In Beach Read by Emily Henry, there’s a part near the end where Augustus Everett – a literary fiction author – is describing to January Andrews– a romance writer– how in awe he is of her and explains why what she writes is so special and important:
“‘When you love someone…you want to make this world look different for them. To give all the ugly stuff meaning, and amplify the good. That’s what you do. For your readers. For me. You make beautiful things, because you love the world, and maybe the world doesn’t always look how it does in your books, but… I think putting them out there, that changes the world a little bit. And the world can’t afford to lose that,’” (p 293).
The belittlement and mockery of the romance genre can be attributed to the string tying all things associated with femininity to women. A patriarchal society favors masculinity in men, and so women’s participation and love for something feminine will make it appear less valuable to society. Stories told in the media are often dictated by men. The films, TV shows, etc. that we consume typically cater to the male gaze, so we grow up with this image of what love is – and what it should look like – but there are important perspectives missing.
By portraying love in a way that isn’t diluted in order to be palatable for cishet white people, these authors are able to write romance that depicts people within marginalized communities receiving and experiencing love in beautiful and honest ways.
The romance genre provides a safe space where there is a certainty that nothing bad will happen and that the love interest can be trusted. There’s a comfort that comes with that predictability. A safety in knowing that the characters you’re reading about aren’t real, and that they will not hurt you – either directly or through harm done to the main character.
People can read about love that maybe feels unachievable or unrealistic in the real world, and it can teach them how they should be loved and cared for and that their needs are equally as important as their partner’s.
Romance books are often sex positive and place emphasis on female pleasure. The needs of women are usually dismissed in society, but this genre provides a space for growth and self love and a space where women can explore their needs and desires. They can learn to redefine who they are and learn to dismantle the predetermined narrative that they are not as important as men. Furthermore, the women are written as multidimensional people. Their personhood plays into their value and desirability, and they aren’t reduced to a two-dimensional image for male pleasure.
It creates a space where people can escape or heal from trauma.
The devaluation of the romance genre is not only from its association with women but also the ability it has in destabilizing patriarchal beliefs and norms. Emotional intimacy, love, and femininity are a threat to a patriarchal society that enforces the standard of masculinity to a point of toxicity upon men and views the feminine as two-dimensional. These are threats to a society where women are only meant to be understood in terms of men.