Okay, who reads romance novels out there — and which of you are women? Thought so. Just about every one of you! And why do you read them? How often do you read them? Pretty frequently, I’d bet…which is why romance novels have been called pornography for women.
Don’t laugh (and don’t hate, either!) — it’s probably the truth. After all, why are there all those sex scenes, then? In fact, who’d ever heard of a romance that didn’t have any whatsoever? I rest my case.
Now there’s nothing wrong with getting your groove on, even if it is with pulp fiction, but how come that’s not considered disgusting whereas outright pornography is? Just because it’s read instead of seen?? Why is it vulgar if documented by video but okay when imagined with words? Just what is porn, anyway?
All right, so romance novels actually have a story, oftentimes, however hackneyed (oftentimes). But the story only serves as a backdrop for the sex, doesn’t it? Come on, be honest. How many of you romance readers even skip to the “good parts,” bypassing non-sexual narrative and dialogue as a matter of course? Don’t be shy. After all, how else could someone finish whole stacks of books every week if not from habitual skimming?
You know what I’m talking about, those ladies who show up at your local public library each week with tote bag-fulls of the latest sizzlers! No one smirks at them but why should Playboy magazine be prohibited from the libraries? Seriously, it’s easily arguable that the Playboy interviews and non-sexual material (yes, they can actually be read, too — and not just for numbers) are quite informative, even educational, even helpful.
Anyway, I’m not against romances at all, of course; just making a case that they aren’t something innocuous either and I don’t know why we pretend like they are as a society. Why can’t sex be celebrated visually? Actually, Playboy is so tame, it’s just got nudes such as you’d find in an art book in any public library — no “sex” per se at all!
It’s sad that the culture is so hung up over sex. It would be nice to live in a better world where sex is as natural as coffee and pastries, something enjoyable and nourishing and, more to the point, public and not at all shameful.
Until then, I suppose conceptual aids like romance fiction will have to suffice!