Why so much romance criticism is really just misogyny in disguise

In July, I was part of a discussion at the Booksellers Association Conference all about the world of romance and bookselling. The main question was - is romance a trend, a bubble waiting to burst or is the genre here to stay? So much was covered during this conversation, however, one aspect that has stuck with me was if the general discrediting of the genre is related to misogyny.

The literary world has a complicated relationship with romance novels. Despite being an ever growing billion-dollar industry and one of the top selling genres in the literary world, romance novels carry a lot of shame and stigma. Many romance lovers have at some point felt the need to hide their reading preferences, and view romance as a guilty pleasure. 

With the recent rise of BookTok, there has been a gaggle of articles and commentary on the romance and romantasy genres saving the book industry.

So why is it that romance continues to carry so much shame?

There is constant criticism of romance novels being predictable, trashy, poor writing, and lowbrow (just to name a few). However, we don’t see any other genre being criticized with the same lens. One of the main theories –deep-rooted misogyny.

Gerenally we see woman dominated hobbies being thought of as silly – think fandoms, self-care, reality TV, make up and fashion.Romance is no different given it is largely written by women for women.

Often, stories with a strong romantic plot written by men are seen as serious literature by contrast - think David Nicholls.

We also seem to forget smart women who are critically engaged with the world indulge in romance.Author Sarina Bowen, noticed multiple articles coming from respected publications such as The NY Times and RealSimple minimising the value of romance novels. For some reason, these larger publications are taking swipes at romance readers, assuming there is little to no overlap in their readership.

News Flash - romance lovers read The NY Times too

Ndéla Faye also spoke about this in The Independent, having observed an internalised misogyny within herself when it came to the romance genre. She thought romance novels were for ‘ditzy housewives’ and would try go for highbrow novels instead to portray a certain image of herself. However, when she took the plunge and picked up romance she noticed these novels covered so many important topics such as racism, homophobia, sexism, sexual harassment, female solidarity and empowerment.

So why do we make it sounds like romance novels are surface level and don’t delve deeply into the intricacies of life?

Another element people consider “trashy” is the sexual side of romance books. Many women have commented on romance novels having a massive impact on their lives, by helping them connect to their sexual self, open up healthy conversations about sexual wellbeing and feeling empowered. By calling erotica ‘trashy’ we are immediately shaming women, not only for their sexuality but for daring to share their love of erotica. This has a flow on effect as we’re sending a message that female pleasure and desire is embarrassing and shameful.

So STOP calling romance trashy!!!!!!