncomfortable
they are with the objectification
of both male and female bodies found
in these books, and not just on
the covers. The portrayal of Native
American heroes in Westerns is the
most troublesome example.
