The Book Police Strike Again!
For the third time in five years, I’ve actually been asked to either put up my book or leave a public place because people find my reading material offensive. The most recent offender? The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie (a fantastic book, by the way). Now, as romance covers go, this one really isn’t so bad – not nearly as racy as Must Have Been the Moonlight, which got me a lecture on the treadmill at my gym. These incidents sometimes make me want to break out the worst 80s clinch cover I can get my grubby paws on, but more seriously, they also make me think about the disconnect between why many of us read romance and what people think when they see us reading romance.
Whenever the “Why do you read romance novels?” question comes up, one receives a variety of answers, but there is one theme that seems to dominate. Many readers like the guaranteed happy ending and the knowledge that the characters in their story are going to turn out okay. There’s a certain sort of hope and optimism that goes into reading even the darker romances out there. Our hero and heroine may have to contend with war, unscrupulous relatives, serial killers, vampires, weresheep or what have you, but we KNOW that in the end, they get to be together and things will be resolved for them.
In addition to the happy ending, readers also talk about enjoying the interactions of the characters or the emotion of the story. However, these are not items that one hears mentioned when we get judged for reading romance. Instead of talking about emotion or optimism, one hears about “those cheesy books” or worse, the dreaded “chick porn”. I really get ticked when I hear good authors’ books derided as “chick porn”. There was definitely an element of “I can’t believe you think it would be appropriate to read porn in a family gym!” at work when I learned that reading The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie or Must Have Been the Moonlight on the treadmill was apparently not permitted.
Part of me gets more than a little angry when others judge my reading choices. Romance readers know that our books are not porn for bored housewives, and we know our books are not all alike. No one here needs convincing that the romance world has a huge variety of voices or that the books turned out each month come in very different degrees of quality. I should be free to take any of my books up on the treadmill without having to worry about the gym manager coming over to loudly decry my taste in literature and/or speculate on my suspected whoredom.
And I’d be lying if I said that it didn’t bother me that romance reading gets treated this way. I read sci-fi, fantasy and mysteries, too, but no other form of genre fiction receives the amount of general disrespect that romance does. My other genre fiction choices may get me the occasional derisive glance from hardcore literary snobs, but otherwise I’m generally either left alone or even shown approval. Julia Spencer-Fleming, Laurie King and Ruth Rendell don’t draw sneers and rude remarks in anything near the manner that my Roberta Gellis, Lisa Kleypas and Marsha Canham books do, even though all are extremely wonderful, high-caliber writers.
Still, I can’t help wondering if we bring it on ourselves at least a little bit. Even though the best romances involve intimacy on all levels, not just the physical, it is the sex scenes that we celebrate in the cover copy – not to mention some of those covers. There are some fantastically bad sci-fi covers out there, too, but romance readers still seem to tolerate a lot more in this department than others nowadays. On the one hand, I think we should all be free to openly read the books we want to read without having our choices disrespected. However, on the other hand, I can see where someone unfamiliar with the genre might have trouble keeping a straight face when presented with the sight of a bright pink cover promising tales of steamy sex with dukes who are rakes! And also spies! Kinda belies all my claims of beauty, hope and poignant emotion.
There’s no easy answer to this one. After all, any marketing department can tell you that sex sells. Still, if there were more connection between why we say we read romance and the message that the packaging itself sends, I suspect things could change. There will always be those who sneer and call us naive for wanting our happily ever after, but when good storytelling is packaged as something beautiful and unique, it helps those looking at it to see where that might be so. Or, as my mother always taught me, if we don’t respect ourselves, others won’t respect us.
And in the meantime, we’ll see if the gym throws me out again.
-Lynn Spencer
Your notion is not wrong,I’m guessing God helps those who aid themselves. Come on!
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i prefer to use mechanical treadmills over electric treadmills–‘
i use a mechanical treadmill at home and it seems adquate for basic exercise:””,
i use a mechanical treadmill at home and it seems adquate for basic exercise;,`
These are very nice points that I will try out, I am glad I ran into it. Thanks.
my mom bought a treadmill that is motor driven, i still prefer to jog and run the old fashioned way.’-:
my mom bought a treadmill that is motor driven, i still prefer to jog and run the old fashioned way..~””
I have to tell you this is the third time I have read your website and I am loving it! I added your site to my rss reader. Looking forward to see more updates!
