Dear Reader,
A lot of people are discussing the article written by a LDS Life Coach wherein the writer cautions people away from reading romance books because,
In fact, some marriage therapists caution that women can become as dangerously unbalanced by these books’ entrancing but distorted messages as men can be by the distorted messages of pornography.
This has enticed a huge response on blogs and twitter. I heard about it via Smart Bitches author, Sarah. The hash tag #romancekills was birthed. People were hysterical, twittering about how romance books were responsible for mysterious births, STDs, death among other things.
I don’t agree with the LDS Life Coach’s statements. I think a lot of people use addictions as a cop out. Too many people are too socially inept to interact with others and fill that void with a stand in, porn, books, games, something that is near – but not quite social interaction. To these people, hell yes I think they should get off their lazy ass, go to Starbucks or whatever public place they feel comfortable and have casual conversations, even if it’s something small – talk to a human being.
Americans have a problem with over indulging. It’s why we’re so fat and yet complain about it. We mainline things, over doing it with no self control. To those people, put the book/porn/coffee down slowly and back away.
Not everyone is going to have a problem though. For a lot of people romance books are a good thing. They provide a mental vacation, inspiration for a better sexual experience, and for some people they even educate them about the mechanics of sex – because like I’ve said not everyone learns about sex from the right source.
While I think people are looking to be offended because of the article, I think in the proper context – yes it’s sound advice, but it’s not for everyone. Know yourself. Be brutally honest about your tendencies. There’s a difference between a book-addict, loving to read, and substituting books for normal interaction.
I remember flipping through my mother’s romance novels looking for the sex scenes. I was a curious little pervert. I mean a curious young man. Sadly a lot of what she read were of the “force me to have sex with you until I love you” type. Luckily she finally got around to reading Blaze type books and WOW did my toes curl but what an education!
Sometimes I wonder how many people can thank Harlequin for their sex education.