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Pia Garcia, Contributor

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August 15, 2011

Romance Novels: Are they helpful or harmful when it comes to real-life relationships?

They may be fun to read, but romance novels can lead women to have idealized notions of love, one expert says. By Pia Garcia

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An article written by an advice columnist says that romantic novels may do women a disservice by portraying situations that are more harmful than they are helpful.

Susan Quilliam, an British advice columnist and psychologist, wrote an opinion piece that was published in the Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care. In it, she says that she realizes that these novels "are not helpful" as the female character is often "seen as the weaker subject who does all the giving and bows to what the man says.”

The article says that the scenarios presented in romance novels do not give an accurate--or even realistic--picture of a healthy relationship. Quilliam says, "Sex may be wonderful and relationships loving, but neither are ever perfect and idealising them [in romance novels] is the short way to heartbreak."

But Quilliam also says that romance novels aren't all bad. In her article, she says that in a survey published in 2009, 75.5 percent of study participants say that reading romance novels has impacted their sex lives in a positive way, including being open to try out new sexual activities with their partners.

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(Photo by Kanaka Menehune via Flickr Creative Commons)

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Poll Question:

Do romance novel help or harm real-life relationships?

Help. I'm not very adventurous, and romance novels give me ideas on how to keep the passion alive in my relationship.
Help. Romance novels do more than just entertain me; they teach me to never give up on finding Mr. Right.
Harm. I agree with the author, romance novels present unrealistic scenarios that real-life relationships can't live up to.
Harm. I don't like that romance novels feature stories where men always have the upper hand. Healthy relationships are those where partners are equal.
I don't read romance novels so I really don't know.