Romance is NOT porn

I came across a blog, Teach Me Tonight. It looks at romantic fiction from an academic perspective. They have some interesting entries but I particularly liked the one that discussed the sex lives of romance readers blogged by Laura Vivanco. You can view the whole entry here: http://teachmetonight.blogspot.com/2010/01/sex-lives-of-romance-readers.html

While I particularly enjoyed the discussion on the positive impacts of romantic fiction, I once again came across my most hated comment. It is vile, it is ignorant and it is completely untrue. The statement: romance is porn for women.

I now have two new people on my hit list - Claire Coles and Johnna Shamp. In their book Some Sexual, Personality, and Demographic Characteristics of Women Readers of Erotic Romances, they write, "it can be suggested that erotic romances are so popular among their readers because they represent a socially acceptable form of mild pornography that is not recognized as such either by those who read them or by the rest of society."

WHAT????? I will lay off a little because the book was written in 1984 but still, people will use this for research. Once something has been written it can never be taken back and it will be used to fuel those today who feel that erotic romance is nothing but a means for women to get off.

They are basically saying that some of the most popular erotic romance writers like Maya Banks, Lauren Dane and Shayla Black are pornographers and by extension so are their publishers. Most major publishers now have an erotic fiction line. Do you think that Berkley would consider themselves promoting the porn business because they introduced the Heat line?

I won't lie. We all know the truth. There is no doubt that romantic fiction can be hot. So hot, that many women probably jump their husbands before the back cover even meets the rest of the pages. But is this the only reason why we read romance. Hell no!

Vivanco's blog entry goes on to reference a dissertation by Gretchen E. Anderton. In her research Anderton found that women primarily used romance as an escape from the pressures of everyday life. Using it as a means of sexual arousal came in second place.

I want to read about extravagant love, off-the-charts sex and a roller coaster of emotions that always end in a happily ever after. Why, because life isn't always a happily ever after. Sometimes life can be shit. I have the news for a dose of reality. I don't want to read about it too. When I pick up a book I want to immerse myself in the pages of a story where I am the heroine and I have found the most gorgeous, sexually skilled, too-good-to-be-true man and for the length of time it takes me to read the book, the world is perfect.

So what's the bottom line? Ladies, if you want to relax and forget about your stress, obligations and household chores, read romance. If you want to get more in the bedroom, read romance.

So I guess I am not just a pretty face. As a romance writer I am helping the lives of women everywhere. And for those of you who still believe that romance is porn, you can all suck it!