Dangerous Books for Girls
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Average rating5
15
Ratings1
Average rating5
Long before clinch covers and bodice rippers, romance novels had a bad reputation as the lowbrow lit of desperate housewives and hopeless spinsters. But why were these books—the escape and entertainment of choice for millions of women—singled out for scorn and shame?
Dangerous Books for Girls examines the secret history of the genre’s bad reputation—from the “damned mob of scribbling women” in the nineteenth century to the sexy mass-market paperbacks of the twentieth century—and shows how romance novels have inspired and empowered generations of women to dream big, refuse to settle, and believe they’re worth it.
For every woman who has ever hidden the cover of a romance—and every woman who has been curious about those “Fabio books”—Dangerous Books For Girls shows why there’s no room for guilt when reading for pleasure.
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Why do so many rreaders hide the fact that they read romance novels? Why do people roll their eyes when they talk about the genre? Have you ever thought to question the assumptions and presumptions about the romance genre? I, too, had the same prejudice against the genre, though mine was akin to a betrayal. After spending my teenhood reading romance, I decided I was too “with it” and mature to read romance novels anymore. So I ditched it and joined the eye rolling masses. It's only in my late thirties that I rediscovered the joy of romance novels - how they lift my spirits, how they make me laugh and smile ... so many books have the opposite effect on me. During my twenties and thirties, I had a non-fiction phase where all I read were books on sustainable development, environment, nutrition and politics. Those books, while informative, often left me in a funk because they offered no solutions to our present dire circumstances. Fantasy books were great, but often left me sad by the evil I read inside. Literary books were nourishing but also frustrating ... well, the long story short, romance novels cheer me up like no genre can.
Rodale lists down every prejudice and discusses them thoroughly. Sadly, it would seem this prejudice has very deep roots, and it's roots that are buried in society's regard (or lack of) for women's freedoms, roles, intelligence and acceptance. That discrimination has bled into the genre that is “written for women and by women”. That is why I often feel angry when people snub the genre, because it feels like a snub against my desire to be a woman accepted on her own terms.
A must read!
