Dangerous Books for Girls Quotes

“Romance novels feature nuanced portrayals of female characters having adventures, making choices, and accepting themselves just as they are. When we say these stories are silly and unrealistic, we are telling young girls not to expect to be the heroines in their own real lives.”
― Maya Rodale, Dangerous Books for Girls: The Bad Reputation of Romance Novels Explained

“Of course we know that sexual promiscuity increases the likelihood of STIs, which is why we explore sexuality through romance - it's safer (and you don't have to shave your legs).”
― Maya Rodale, Dangerous Books for Girls: The Bad Reputation of Romance Novels Explained

“Women create an idealized, hopeful vision for the future to inspire other women. Fiction and fantasy are the crucial first steps to changing the world.”
― Maya Rodale, Dangerous Books for Girls: The Bad Reputation of Romance Novels Explained

“Romance fiction “tells the story that reflects a woman’s reality as it could be and as it is,” Jennifer Crusie, a bestselling contemporary romance author, writes on her blog. “It tells her she is not stupid because she’s female, that she understands men better than they understand her, that she has a right to control over her own life, to children, to vocational fulfillment, to great sex, to a faithful loving partner.”[13] Romantic fiction relentlessly declares that women are worthy and their interests are valid and it is worth it for them to pursue their own happiness. Elyse”
― Maya Rodale, Dangerous Books For Girls: The Bad Reputation of Romance Novels Explained

“In the land of historical romance novels, particularly the Regencies, there is no line more quoted than this: Reformed rakes make the best husbands. It's the sort of pithy one-liner a beloved character dashes off and everyone laughs a sparkling laugh, the heroine knits her brow, and the rogue in question scowls but we all know the truth: That bad boy will soon be reformed. And he will like it.”
― Maya Rodale, Dangerous Books for Girls: The Bad Reputation of Romance Novels Explained

“novels, like racists, tend to be the same wherever you turn,” writes William Giraldi,”
― Maya Rodale, Dangerous Books For Girls: The Bad Reputation of Romance Novels Explained

“In order to stop the spread of these revolutionary ideas through books to disenfranchised people, the government in England enacted legislation called “the taxes on knowledge.” First, the Stamp Act of 1712 made printed materials expensive, hoping to price them out of the hands of women and poor people. Taxes were placed on paper and advertisements, so “the bigger the book, the bigger the tax.”[9] Similarly, the stamp duties on newspapers and pamphlets were understood to be “targeted attacks on the reading matter which the state feared most.”[10]”
― Maya Rodale, Dangerous Books For Girls: The Bad Reputation of Romance Novels Explained

“But neither the taxes on knowledge or mockery on a massive scale was enough to stop this scourge of novel reading.”
― Maya Rodale, Dangerous Books For Girls: The Bad Reputation of Romance Novels Explained