Disclaimer: Please don’t take this as a statement that you should read romance novels. It’s not. They’re badly written, and can stir up desires that aren’t positive or godly. But it is interesting to see what the continued success of the romance novel says about the ultimate failure of feminism.
Apparently, in the early days of feminism, feminists claimed that the romance novel would die out, as women had their horizons broadened, and no longer had their lives “constrained” to that of finding a husband and raising children.
It hasn’t happened. Romance novels sell just as well as ever, making large sums of money for their writers. Yet to a large degree, the world the feminists wanted has come about, in the sense that no women (in the west at least) are forced into marriage as their only career option in life. We’re all told we can be lawyers, doctors, anything we want. Yet women keep buying and reading romance novels.
What does this say about women? I mean, men don’t read romance novels. So what do they say about being a woman that feminism just didn’t take into account? How does the romance novel demonstrate the failure of feminism?
1. Sex is better with someone you love. Feminists, especially in the 60’s, wanted women to be as “free” with their body as they perceived males had been in the past. To a large degree, this has worked. The number of sexual partners most people have had is larger than the past. Yet romance novels hold this notion up to the ridicule it deserves. Even in novels where the female has had previous partners, none of them compare to the one she is in love with. Sex is best (especially for females, but for males too) when within a committed relationship (such as marriage). This is one of the ideals the romance novel holds to.
2. Women want a husband and children. Even without the first or third point, this alone demonstrates the failure of feminism to truly capture the heart of women. Women, as a general rule, WANT to be married. They WANT children. I’ve never seen a boy cry because he wants a baby, and it “just isn’t the right time” – but I’ve seen lots of girls in that position. I’m not saying males don’t want children, but for women, children are an urge that God has placed within us, and it is an urge that feminism has not been able to truly squash out of us. The romance novel demonstrates this
3. Women want the man to be the provider. I’ve never read, seen adapted, or heard of a romance novel where the male had less money than the female. I suppose there would be a few “struggling artist” ones out there, but I rather expect by the end of the novel, he has become famous and is making the millions he always should have. We all know in real life that most men are not as “successful” as these men – there is a limit to the billionaire and millionaire class. But the dream – an articulated in most women – is to have a man who will provide for her, allowing her to be able to care for him and to raise their children as well as she can.
The romance novel demonstrates to me that even in the secular world, feminism hasn’t won. It may have the bodies of women going off to work every day, providing for themselves and living lives that are far from God’s ideal for them. But they know this. They know they have been cheated of something, and they turn to the place they think they can find it – the pages of a novel.
Thankfully we know where we can truly turn – to the arms of the living God. But pray for those who do not know Him; that they may see the darkness they are seeking in a small way to escape, and turn to Jesus in all His glorious light.
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