Re Frannie’s unfortunate comments on covers:
I for one only read romance because I saw a great “”clinch”” cover with Fabio on it and decided to pick up the Johanna Lindsey book. I consider it empowering to have an illustration on the cover that appeals to me as a woman and yes, it is sexual. I’m not afraid of my sexuality and refuse to hide it. I don’t understand how you think it’s demeaning to show a couple embracing. If it weren’t for couples embracing, there wouldn’t be any human population at all. And, these covers are indeed shown in other genres. There is a series of Westerns (I think “”Longarm””) and while the man’s head is most prominent, there are several smaller pictures and one is always a pose that would be at home on a romance novel!
I refuse to buy romance novels that just show a flower or a landscape on the cover. I won’t hide my interests. I am a feminist from way back and these covers do not demean me or show disrepect for me or other women. Instead they celebrate a basic human need for contact with another human being. And the best kind of contact is very up close and personal.
I’m wondering how “”mike”” found this website considering his hate of the romance novel. Just seems strange, but it’s great he has time to waste searching online for message boards on the romance novel. I wish I had time like that.
The strange part about how judgmental some people are about romance books is that they don’t know how picky romance readers can be about their books. The average romance reader is probably more critical about this genre than any other out there.
Trashy novels? I think not!!
I’ve been reading romances for over 45 years and the attitude will never change. In fact, it’s gotten worse because the righteous right are always trying to protect poor innocents.
You can always think of great comebacks on your way home but not at the moment you need them. I probably would have pretended I thought the person was kidding and said, “”you know what they say…..don’t judge a book by it’s cover.”” Lame, I know – but oh well. But I wonder – given the situation – in a gym…. what 2-3-4 year old would notice a book cover from HOW MANY feet away?
Then again, everybody knows men read Playboy for the jokes….right.
You know, there’s a little gathering next month in DC, called RWA Nationals. 2000 + romance writers could gather at the gym to give them a workout. ;)
Lots of overreaction… First the gym for asking you to put away the book, anyone that feels threatened by a book has some serious issues about thought control.
Second, for the “”I’d sue them”” reaction. Um… the Bill of Rights clarifies powers of the federal government, and indirectly the state governments, not powers of private enterprises. Believe it or not, they do have the right to ask someone to not read something they feel detracts from the atmosphere they are attempting to create. I’m not saying they were right in what they did, but it’s been tested in court, most prominently in my mind when Hooters was sued by a man for not hiring him to their waitstaff. The courts deemed Hooters’ sex discrimination in hiring was not a violation of Equal Protection, due to the atmosphere the restaurant is creating to sell.
Now, while a private buisiness can ask patrons to not do things they feel detract from their atmosphere, the patrons can also choose not to frequent that buisiness. I’m guessing there is no other gym in the area, which is why Lynn hasn’t changed to a new gym and informed the current one of why they lost her patronage, why she’ll be telling all of her friends and family about the gym’s stringent policy on reading material, and why they will no longer be getting her dollars. Happy customers tell 5 people, unhappy tell 5,000.
I hesitated to even copy this post because it did not really even deserve a repeat, but my sense of justice compelled me to respond. I seriously doubt that Mikey Boy has ever read a romance novel so any mumblings of “”research”” is just an excuse to comment on something he knows nothing about. I certainly hope your wife is reading romance in the gym because it sounds like she gets precious little at home unless it is of the self-induced variety. What truly begs the question, is how such a “”man”” as you finds his way on to a romance site in the first place? By reading the reviews, aren’t you “”bringing the romance genre into your home”” via the computer?
No other genre deseves the disrespect that “”romance”” does. Nor should you be able to force those who are offended by your “”romantic”” appetite to accept your actions in a public place. Forget all of the euphamisms, pretty much all customer reviews focus on the “”intimate”” scenes, and the readers delight in the physical. That filth, coprology, if you will, is not allowed in my house. If my wife wants to read them she can go to the gym or wherever the other “”romance”” readers go. If you have done any research you would find articles about these “”romance”” rags being the number one masturbation aid. If “”romance”” is not porn for women, then Playboy is not porn for men.
