From a different perspective, some feminists have expressed concernabout the messages contained in romance novels, which they believe areanathema to the interests of women. These critics believe that the heavyemphasis on relationship as a way of solving problems, status inequities,gender stereotypes and so forth will serve to reaffirm women’s secondaryposition in society rather than challenging them to act for change.Even following a brief review of the literature, one can see that thereare conflicting ideas about how romances are embedded in our culture.While it is clear that exposure to them is extensive, it is unclear what theymean to those who read them.The popularity of romance novels has recently spawned a burgeon-ing academic interest in both the messages within and the impact of ro-mance novels. Scholars concerned with women’s perspectives have beenparticularly interested in examining the impact of popular culture on livedexperience. They have examined the effects of reading romance novels byexamining how the novels affect women’s lives and how adequately theyrepresent women’s experiences in our culture. In other words, in whatways are they prescriptive and in what ways descriptive