I Am Not Ashamed of Loving Women’s Romance Novels

I am not ashamed of loving women’s romance novels. And I am not alone. These books are loved by tens of millions of readers — mostly quietly, often quietly guilty. Our culture has trained people to sneer at things women enjoy, especially when those things are pleasurable: fashion, fiction, good food, beauty pursued for its own sake. These pleasures are treated as frivolous at best and suspect at worst. 

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They are not things to be ashamed of because they are innately feminine. They are also not things men generally like, and that is fine. They are ways women make themselves happy — through beauty, adornment, comfort, and story. Men have their own equivalents, like games, hunting, fishing, or