It’s the Covers. Period. I hate them. I’m embarrassed by them. They demean the authors as well as the readers. IMHO. Until we, somehow, can change that, we, the readers, the autors and the material are all doomed to be belittled. The publishers keep saying it’s because IT SELLS. Well then how come those covers are ONLY on the romance genre? It’s sexist and very demeaning. It took me a long time before I gave in and bought a romance book because of those cheapening covers. I love them now and appreciate the truly wonderful talents of the authors and the stories but I still detest going up to the checkout at the book store or library with them as I know darn good and well they consider me a horny idiot. And how can they not when the cover shouts loud and clear that’s what is contained inside. The publishers all contend that they have statistics to prove that these covers sell. I’d like to ask what exactly is their method of gathering this data. Perhaps it’s decades old and needs updating. I’ve convinced many women to give them a try despite the covers and they’ve fallen in love with them but each and every one of them hate the cover art and the humiliating experince of buying them. Lastly, I think mostly they use those covers because they’re cheap to produce. They don’t have to pay more for a really good cover design/er. We women are getting dissed, purely and simply, while the publishers are raking in our hard earned dollars.
That’s unbelievable ! I hope you told them to Bog Off & bother someone else. It reminds me of the mini furore in the UK when
Bloomsbury published the Harry Potter books with alternate adult covers, because some poor flowers were too embarrassed to read them au kiddie cover !
BTW absolutely agree with you The Madness…. is a fab read
I would have asked to see the most senior person on staff at the point and told that person that he or she had a choice. They could completely back off and apologize OR i would be seeing the ACLU in the morning to ascertain if it were interested in suing the gym for infringing my 1st amendment rights. Even if it were not interested, I am an attorney and would then be suing for myself, asking for monetary damages and for an injunction against the gym. If this person was not an employee of the gym, I would have told that person to immediately leave my presence as further invasion of my space would be considered an assault and i would be calling the police to press charges. In general, people need to be a lot more aggressive when their civil liberties are being challenged. This situation, of assaulting people’s civil liberties, got a lot, lot worse during the 8 Bush years. One can only hope that things may at long last be improving.
Part of me gets more than a little angry when others judge my reading choices. Romance readers know that our books are not porn for bored housewives, and we know our books are not all alike.
The reason the stereotype remains is because sometimes, it is true. If you stick around the romance blogosphere long enough, you will see comments like these…
I won’t read kisses only.
I only like hot and steamy reads.
My husband is out of town…I need a hot read.
It took too long for the hero and heroine to “”get together””.
Much is made of hunky cover models and such.
So, yes, there is an element of romance reading, or a segment of romance readers, who do read romance for the sex. And as a romance reader myself, I don’t believe the romance community is completely innocent of the accusations.
Hmmm, well, I suppose we could shove The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie in a paper bag. That’s about the only thing that would make the book any less “”sexy.”” I mean, come on. What, is the picture about an inch wide? Seriously? Take a look at your local US weekly or Rolling Stones mag. I’ll bet there are more sexy pictures there!
Next time say “”Call the cops””.
It’s official. I’ve now heard everything. You were told reading the Bible was inappropriate in public???? sheesh!!!
So, freedom of speech doesn’t mean freedom of reading? I’m completely speechless…
You know, I hate when people would criticize me for reading romance. I never said anything to them when I saw them reading a thriller that had alot of violence in it and murder, and crimes against women, etc. I don’t make the judgment about what they read and they shouldn’t with me. I don’t think there’s anything they should be comparing of what is better to read. Its all a personal preference. So glad you brought this up! Its been bugging me when people do that.
The same gym probably plays Kanye West’s “”Gold Digger”” and the receptionist is probably reading a Cosmo magazine with “”Make Your Vajayjay Pretty For Him”” on the cover.
Maybe they’re repressively religious? There are organizations out there giving the message that <a href=””http://www.readforpleasure.com/2007/08/religious-group-calls-romance-novels.html””>romance is sinful</a>.
I’m just so glad that I love my romance novels. I feel sorry for people who don’t have them in their life.
I’m sorry. This happens ONLY because romance is generally read by women. First, the publishing companies show their disrespect toward women by using such embarrassing covers and second, people feel free to denigrate anyone who reads romance because it’s assumed to be inferior because it’s female readers who buy such covered books! This is a sexist and censorship issue. Just yesterday, my handyman huffed, “”What! Don’t you read anything else, except this trash?”” When I asked him if he had ever read one, he said no. And when I challenged him, saying I guaranteed him that he’d like the one I picked, he sheepishly said he wouldn’t–for fear he might like it! Heaven forbid he reads something that might give him some insight into his wife and daughter!
When I was working I would always turn the book I was reading upside down on my desk. My boss would sometimes walk by to see what I was reading — one day I was totally embrassed and said — OOPS — his answer — I love seeing the covers they are so interesting.
