As bookworms, we often get to hear the word "guilty" and "pleasures" put into the same category. I find that this is indefinite in the Romance world, and I personally, am over it.
We tend to shy from telling people about these books because we feel like we are going to be judged for reading so-called low-brow literature. I’d like to share my own journey to self-acceptance with my guilty pleasure reads.
As you know, romance and erotica are my areas for genres and where I am now comfortable with my love of romance, there was a time when I was still insecure about it. In high school, I would bring my books to class and others would visibly glare at me in disgust. I never understood why until my friends revealed that I was perceived as reading “smut,” which was especially scandalous since I went to a conservative school. I remember carrying around my Fifty Shades novel on-top of my binder and had a teacher say: "Is that really appropriate to have out? Put it away." Surprisingly, I felt no shame whatsoever reading these books because they made me happy. I felt ecstatic being that one individual that didn’t stop reading the books I love just because it made others slightly uncomfortable.
I was actually at LCBO last week and was wearing my "Id rather be reading" sweatshirt and the cashier asked me what I would rather be reading, I answered romance, to which he replied: "Everyone enjoys a good guilty pleasure read." Why is this a thing? Why should we feel bad for something we love so much? The answer is that we shouldn't—if something brings us happiness there should be no guilt attached to it. I loved the thought of being able to jump into someone else’s saucy life and escape into the imaginary world even temporarily. Embrace these spectacular pieces of literature no matter what genre it is!
So enjoy what you read, because I sure do!
~Xandria xo
