Reddit reviews Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature
We found 3 Reddit comments about Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Romance novels have always been the most popular most popular and bestselling genre. Another popular romance writer, whose book was not so different from 50 shades, is getting an 8 figure advance for her next book. If you're interested in understanding the draw of romance novels, there is a very interesting text, though from the 1980s, still feels very true today.
So the question is not really "What is the draw of the 50 shades" series, it's "why did 50 shades become more popular than all of its peers"? Regardless, romance/erotica writers are making bank today, especially because they write very prolifically.
There's a really classic study of the romance genre, and women's reading habits, that takes this argument apart. It's worth a read.
A lot of interesting literature has been written on this topic. If you'd like a good read and want to know more about the romance formula and why we read them anyway, I'd recommend this awesome book. The structure of romance novels is indeed formulaic, though for some pretty fascinating reasons!