Why Bridgerton is a victory for all women.

Bridgerton, a series of wealth, lust, and betrayal set against the backdrop of Regency-era England, has been the surprise hit of the 20/21 year. Netflix - the darling of those with a creative bent - supported the project with aplomb, but I doubt they thought it was going to be a major runner. A bit of fluff for the ladies.

Maybe it’s just been this year, the year of hell, that’s made us all soppy. Except actually Bridgerton is not soppy or sappy. My very heterosexual male housemate got into this series, I mean really got into it.

But as the awards season has so far shown us, there is a sneering disrespect for the romance genre in general. So far Bridgerton has been passed over. But writers and readers of romance and erotica are used to this. If you read a romance book on the train and you get amused glances at best, a sneaky picture over your shoulder and a Facebook meme at worst.

If you write in the genre, as I do, you hide your identity. You hide the fact from friends and family. My mother actually asked me if I was a prostitute because I write erotica. She wondered how I could know about these things. Well maybe because I’m forty, mum.

The few friends that do know try to understand but you know that they find it secretly funny. It’s fine. It’s all fine.

It’s fine because every dog has it’s day and 2021 ushered in that day.

It’s a secret we’ve kept between us girls for such a long time. The fact is romantic fiction and erotica has been big business for a long long time. Digital media has made it possible for predominantly female writers to carve a hidden furrow - it’s not easy, we work hard, but we live by our own terms. And we support each other in this secret club. It’s a beautiful thing.

The fact is that the romance genre is a one of the toughest areas of literature. Sure, there are certain tropes that follow through it, but then the same could be said for detective and crime novels. Most romance or erotica writers I know spend months researching their subjects - be it how to lace a corset correctly to how does one use a sounding rod correctly on a women?

Delve a little deeper than the sighing pretty covers and you’ll find a vast array of knowledge on subjects that might sometimes attract the attention of the FBI to our internet research.

The romance reader needs to be entertained, and between the orgasms and kisses, are intricate plots that any writer would be proud of. If they weren’t any good people would stop reading. The fact is a good bonk is nothing without the buildup to the fact. The journey their is as important as the happy ending.

Bridgerton has opened the gates of this secret world to everyone and has happily bought more into the fold. Those who were reading Opera’s book of the month are now picking up romance instead. So although I think Bridgerton deserves the recognition awards would give it, it doesn’t matter. Because the old white men snubbing it are scared. They are scared of a world they can never understand.

It is a world women built, brick by brick over many years. A world of love, sex, adventure, every possible scenario, every possible fantasy.

We made this world. They should be scared.

By Germaine Mooney.

Note - I’m so happy for Julie Quinn. She is an inspiration for us all. This is the happy ending we deserved.