Should men read Harlequin romances and watch Hallmark movies

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if we want to understand female expectations?

No.

I don’t think most women who are into that stuff want a man remotely like that. It’s probably more about the fantasy. I’m not sure how popular either of those things are with women anyway. Neither ever appealed to me or my female friends, not that I’m judging or anything.

If people want to understand female expectations, they first need to realize that we are all individuals with unique preferences and priorities. There’s no “what women want” because we all want different things unless we’re talking about basic stuff like being treated with dignity and respect.

So, it wouldn't help?

Should women watch John Wayne movies to understand men and male expectations?

Well, no. A movie like Emmanuelle (1974) might give the ladies an inkling.

No. It could make it worse. Much worse. What works in a fantasy often doesn’t translate well in reality. Behavior could even raise a bunch of red flags depending on the scenario. For example, when I’m watching a movie that includes a love story, I might enjoy the fantasy for what it is, but I don’t believe in love at first, and I don’t want to be romanced, especially not by someone I don’t already know well and trust. Such behavior could look fake or even a lot like lovebombing.

Romance novels unnecessarily complicate things and give a false impression about what most women or even a particular woman wants. Most women want to be treated like fellow humans. We don’t want to be disrespected or put on a pedestal. I think there’s a lot of putting women on pedestals in romance novels, not that I have much experience with the genre. I only read one or two for the giggles.

Bad writing can be very entertaining.

Movies & TV shows are NOT an accurate representations of real life.

well, are the women you wanna get necessarily hallmark characters

Cum to think of it, I do remember a lot of women getting wet over Paul Hogan's character in Crocodile Dundee (1986). My reaction was "Well, no need to bother trying."

While some women may have been attracted to him, many weren’t. Having seen the movie, I don’t get the appeal, not that I’ve ever been into an actor that way.

According to what I’ve read, Emmanuelle (1974) is a French adult film that got mediocre reviews and that has at least one scene that would be highly triggering to some women.

What “inkling” is the film supposed to give “the ladies” apart from the reminder that there are far worse fates than being alone?

Last edited by TwilightPrincess on 12 Mar 2025, 11:33 am, edited 1 time in total.

Honestly, this is my first time hearing the term 'Harlequin Romance'. Apparently it's a type of novel that's a classic traditional romance that always has a happy ending.

My mind went to Harley Quinn (because of the name) and her toxic relationship with the Joker. I was confused for a moment there.

I thought maybe a Harlequin romance would be like a romance between jesters or clowns or something.

But no, apparently there was a publishing company in the 1940's that was called Harlequin that had a line of romance books and the genre became known as Harlequin romance as a result.

Huh. Well, I've learnt something new today. Shows how much I know about the romance genre.

Hey, whatever floats your boat chief. Myself no way * shudders *

If you like reading those books and watching those movies, then do so. But, there's essentially nothing of value in any of them that's going to help with dating. And, I suspect that trying most of that stuff would probably result in legal problems. Stalking seems to be particularly common in those sorts of stories.

I'm not surprised, it's an American publisher that's named based on an Italian character.

I got a bit distracted there anyway. As for Hallmark movies, I think the idea is that they're so bad that they're good? Sometimes. I have given up halfway through on a couple of them. I don't think there's much to be learned from a Hallmark movie.

There are good romance films out there but Hallmark type movies...not so much.

I'm more of an - action adventure film that has a romance subplot - fan myself.

Romance novels are by the the most profitable part of the publishing industry right now.
There are wealthy romance authors who can continuously produce new content to publish.
This maximizes the profit that can be obtained.