Romance Termed Girlish

December 2009
“Crap! What did you say? You bought what?” Suresh asked me while we were traveling in a local train in December. I held my current read – Five Point Someone in one hand and pushed Twilight in my bag, the one I’d read next .

“Twilight” I said, in a low tone, wondering what was wrong with buying Twilight.“

Come on, that’s a novel meant for female readers; not for men!” He shrugged, emphasizing more on the last three words.

“It’s just another novel dude, what does it have to do with one’s gender?” I asked, this time in a high volume, now wondering how it was related to the gender of the reader! I was talking about Twilight, and he reacted as if I had bought a female gossip magazine where the ladies discussed their bedroom and bathroom fantasies.

“You’ll know when you start reading it. It’s girlish!” He detained his thoughts.

“Whatever! It’s a love story, and will have both men and women in it” I hoped.

Thereafter, we never discussed about it – for he knew I wouldn’t discontinue reading Twilight on his discouraging recommendation; and he was right.

March 2010
I lied on bed, reading Twilight, when my brother snatched the book away from me.

“Give it back to me”, I yelled.

“What’re you reading?” He asked, closing the book to see the cover page.

“Aurghhh! Twilight!!!” He yelled, with an expression as if he had smelt rotten eggs.

“What’s wrong with it?” I asked, still lost in the romance of Edward Cullen and Isabella Swan, the lead characters of the best-seller.

“Bro… I’ve read three chapters from this – this story is so girlish.” He too, like Suresh, made a move to discourage me.

“What’s girlish about it? It’s about the love between Bella and Edward; and you know Edward is…” I protested; the anguish in me mixed with the curiosity to find out what exactly is meant by girlish and how is romance related to the term girlish!

“The romance in the story is much girlish…” He swayed the book back in my lap and left the room; I boarded my train of thoughts again to analyze what is meant by Girlish Romance!!!

May 2010
“Hey… Long time man, how are you?” Aneesh called me from his hostel in Pune.

“I am fine, how’re you?” I folded Twilight keeping a finger at the current page to set a bookmark.

"I am fine as well,” he fingered my weak point, “So which one's recent?"

“Twilight” I murmured, hoping he wouldn’t comment on it being girlish!

“I have seen that movie! I can tell you the entire story!” He suggested.

“No, thanks! I prefer finding it on my own; and get some value of my three hundred rupee notes.” I continued. “You know, Suresh and my bro commented it to be a girlish story. I am glad that at least your opinion is different.”

“I don’t disagree with them. I watched the movie only for the sake of my girl.”

This was unnerving. Suresh and Bro had commented without reading Twilight. Aneesh saw the movie and approved of it being girlish.

“What’s girlish about it? And what is meant by girlish at all?” I interrogated, angrily.

“They only gazed at each other and analyzed their behaviors till second half. Most of the time, they’d exchanged glances and eye-talks. It’s so effeminate.” He answered, “And how about the vampires being rational thinkers?”

“What’s masculine?” I asked, geared up for an argument of effeminate versus mannish.

“Something that has pace, action, hunt and haunt!” He replied.

“And rational thinking is effeminate?” I argued, “We can’t do it?”

“You’re impossible!” And then he changed the topic discussing his campus to my corporate life and their pros and cons.

I hung up.

This moment
I am at chapter 21 of 24; there’s a girl, there’s a boy – the romance begun with gazing towards each other, proceeded with eye-contact, gloomed with affection and went on to kisses from forehead to lips. There was sunshine, there was greenery, there were clouds and there were rain. And then, the story twisted to vampires, their hunting practices and warfare.

Is Twilight counted as a Girlish Love Story only because it is narrated from a Girl’s point of view? If that is so, then, I guess that we men really need to work upon our mindset. I have had my female-friends read novels like Two States and I Too Had a Love Story narrated from a Boy’s point of view; and they didn’t make faces at it being mannish, but my male-friends seem to find stories narrated from a Girl’s point of view, indigestible!

I am genuinely perplexed as to what exactly is classified as Girlish Romance, if at all, there’s anything like that.

I always knew Love as Love, there’s a girl, there’s a boy and they both hold for each other a sense of affection that’s unrestricted, spiritual and blissful.

I always knew Romance as Romance, there’s a girl, there’s a boy and there’s love – and Romance happens between both, together!

This is probably my first blog, where I am opening up a forum and awaiting an answer from my reader friends, to a question, as to how be Romance classified as Girlish and Mannish? It’s okay if you’re a Twilight fan, it’s okay if you’re a Twilight critic, it’s okay, if you’re not fond of reading at all – my question is generic – what is Girlish Romance? And if at all, there’s something like that, then what is Mannish Romance?