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Red Wine & Blue
Red Wine & Blue is a national community of over half a million diverse suburban women working together to defeat extremism, one friend at a time. We train and connect women from across the country of all political backgrounds, including many who have never been political before, to get sh*t done and have fun along the way.
We launched "The Suburban Women Problem" podcast in May of 2021, and after 5 seasons and 1.3 million downloads, we brought the show to an end to pave the way for new podcasts out of Red Wine & Blue. Subscribe and stay tuned in to hear brand new series, starting with "Okay, But Why?"
There's so much happening in politics right now, it’s hard to keep up. It feels like every day, there’s a new outrageous headline. But it’s not always clear why these things are happening. So in this weekly series of short shareable episodes, we’re here to ask… “Okay, But Why?”
When they go low, we go local. We hope you join us.
Red Wine & Blue
Okay, But Why Are Romance Novels Political?
When people think of romance novels, the first thing that comes to mind is shirtless Dukes with windswept hair on the covers of mass-market paperbacks. The damsel in distress main character who is waiting for a love interest to come and save her from the clutches of evil. They’re a thing for girls. It isn’t ‘real’ reading, because they are stories typically written by women, for women, and starring women.
But what if we told you that romance books, even the most quote-unquote “raunchy” of the genre, are deeply political?
Who gets to be the hero or the heroine matters. Romance, as a genre, has seen major shifts in recent years, evolving from stories focused on white, heterosexual protagonists to a more diverse range of characters, lives, and themes. LGBTQ+ characters and relationships have entire shelves dedicated to them in bookstores. Black female characters now receive the same fairytale endings that they’ve always deserved.
By centering these stories, romance novels assert that marginalized voices belong at the center of the narrative, not just the margins. And that’s more important than ever as Trump and his allies work to silence these voices.
So the next time you hear someone make fun of romance novels, just know that they have no idea what they’re talking about. They likely view the genre as frivolous or even intellectually inferior, but this opinion completely misses the critical political commentary and diverse storytelling that define the books that so many of us love.
For a transcript of this episode, please email comms@redwine.blue.
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