As I see it, Romance Novels, like any genre (or anything in pop culture for that matter) are no different than anything else.
There are some good and some bad.
Personally, the vast majority of Romance novels could disappear from the face of the earth and I wouldn't miss a thing. That said, I know there is a market for them and can appreciate that some people like them (why I don't know
)
That said, I also understand that many will point to Romance novels as a form of perpetuating a stereotype. A delivery system for a form of ideology where women must be saved by a strong man. Quite frankly, that is what culture is. It perpetuates an ideology by its very nature.
You will never escape it. (As Madge would say,) You are soaking it.