I’m sorry that it happened to you, Lynn.
You know, my first thought was to offer you a fabric book cover. I sometimes use one when I’m reading an erotic romance in public. Then I thought “”Hey, why should anyone have to cover their book?”” If you are at a daycare and reading an erotic romance with a cover featuring naked backsides or something of that nature, I could see someone politely requesting that you not allow the children to see it. But I have to assume most of us have better sense than to bring a book with an explicite cover to a place where children will be.
But people are very strange. I was working on a Bible Study on my lunch break at work and someone told me that reading a bible in public was inappropriate. Sheesh! It’s not like I was reading out loud or trying to get other people to help me answer the questions in the workbook. Wonder what they would have said if I had brought a hot romance book? Well, actually, I do bring romances and nobody has said anything yet.
Wow, this is unbelievable! I’m amazed that this happened in 2009! However, it IS aggravating that somehow the marketing departments at Harlequin in particular consistently generate incredibly awful titles and covers that only show passionate clinches. Of course it misrepresents the genre.
Many people think that romance is nothing more than women’s porn. Um, no. Erotica might be able to wear that label a little more comfortably, but not regular romance.
I would definitely ask the workers there exactly what constitutes offensive reading material; maybe they could post a sign stating their “”rules””! They’d probably actually do it, and not even realize they’re being mocked!
All I can say is that it’s incomprehensible to me that you’d have to endure this not once but three times. If it had been me, I would’ve asked who complained, then told that person to get a life—at top volume. Because once upon a time, I might’ve hid my head with shame and put my book away. But no more. I’m a romance reader, I’m darned proud of it, and if people don’t like it, well, that’s their problem.
And if I may suggest a cheese-tastic cover to take with you to the gym next time, I’d go with some of the older Johanna Lindsey books.
Wow!! This leaves me almost stunned speechless!!! I can’t begin to imagine what someone finds offensive about that cover. And who’s business is it what you read anyway? I think I’d be wanting to talk to the owner and then find out who did the complaining.
@Wendy LOLOL! Funny you should mention that book. Another of my friends suggested that same book as well. I’m in the Virginia suburbs of DC, and it’s not exactly the most conservative place, so the gym police do surprise me. Actually, the first time it happened I was dead shocked. The book in question was a Harlequin with an extremely innocuous (even more discreet than Lord Ian) cover.
I just put the book down in the drink holder pocket while the gym guy was talking to me about disrupting the “”family”” atmosphere. Then I picked it up again after he left. From the guy’s attitude, I figured he wasn’t going to be someone I could engage in debate, so I just didn’t say anything.
@Leah Braemel – it’s not just me. I’ve seen it happen to others, and one of my friends got called out for reading a book with a racy cover on a bike because she was “”right next to the nursery door””.
Drives me nuts, but I figure I’ll just schedule an appointment to talk to the owner.
I think this is one of the most hypocritical things I have heard in a while. When I go to the gym, there are men & women in skimpy little outfits showing way more body than not. There are probably more boobs hanging out of workout wear than on twenty romance covers. Men strutting around showing off their six packs are comparable to the hunk on the cover minus the sweat. I would tell the gym manager that when he/she can manage to enforce a “”proper”” dress code among her customers, then MAYBE, just MAYBE you will think about giving up your right to read the literature of your choice.
I was thinking about your post, and it occurred to me that I let the potential for something like this happening affect my reading habits. There are books I don’t read in public because of what other people might say or think, and I do believe every single one of them is a romance novel. I had never really thought about what I was doing, I just did it – my romance novels (the ones with the racy/cheesy covers anyway) are for home, and everything else is ok outside. I’ve had friends ask me why I read romance novels, and the answer always has something to do with the happy endings (it’s amazing how relaxing it is to know for a fact that everything will turn out ok) and the emotions/relationship between the hero and heroine – NOT, as some non-romance readers may assume, the sex, which is just icing on the cake if it’s anything.
Well if the covers you mentioned are too racy, which blows my mind, they need to get rid of the body building magazines because lets face it, how much clothes do they have on? And what about the songs they are playing in they gym? I would imagine some songs might have something objectionable in them too. And what about what they show on tv? Someone needs to monitor that as well. They may show a viagra ad, although that’s probably ok ’cause its a guy thing. I have a better idea. Maybe the person who objected should move to somewhere like Afghanistan where they can enjoy all kinds of limitations. By the way, was it a man or a woman who objected? I’m curious.
