Feminism in Romance:

A Literature Review

Talia Hoggan

Vicki LeQuire

RC 2001-1101

5 October 2020
 A Literature Review

Romance novels have received massive amounts of criticism over the years for

portraying women as weak and in need of men, and generally containing problematic themes​.

However, scholars have been exploring and defending the genre of modern romance as a

medium through which women can embrace their own sexuality and empower themselves​.

Control over Sexuality

Throughout history, society has stigmatized sex in relation to women, causing many to

feel unclean and shameful for having any desire whatsoever​.​ The academic and romance writer

Jenny Cruise writes how society and the media has used women as sexual objects meant to

satisfy men​.​1​ She contends that romance novels allow women to take control of this sexuality for

their own purposes as opposed to anyone else's​.​ Ann Oakley, famous sociologist, feminist, and

writer emphasizes this point and refers to sexuality as a human right that has been denied to

females​.​2 To
​ this end, if romance novels are accepted and encouraged as opposed to looked down

upon, readers can diminish these ideas that have been imposed upon women​.​ Author Linda

Christian-Smith goes as far as to say that young adult romance-fiction should be encouraged to

teenage girls so that they can develop their own femininities and understand/accept their own

desires​.​ This way, girls can understand from a relatively young age that what they are feeling is

natural and acceptable, and nothing to be ashamed about​.​3

Healthy and Consensual Relationships

In addition to romance fiction developing young girls’ femininities, this genre can also

explain sensitive subjects that young women unfortunately must be informed about​.​ Authors
Spiering and Kedley have analyzed a novel that can particularly help girls comprehend what is

going on and what to look out for in relationships: ​Forever​ by Judy Bloom​.​ This novel deals

with the topic of sex amid high school girls, allowing readers to not only better understand

themselves and the hormonal/sexual changes they may be experiencing, but also the concept of

consent.​4​ This idea can be explored through sexual script theory, which is defined by Simon and

Gagnon as a theory in which sexual storylines stem from or are influenced by cultural norms,

which might differ between men and women.​5

Sexism and Gender Roles

One of the first opponents to romance novels, Tania Modleski argues that the main

characters in traditional romance novels consistently find their happy ending through ridding

themselves of their pride and ambition, essentially sacrificing themselves as individuals​.​ This

behavior theoretically encourages the reader to follow suit​.​6​ Gill and Hendereckioff, other

scholarly authors, agree that romance novels are problematic examples to the reader​. ​They claim

that the majority of heroines in these books have the same characteristics; thin, physically fit,

clean shaven, etcetera​.​ These authors claim that this archetype creates an unfair expectation for

women and severely limits the socially accepted idea of beauty and who will get their happily

ever after​.​7​ However, Janice Radway counters this point with the fact that these authors failed to

address the theories of why their audience reads and the reasons for their book choices​.​ She also

argues that Modleski, Gill, and Hendereckioff do not mention anything of the modern romance

books that challenge gender behavior stereotypes and traditional sexual relationships​.​8​ ​Professor

Barbara Seeber continues this counter argument by stating that even in many of the older,
traditional romances such as those written by the Bronte sisters and Jane Austen, the authors still

managed to subtly defy “patriarchal literary standards”​.​9 ​Author Pamela Regis also uses these

female romance authors as examples of how romance can be a celebration of freedom and joy.​10

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Though romance fiction is widely considered to be a “guilty pleasure” with no merit to

the reader, scholars have been arguing the importance of this genre in regard to the

empowerment of women and the standard set for healthy relationships​.

 Notes

1. s.e. smithView profile » s.e. smith is a writer, “How Romance Authors Became Literature's
Feminist Utopians,” Bitch Media, n.d., ​https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/the-case-for-romance-authors​.

2. Cristina Reis, “The Ann Oakley Reader. Gender, Women and Social Science - By Ann Oakley,”
Gender, Work & Organization​ 15, no. 1 (2007): pp. 110-112,
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0432.2007.00384_2.x​.

3. Linda K. Christian-Smith, “Becoming A Woman Through Romance,” ​Routledge,​ January 2019,

https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429322778​.

4. Jenna Spiering and Kate Kedley, “‘You Can’t Go Back to Holding Hands.’ Reading Judy Blume’s
Forever in the #MeToo Era,” ​Study and Scrutiny: Research on Young Adult Literature​ 3, no. 2 (April 2019): pp.
1-19, ​https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2376-5275.2019.3.2.1-19​.

5. Gagnon, John H., and William Simon. ​Sexual Conduct the Social Sources of Human Sexuality​.
Hutchinson, 1973.

6. Tania Modleski, ​Loving with a Vengeance: Mass-Produced Fantasies for Women​ (New York:
Routledge, 2016).

7. Rosalind Gill and Elena Herdieckerhoff, “Rewriting The Romance,” ​Feminist Media Studies​ 6, no.
4 (2006): pp. 487-504, ​https://doi.org/10.1080/14680770600989947​.

8. Janice A. Radway, ​Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature​ (Verso,
1987).

9. K. Seeber, ​General Consent in Jane Austen: a Study of Dialogism​ (Montréal: McGill-Queen's

University Press, 2014).

10. Pamela Regis, ​A​ Natural History of the Romance Novel​ (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Press, 2013).
 Bibliography

Christian-Smith, Linda K. “Becoming A Woman Through Romance.” ​Routledge,​ 2019.

https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429322778.

Gagnon, John H., and William Simon. ​Sexual Conduct the Social Sources of Human Sexuality​.

Hutchinson, 1973.

Gill, Rosalind, and Elena Herdieckerhoff. “Rewriting The Romance.” ​Feminist Media Studies​ 6,

no. 4 (2006): 487–504. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680770600989947.

Modleski, Tania. ​Loving with a Vengeance: Mass-Produced Fantasies for Women​. New York:

Routledge, 2016.

Radway, Janice A. ​Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy, and Popular Literature​. Verso,

1987.

​ ​ Natural History of the Romance Novel​. Philadelphia: University of

Regis, Pamela. A

Pennsylvania Press, 2013.

Reis, Cristina. “The Ann Oakley Reader. Gender, Women and Social Science - By Ann Oakley.”

Gender, Work & Organization​ 15, no. 1 (2007): 110–12.

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0432.2007.00384_2.x.

s.e. smithView profile » s.e. smith is a writer. “How Romance Authors Became Literature's

Feminist Utopians.” Bitch Media, n.d.

https://www.bitchmedia.org/article/the-case-for-romance-authors.
Seeber, K. ​General Consent in Jane Austen: a Study of Dialogism​. Montréal: McGill-Queen's

University Press, 2014.

Spiering, Jenna, and Kate Kedley. “‘You Can’t Go Back to Holding Hands.’ Reading Judy

Blume’s Forever in the #MeToo Era.” ​Study and Scrutiny: Research on Young Adult

Literature​ 3, no. 2 (2019): 1–19. https://doi.org/10.15763/issn.2376-5275.2019.3.2.1-19.