Why women love romance books

For the hopeless romantics

Books are a form of escapism. People indulge in books to feed into their delusion and escape reality which is why the fiction genre is vastly more popular than non-fiction. It's okay to dip your toes into different genres every once in a while, see what you enjoy most or what helps you unwind after a long day. It's okay to read and enjoy a book others don't. You like horror? Good for you. You like sci-fi? Good for you. You like romance? Also good for you.

Now the million-dollar question is, why does the female population [mostly], tend to lean towards the romance genre?

The answer is simple. Because we love 'love'. Most of us have never been in love and in today's day and age, this generation has cheapened the notion of it. People ruined it. Made it toxic. Made it something similar to a transaction. Made it a bittersweet feeling when it's supposed to be the calm to your chaos. It's supposed to give you a reason to push through the darkest of your days because in the end, no matter what, you have somebody to love. And somebody who loves you back. Unconditionally.

Reading romance novels means living a thousand different, complex love stories. It feels like a warm hug. Not everybody is destined for love in reality. But through books, even the unloved gets to experience how it feels like to fall for someone, to want to defy logic for someone, even if it's for a fleeting moment. It's a safe way to get your heartbroken and you always know that it’s momentarily. Because books have happily ever afters. You always know what you're getting into. The characters could go through the worst situations imaginable, but you still have the comfort of knowing that they'll come back stronger and unscathed. You're guaranteed that these characters will die in the warm embrace of each other in the end, no matter what happens in their life, because of the irrefutable love they have for each other.

Another reason is - men. Does that surprise you? Because it really shouldn't. Real men have it way too easy. The bar is on the floor. Now I've never been in a relationship, but as far as I've seen, most men lack emotional intelligence. They put the barest amount of effort for their partner and expect them to go slack jawed and crazy. As if they're doing them a favour. As if doing something for the woman they want to be with for the rest of their life is a chore. As if they couldn’t care less if the woman who's carrying or birthing their child is happy, comfortable or safe. Women's efforts are heavily under looked in reality and it almost feels like a fever dream to even expect to find a man who'd appreciate a woman for who she is, for who she's become and what she's accomplished. Even on this day and age, there are men who see women as nothing but sexual beings meant to serve or satisfy them. And it's horrifying just as much as it's depressing.

Another silly perception is that some people choose to believe women like to read these books because of the graphic sexual scenes. Now this is a topic for another day, but I'd still like to put it out there that you do know that there are books without smut, right? Shocking, I know. Personally, I feel like this is just a way to downplay the emotional attachment and comfort women gain from these books. It's another thought that makes you overlook the fact that there is more to love than lust. And these two are arguably not the same.

Anyways, the bottom line is, romance books provide a false sense of security we like to cling onto. It kindles our hope that love still exists when our belief in that concept is wavering. It gives us hope that good men are still out there, men who'd go to war for their partners. And men for whom, we'd want to give away everything too. If anything, romance books gave women an idea on how men should or would treat their partner.

A man in love would do anything for his other half. And if he isn't doing it for you, it's because you're not the one.