If you’d been reading a thriller with a bloody dagger on the cover would they have objected? I think not. As usual, the double standard applies: sex = all types of wrong; violence = acceptable
one more thing: it’s a sad day when people can’t tell the difference between making love with a person you have feelings for and having sex for money.
Wow I’ve never had that happen to me! Like Sandy said- how would they be able to see the cover unless they were poking their noses where they don’t belong? The size of a romance novel is pretty small. And the couple-pic took up like 1/5 of the cover. The pic was also pretty tame: clothes still on, no draping. And the title doesn’t really scream romance novel. This could have been a regular historical fiction novel about a dude named Lord Ian.
There are racier covers and words on the magazines and tabloids at the supermarket checkout line- where kids go too. Those same people who tried to chastise you for reading romances probably let their kids watch violent PG-13 movies and present toy guns to them for Christmas. They are probably the same people who think the Harry Potter books are satanic.
Even though a lot of romance novels nowadays don’t have those horrible clinch covers (or hide the clinch image in a stepback), people will always assocaite the clinch cover and fabio with romance novels and then call them bodicerippers (and using this term totally reveals your age!). Yes, there is sex in these books. But why are people so immature about it? There is sex in movies. And like movies, the sex is only a small fraction of the story. There is also sex in non-romances- usually bad sex, though- but why aren’t people concerned about that? You should bring in a literary book with a semi-graphic sex scene to the gym one day and ask them if it’s okay if you read it- you know, because there is *whisper* S-E-X *gasp!!* in it….and people of course don’t make love…we all do it through a hole in the sheet, right?
Seriously – where DO you live that this has happened to you three times? I’ve never heard of anyone complaining about someone else’s reading material at the gym. Unless there was actual nudity or profanity on the cover, I can’t even imagine this.
I think I’d be so outraged that I would make some kind of formal complaint to the gym owners. I can’t believe the gym manager (is that right?) would have the nerve to say something about such an innocuous cover. I have no doubt that men can read Maxim or FHM without anyone saying a thing. Absurd.
Unbelievable. How can you be asked to leave a public place for reading romance.
Makes me glad I live where I do. I can read or discuss any book I want without being censored.
I saw this on Wendy’s blog and still can’t believe a gym(family owned or not) asked you to stop reading a romance novel. Did they make anyone stop reading Cosmo where every cover talks about sex in bold letters and always have half-dressed women?
Wow. I’m not sure what I would do if this happened to me. I would probably be so livid my powers of speech would disappear for a minute or so. When I was capable of speech again, I’d probably point out the people with Maxim magazines or who walk around with mere scraps of “”clothing”” covering their bodies, as the other posters mentioned. Then I’d raise holy hell. Fortunately, this will probably never happen to me for 2 reasons: 1) I get nauseous reading while exercising so I listen to audiobooks, and 2) I live in a large metropolitan area in California.
I’m really appalled that this happened to you Lynn–and more than once! I think you raise a good point about how covers that focus on sex help keep up the misconception that romances are “”chick porn.”” It’s the main reason I don’t like clinch or racy covers–I think they do a disservice to the genre.
It’s pretty amazing that someone commented on your reading material. And I agree about Lord Ian having a fairly tame cover. I have to say tho, that I hate most of the sexualized covers. I buy books in spite of the covers and the titles. I often feel like they don’t represent the story at all. The covers and titles on a lot of romance books are cheesy. A lot of the storytelling is wonderful and intelligent. I wish the titles and covers would represent that. And not all the the titles with the same with the same words….seduction, pleasure, duke, etc. A reviewer mentioned in her review of “”The Surgeon’s Lady””, which she loved, that it was too bad the cover and title were so dull. True, it was not super creative, but I was happy to see a straight forward title and cover. When you think about what most look like, it’s not real surprising that people would think the stories would be just about the sex. I think there would be more respect for the genre if the covers and titles didn’t look and sound so sleazey.
I’ll take the one about Big Beautiful Asses. Just for the hell of it!
Oh yes…let’s! I get the Erin McCarthy book…Flat Out Sexy. That oughta shock the heck out of them, or give them a thrill…whatever. :)
I think we all need to head over to the gym (how many guest passes can you get), hop on all the treadmills, bikes and whatever that we can, and pull out a romance novel (with the cheesiest covers you can find) and see what happens.
How many people do you think they can throw out all at once?