I was going to select "Romance," but I went for the "explain in comments (serious)" option instead. A lot of what makes so many older romance novels... er... "unsuitable" is because of changing social and cultural values, and thank god for it.

What constitutes a sympathetic protagonist has changed quite a bit. I'm not sure that's inherent in the genre, though, so much as the culture.

That said, while I have read romance novels, I haven't read a lot of them; it wouldn't be hard to find someone with a more informed opinion.