A Woman's Place is In Love: The Romance Genre's Interpretations of Women's Cultural Roles PART 1
© Suzette L. Mako
Did they think that, just because she wore skirts, she wasn't a person? She had as much honor and intelligence as any of them -- more than most. Now she had to show them she had as much courage as well, or she'd be married off, and for what? A parcel of land and a measure of prestige? Just because she wore skirts? Well, she could wear breeches as well as any man!
He was waiting with the horses when she exited the hall, and nodded in approval. "Aye, ye'll pass, though it's a pretty lad ye make. But mind ye," he added in a too-familiar lusty tone, "I like ye better in silks."
She swung up easily to her saddle and heeled her mount so that its leaping start sent a clod of mud onto her escort's cloak. Exhilarated by the freedom she now found, she turned her head and called back -- "You would!"
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The Romance heroine -- feisty, fiercely independent, intelligent and not afraid to show it -- is a representation of the best of womanhood. She is all the more so when considering that in the historical periods so popular to the Romance genre, and even in modern settings, a 'woman's place' is not usually one of freedom, but rather of restriction and repression.
What sort of worlds are Romance heroines up against, and how does the portrayal of Romance heroines ignite the readers' identification with her? Is she merely an alter ego born of pure fantasy, or is there a grain of truth to the headstrong heroine in whom the Romance genre specializes?
How can that headstrong heroine meet with anything but conflict and adventure, as she flouts the norms of her society, seeking her heart's desire? Certainly, the role of women throughout history has been a limited one, so why is it that Romance writers insist upon creating such characters and why is it that Romance readers love them so?
The worlds that women have faced from time immemorial, have not been favorable ones. Anthropologists tell us there is strong evidence that early prehistoric societies were largely based on female-centered philosophies, with matriarchal structures and Goddess-worship. It appears that women were not believed to be inferior or subject to male domination. Ancient statuettes of female figures attest to the importance of things feminine in those times.
