Feminism of Mills and Boon

SHEFFIELD: They have been accused of being lightweight, belittling women and resorting to stereotypes.

But now a literary expert has claimed that Mills and Boon romance novels are, in fact, great works of feminism.

Val Derbyshire of Sheffield University claimed they “have literary value” and “foreground the female” in their stories, but have been shunned because of snobbery.

She said: “They are definitely not anti-feminist.”

“These are novels written primarily by women, for women – why would they insult their target audience? It doesn’t make any sense.

“There is a huge amount of snobbery. It exists not just in academia and literature circles, but generally.”

About 120 Mills and Boon novels are published each month. – Daily Mail