Why do romance novels treat women like babies or possessions?

I've read a lot of romance novels and maybe I'm just starting to get tired of them. I'm in the middle of one at the moment and the man keeps calling the girl "His woman" and tells other how proud he is that she wants to defend herself against vampires. If any guy called me HIS woman I think I would punch him in the balls. I am not a piece of property. No woman is. But we still think of women are prizes or the property of men. I mean just look in video games, movies and comic books. How many women exist to be the girlfriend of the hero? How many stories use the damsel in distress plot? It's tired, it's old, it's cliche. On the flip side, though, when an author tries to paint a woman as the man's equal it just comes across as treating the woman like a child. Being proud of a woman who wants to or is able to defend herself instead of depending on a male is condescending because you're saying that her actions are unusual and that most women are weak, fragile, and innocent and hide behind their men.

I watched a YouTube video yesterday about sexism in video games and I agreed with everything that was said. I love video games and I love books and comics and movies as well but that doesn't mean I can't be critical of how women are shown in them. You have the ultra-feminine woman who sings, wear dresses, cooks, may or may not be religious, and might have some sort of Disney Princess like powers. Then you have the tough girl who fights with the boys. Oh and don't forget the ultra-sexy crime fighter. I should point out that it is not just bad female stereotypes that annoy me. I am also irritated by sexist images of men as well. In romance novels men are often ultra-strong, very muscled, incredibly violent, can kill people with their bare hands, and sometimes have little emotion other than anger. This bugs me too. Oh, I forgot to mention, romance novels also write women as being insanely beautiful with eyes like jewels and hair like silk. Meh...it's all so unrealistic. Why do the men have to be so rough and violent? Why do the women have to be so fragile, delicate, and insanely beautiful?