The image above comes from a Google image search for "the clinch cover." I'm delighted to find that not every image shows a MF romance of two cisgender white people. If you've been reading the blog for a while, you saw my post from February 17, 2021 in which I wrote five reasons I love reading romance novels. (If not, feel free to go back to read it now, before you come back for this post. Today, I'd like to offer a different reason.
Romance novels are mostly written by and for women. While there are male and gender queer and trans and non-binary romance authors and readers, the vast majority of people who produce and consume these books were socialized as female.
Romance novels show those people as having the right to make choices about their bodies. Women (of all kinds) in Romancelandia can decide what to do with themselves: to enter into relationships or not, to engage in physical contact or not, to use contraception or not, etc.
Many of those people, at some point or multiple times in their lives face issues of reproduction-- either wanting to get pregnant, wanting to avoid getting pregnant, getting pregnant and not knowing what to do, getting pregnant and not having a choice about what happens, and more. All of those situations are fraught with emotional weight, and all of those scenarios find their way into romance novels. I love that romance novels show both the variety of choices people face and the importance of letting them make those choices. We can't have happily ever afters without autonomy.
I believe that every human who enters the world should know what it feels like to be wanted and safe. Romance novels demonstrate that when all people can decide what to do with their own bodies, people are more likely to end up happy, productive, and beneficial to themselves and to society.
Do you agree that romance promotes autonomy and that personal autonomy is necessary for a good society? Please share your thoughts in the comments.
YES!! And another reason why I feel that it’s important for l teenagers to read what they want (even when, maybe even especially when) it’s romance. Side note: your first romance blog post happened to go live on my birthday. Coincidence? I think not.
Couldn’t have been a coincidence, as you’re one of my partners in romance-novel reading and writing! And I agree that kids should read what appeals to them. Keep ’em reading!
Also think how many illustrators rely on romance novels to make a living.
I hadn’t thought about that at all. The current trend is definitely to use illustrations on covers rather than models. Good point.
Hear, hear!
What, what! Just kidding. Thanks, thanks!
Thank you for this.I never thought to think of romance novels from a personal autonomy perspective.. Though not from a traditional romance novel, when I think about one of my favorite characters, Anna Karenina, I can now see her actions through the high presence of autonomy.
I agree that personal autonomy is essential for a good society.
You’re right that it’s not only romance that advocates personal autonomy — Anna Karenina shows (among a lot of other things) the dangers of women’s not having the right to do what they want.
Freedom to fantasize and to examine novel, even shocking, solutions is liberating. No wonder there is a resurgence of book burning.
Yes, there are a lot of people out there who fear what others will do with their autonomy!
We can’t have happily ever afters without autonomy.
Nice comment.
or,
Our happily ever afters requires autonomy,
(after your six-word story style).
Might get more complicated in some other cultures.
Might also depend on cultural connotations of “autonomy.”
What of a culture that traditionally places strong value on following tradition,
respect for elders, etc. Eg China, now perhaps contaminated by both
Communism and knowledge of Western ways.
Daniel U
Good points. You’re right that I hadn’t thought about other cultures’ versions of the HEA. Feeling like part of a tradition probably does work for many who were raised to value that more than I was. In those places arranged marriages work. Given my experience, I’ll stick with autonomy. Thanks for writing a comment!