When people think of romance novels, the first thing that comes to mind is shirtless men with windswept hair on the covers of mass-market paperbacks, or maybe the “damsel in distress” main character who is waiting for a love interest to come and save her from the clutches of evil. They’re often not thought of as ‘real’ reading, because they are stories typically written by women, for women, and starring women. But what if the truth is that even the most “raunchy” novels of the genre are deeply political?
freedom to read
Do This: Unite Against Soft Censorship
The only way to end censorship, whether it’s the quiet removal of books from library collections or in-your-face book bans, is to fight it head on. We saw a huge example of this – and a big win for free speech – this week when ABC and Disney returned Jimmy Kimmel and...
Watch This: Learn How to Spot Soft Censorship
A lot of people are talking about freedom of speech right now. As Americans, it's a right that has always defined us and that we all hold dear. That’s why the majority of us oppose book bans and censorship. The rise in book bans over the past few years has been well...
Read This: The Quiet Danger of Soft Censorship
We’ve been fighting the explosion of book bans since Red Wine & Blue started. PEN America reports 16,000 book bans in public schools since 2021 — a level not seen since the 1950s during McCarthyism. This increase has been driven by organized groups with a...
Recent Posts
Do This: Name your 2026 Priority
The Heritage Foundation is the extremist architect of Project 2025, and they’ve made their priorities known for 2026. They’ve given us a glimpse at what harmful policies they want the Trump administration to enact this year, so now it’s time to set your priorities,...
Watch This: What You Can Do About Project 2026
About half of the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 has been implemented. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed when you see all the ways it’s harming Americans, especially when you see it all in one place (which you can do in our Project 2025 Tracker). And now that...
Read This: What Happens to Project 2025 in 2026?
By now, you’re probably familiar with Project 2025, the extreme-right plan created for Donald Trump by the Heritage Foundation to enact their white Christian Nationalist agenda in all areas of the federal government. We’ve written about it in Easy A before, and we’ve...
Take Our Community Survey
Happy New Year! We’re heading into 2026 with restored energy and big plans, and we want to make sure we’re making Red Wine & Blue even better for YOU! Take our 2025 Community SurveyWhile we’re all ready to move on from last year, please take five minutes (or...
Do This: Support the Women of Red Wine & Blue
As part of our Dear 2026 celebrations, we’ve been highlighting the extraordinary work of our members and TroubleNation groups this year. Our community continues to grow and our Troublemakers have stayed active through banned book clubs, advocacy at state legislatures,...