Close but No.....?

I have now lived long enough to watch feminism and the concept of women’s rights veer off the rails in ways that make me want to drink before I open the New York Times. I’m an early morning person and that is way too early for quaffing a good dark beer. (Though it is allegedly rich in antioxidants, good for heart health, improving bone density, and rich in B vitamins.  Still, not for before playing Spelling Bee, Wordle, and Connections! (But I digress.)

Back on topic: Lifting my morning coffee and opening my email, this book title made me laugh in surprise and then think “Have We Come This Far?” 

The Bookshop advertisement heralded the release of Warrior Princess Assassin.  For a brief moment my tomboy-self cheered, thinking, “Finally, a kick-ass princess.”  The princesses in my childhood all lay about languidly or content in a tower doing their hair or sedated until a prince came by.  

But in the next line my cheer faded as the advert continued “Fates collide and passions ignite in NYT bestselling author Brigid Kemmerer’s adult romantasy debut.”

Romantasy is the new bookstore hotspot and features colorful covers and page-ends that make the lurid mystery covers of the 50s and 60s look dull and staid.  The genre is setting sales records though, traditional publishers are piling on, and Harlequin is getting a run for its’ money.  To it’s credit "romantasy" has offered book cover designers a new lease on life, according to Etsy, but I don’t think anyone is being liberated from the constraints and weight of being a princess or given any woman real power.  

To answer my own question:  We have not come too far.  Women’s rights are at risk all around us.  Keep alert and stay the course.

And if you need a way to counter Romantasy surging in your neighborhood, consider reading, reviewing, and giving friends Not The Trip We Planned.  https://bookshop.org/p/books/not-the-trip-we-planned-linda-n-edelstein/22155734

Chickie and I are not princesses or assassins or warriors, just good friends discovering we are not powerless, even if we are aging.