Why I Read Romance Novels

Well, I created this blog back in January, wrote a few posts, made plans to write a whole lot more, and then let it die.  Now it seems to be revived, and I'm really enjoying having it-- my other blog just isn't the place for going on and on about what I'm reading.  So I have a backlog of half-planned posts that I'm churning out here.  I will get them out over the next week or two, and also start posting about the literary criticism class that I'm taking.  It's fascinating.  But first off, here is the introductory post that I meant to write months ago.

So, why do I read romance novels?  I'm an intelligent person, female, with college plus a couple of years of graduate school (all in English literature) under my belt, enjoy intellectual challenges, technology, .......... um, I 'm trying to think of what else I can say to prove that I'm not stupid.  I guess you'll just have to take my word for it.  Originally I was planning to say I hadn't ever read a romance novel until two years ago, but I've been driving a lot this week and at some point on my drive yesterday I remembered that when I was in grade school I used to read Emily Loring.  I loved those books.  I remember absolutely nothing about them accept that the heroine always spoke in "bell-like tones" and she always ended up with a happily ever after.  And then there was Sue Barton, Nurse Extraordinaire, with Bill Barry, the amazing doctor. Sigh. Then when I was in high school, I read a lot of Mary Stewart-- The Ivy Tree, Nine Coaches Waiting, and my favorite, Airs Above the Ground, which was a romance/mystery that revolved around the Lipazzaner stallions (one p and two z's, just had to look that up). Again, I remember nothing about them other than that I loved them.  So maybe I am more pre-disposed to love romances than I thought.  I must have a pretty major sentimental streak.  But anyway.  The original post I wrote about my current fascination with them is here.  This post is not going to be a defense of reading romance novels, I'm going to save that up for later in the semester when I get to the point that I think there is no defense, because I know it's coming.  This is just the reasons why I'm currently reading them.  So here goes.

1. entertainment.  A good romance novel is a good story, one that keeps you turning the pages.  And if you've read the post about being bored, you'll know I am in desperate need of entertainment at the moment.  Or at least I was, until two days ago when I started this class.  In fact, I should be studying right now.  (insert brief moment of panic here.  OK.  deep calming breaths.  I can study in twenty minutes, right?)
2. satisfying ending.  more about endings soon.  but briefly:  reading a good romance novel is like listening to discordant music that resolves at the end.  It's fundamentally satisfying, because everything works out.  Who the hell cares if it's not realistic?  I'm OK with that.
3. that mushy, velvety feeling.  The sigh factor.  The romance novel buzz.  It's the reason why guys take their dates to romantic comedy movies.  You get that buzz, you get all gooey inside, and his work is half done.  Kidding about the date but serious about enjoying the feeling.
4. relationship advice.  sounds lame, I know, but I've learned quite a bit about navigating my relationship with a strong-willed, good-hearted man through reading romance novels. (And yes, I have read enough theory to realize what a loaded statement it is to say that I read to learn, but it's still true.)  My parents were not good at this, so just seeing different examples of how it might work has been eye-opening.  It's been more fun, more effective and FAR cheaper than marriage counseling, which we've also tried.  I said to my husband once that you can practically feel these contemporary authors trying to work out ways to have a healthy, vibrant, equal relationship between two strong, independent people.  Because it's not easy, let me tell you.  And interestingly enough, his response:  it's not just contemporary romance authors, that's what romance novels have always been about.  Meaning Emma, Jane Eyre, etc.  At least, I think that's what he meant, because I think those are the only ones he's read.  Oddly, the ones that have been most helpful in this respect are ones that I would never recommend because they are awful for other reasons (Devil's Bride, for example-- if they had entered the glory one more time I would have thrown the book across the room).  
5. I don't want to sound too treacly here, so I will just say this briefly.  Romance novels have helped me get in touch with the balance that I was talking about in this post; they've helped me value the feminine side of myself, which I don't think I had much use for in the past.
6. and here's another one I don't want to belabor.  But for those of us with some sort of sexual trauma in our past, it can be difficult to imagine sex as anything other than trauma, even when we've worked it out with a single partner.  Reading the way romance authors re-imagine it has been helpful to me.  And like #4, the ones that have been most helpful in this regard tend to be ones that I would find it hard to recommend (like Only His-- which is a western, gag and double gag, with a truly dumb final conflict to boot (ark, ark)--  and Irresistible which skirts right around the edge of being homophobic).  

will let you know if I think of more.