From: jchason@s.psych.uiuc.edu (Julie Chason)
Newsgroups: alt.feminism,rec.humor
Subject: Re: Secretly Wishing... (was:Feminist Jokes)
Date: 5 Nov 92 07:03:40 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.Bx8EA6.CpM
Organization: UIUC Department of Psychology

payner@netcom.com (Rich Payne) writes:

>In article <Bx5wy1.GxE@news.cso.uiuc.edu> jchason@s.psych.uiuc.edu (Julie Chason) writes:
>>Another response to this issue--I have heard several times that romance novels
>>are often written by men.  

>I am under the impression that the majority (perhaps the overwhelming
>majority) are written by women. 

>>                                I know that hearsay is not good evidence of 
>>authorship, but neither is the cover of a book necessarily.  And I'm not
>>saying that male authorship is evidence of some sort of oppresive conspiracy
>>of men against women.  

>It would be politically correct to do so, even if they were all written by
>women (which I am not asserting, for the hard of reading). :^}

I think you and I have a different definition of politically correct.  I'm
not hostile to PC and I don't beleive in gender stereotyping of males or females. 

>>                        You just cant imply that romance novels provide some 
>>window into the minds of women.  

>If their readership is exclusively female (or almost so), how can you say
>that it does not provide such a window? I am not sure what kind of window,
>but there is something here.

>I would like to point out the many claims made of Playboy and porn. Or should
>we make a parallel claim and say that women are being brainwashed by the
>romance novels? This would seem as valid as the other brainwashing claims.

Or maybe they simply reinforce prevailing cultural values?  In which case 
they would provide a gauge of the fantasies of women who read them and buy 
their notions without criticism.  It's blanket characterizations I object to.
Some of us grew out of the habit at about the age of 17; I presume others 
never acquired the habit.

Look, lots of men go to football games and act like idiots.  Should I say on 
this basis that men are idiots? 
 

>>                               And even if all such novels were written by
>>women, and a majority of women read these articles, then this does not mean
>>that whatever is contained in these novels reflects the True and Natural 
>>Contents of the minds of women.
> 
>No, of course not. But it is still a valid question to ask exactly what
>it does mean. These novels must be fullfilling some need of the women
> who read them.                    ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 
>>Julie

Ok, now we're getting somewhere. I took your original post to mean that 
because women read books in which the hero rapes the heroine, women want to 
be raped.  Now it sounds like your open to a different interpretation.

I think most of the people who followed-up were right on the mark.  The 
rape scenario has to do with avoiding responsibility for sex rather than 
wanting to be dragged into the bushes and forced.

The sub-genre I used to read (quite a while ago) was the historical romance
novel.  From what I remember, there seems to be two basic rape scenarios.
One I'll call 'raped by a rake.'  The rake isn't really a bad guy; he's just 
misunderstood, maybe tormented, something of a Beverly Hills 90210 Luke, only
probably more muscular.  Maybe he's a Viking, or a rebel baron.  Sooner or 
later he'll cry, beg forgiveness, and will marry his victim.

How many women whose husbands abuse them say he is always sorry afterward?

The other scenario reads something like this:  "He crushed her against him,
bruising her velvet skin.  She could feel his throbbing manhood pressing
against her, and a surging warmth flooded through her body in response. 
'Oh, Silverena, how I have dreamed of this moment,' he panted, his breath
hot against her cheek.  She knew she could deny him no longer.....'
This scene isn't really rape, because she does want it.  Its a rough, forceful
seduction in which the heroine's final resistances to the inevitable will 
crumble under the force of his passion.  She is fairly passive until passion 
catches up to her.  

She's not "really" responsible for sex happening, she's 
giving the man she loves what he wants.  She wants it too, but he had to 
initiate  and break down her resistance.  And God won't really mind she
had premarital sex because she was a virgin before she met him and she will
ALWAYS marry this guy.  

That's another feature of these novels.  He always marries her.  He also always
rescues her from whatever threatens here.  And he will always find her, even
if he has to chase across three continents to do so.


"Some day my prince will come...."
                Snow White.


Julie
(thats not a .sig up there) 

 
 
  

>Rich

>payner@netcom.com