The Politics of Romance
By Chad A. B. Wilson
Published October 19, 2006, 1:50 pm in News, Ethics, Morality, & Justice, Voting & Partisanship.
I can't avoid talking about this one. It's a minor political issue, for sure, but it points out a lot of intriguing notions about what it means to be conservative or liberal, and how writing, yes, writing can play a role in that issue. And besides, it's hilarious, too.
The Houston Chronicle reports on October 18, 2006 that one political race in Texas is dividng voters over the issue of whether romance writing is pornographic. I know, it sounds crazy but the Democratic candidate has attacked his Republican opponent for writing a "pornographic" romance novel. Politics as usual, you may claim, but I think it offers a few interesting points.
What Does Porn have to do with State Comptrolling?
Some of you may be wondering what a state comptroller is in the first place. It's one of those positions that always seems to be up for election and no one ever knows what it is. If you see ads for them or get postcards in the mail describing the candidates, you may even wonder what the heck an accountant is doing running for office. Well, according to the Texas State Comptroller website, "The Comptroller is the chief fiscal officer, accountant, revenue estimator and treasurer for the state." That's what an accountant is doing in office, huh? In fact, I think I would only want an accountant in this position, as long as the accountant has a few good people skills. But no one can get elected without some of that, anyway. The sad thing is that most state comptrollers are not accountants. Nope, they're lawyers, of course. But that's perhaps a different blog.
This state comptroller race is a new one for me. Never having cared about such a race before, the fact that this one is now all about romance novels intrigues me. You see, Fred Head is the Democratic candidate, and his website describes his Republican opponent, Susan Combs, as a "two faced, hypocrite who was obviously more concerned with her literary career and seeing her name in print than the morals of the young People of Texas who are exposed to her 222 page book, A Perfect Match, which has her name at the top of every other page - - - a clear testament to Susan Combs’ insatiable ego and desire to see her name in print." He continually calls her a hypocrite and her book pornography, even citing a law dictionary's definition of poronogrpahy. Because of these things, he says that she is "unfit to be elected to any public office in Texas." Well, duh!
Yes, Susan Combs published a book sixteen years ago that is a part of that underrated literary genre, romance fiction. Beloved by women everywhere, romance fiction actually comprises 39% of all fiction sales in the U.S. Now most of these same women would probably say that Penthouse was pornography, but romance fiction is different. Ask them why, and they probably can't come up with a credible answer. According to Wikipedia, a romance novel must focus on romantic love and must have a happy ending (although this last one is debatable, it is the standard). But this definition says nothing about sex, which is the real issue here.
Now I'm not familiar with Combs's novel, A Perfect Match, and I really don't care that much about it, but Fred Head has included sample pages on his website that accompany and bolster his claim of pornography. If pornography is supposed to something that is of "prurient" interest or primary for arousal, these pages are definitely that. Three pages out of an entire book does not make the whole thing pornography, however. I wouldn't call Basic Instinct pornography, although a few scenes are definitely of "prurient interest." But then again, not every page of a Playboy is full of naked women. There's a lot of useless crap in there, too.
So What's Your Point?
I have a few points, actually.
First, there is the issue of romance novels themselves. Are they poronography? Does anyone really know? Does anyone read them except the women who love them? Do men object to a kind of soft pornography devoured by women? Are a Playboy and a romance novel equivalent?
Second, is it hypocrisy when a conservative housewife reads or writes romance novels? I know there would be outrage if a stash of Playboys were found under George Bush's bed, but if Laura Bush reads romance novels, is that okay? Is it hypocrisy? Like I said, I'm not an expert on romance novels, but from the excerpts Fred Head has listed, this is not the "they fell into each other's arms" and that's that. Nope, it goes way beyond that, talking about, well, I can't even write it without blushing, so I will leave it at that. Sure, the people may be monogamous, but they're not married in this book, and they only know each other a few days before they hit the sack. I'm sure not all romance novels are this way, but it's an interesting fantasy land, nevertheless.
Third, is it okay for Fred Head to call Susan Combs a pornographer for writing this stuff and say that an out of print book is corrupting the minds of "the young People of Texas"? It's out of print! And then Head is the one who puts it on his website where anyone can find it! Seems a bit like a pot and kettle situation...
Fourth, when did Democrats start taking this high road? Head's picture on his website makes him look like a 1920s Democrat with bowtie and all. He's trying to paint himself as the southern gentleman with upright virtues, even attacking the Republican candidate as immoral. Not for embezzling or some other white collar crime but for crossing a moral boundary. That's a new one, and it points to a change in our political landscape. Sure, it's Texas, but this same fight seems to be going on all over the country. One Pennsylvania race, in particular. But that's for another column...
Fifth, should we have a person in office who writes this kind of stuff? This is the only one I can answer with confidence, and I say YES! As interesting as I think the romance novel hypocrisy question is, it has nothing to do with the job of state comptroller. Or let's not talk about comptrolling. As a general politician, is a person who writes this stuff still qualified to vote on abstinence education? Sure is. Is a person who write this kind of pornography (let's just assume it is that for this question) qualified to go into elementary school classrooms and deliver sexual education material? Sure is.
How can I say this? Well, these things don't matter. Let's talk about whether abstinence should be taught, not whether a person is qualified to teach it. That's the "you also" fallacy that we all love so much coupled with the "ad hominem" attack. We love to do both of these, to say that someone isn't qualified for something because they did X or Y. And then to call them a Z bad term because of it. And anyone who is a Z bad term isn't qualified. And around and around we go in some stupid circle. If Combs is qualified to do the job as a job, then I would support her.
And frankly, it bothers me that Fred Head is making this one of the primary issues of the campaign. That's what makes me wonder.
Comments & Trackbacks
No Comments/Trackbacks for this post yet...
This post has 333 feedbacks awaiting moderation...
Leave a comment