Hello everyone, I want to welcome Annette Larsen as a Guest Contributor to my blog today. I am interested in the dialogue that has been generated by this topic.
How Romance Novels are
Contributing to Rape Culture
by
Annette Larsen
Before I was lucky
enough to find blogs and other resources that I could rely on for book recommendations, I would troll Amazon. If a description caught
my eye, I would look at the sample pages. In doing so I discovered a disturbing
trend in romance novel plots. Two books still stick out in my mind. One started
with a drunken man stumbling into what he thinks is his room at an Inn. He then
assumes that the girl sleeping in the bed must be a prostitute and he treats
her as such. The second book started with a 'gentleman' (it was a regency, I
believe) coming upon a lady in a garden. He only sees her from behind and
mistakes her for someone he was supposed to be meeting for a romantic
rendezvous. He ends up assaulting the poor girl before realizing she's not who
he thought she was. When he does realize, there is no apology. He just turns on
the charm, brushes it off as no big deal, and they part ways. Later, during the
social gathering they are attending, he winks at her from across the room.
I went back and read
the descriptions of these books and realized that, yes, in both cases I had
just met the hero and heroine of the book. These were the two people that were
going to fall in love and live happily ever after.
What the crap??!! Are
you kidding me?
I'm supposed to root
for a relationship that started with the 'hero' sexually assaulting the
heroine?? Because it was an 'innocent mistake' and 'no harm was done.' Is that
what we want to teach our daughters? Is that what we want to reinforce in our
sisters' and friends' minds? Setting aside the fact that the first
guy was happy to stumble onto a prostitute and take advantage of her, I'm sure
he's still a good guy. He just needs someone to tame him, right? His violent aggression is really just passion,
I'm sure. Let's justify his behavior, make excuses for him and reinforce the
idea that his choices don't have consequences and he should never feel shame
for acting on his baser instincts. He's a man; that's just the way they are.
No.
Am I supposed to
believe that the girls in these narratives weren't hurt and traumatized by the
situation? Am I to assume that they actually enjoyed it and these men just
helped them realize that they should free their sexuality and just enjoy,
regardless of whether or not they consented to it?
No. No.no.no.no.NO.NO.
NO!
Let me be clear. I
write romance novels. There are many authors who write wonderful, heart
warming, love filled stories. I applaud and commend them. But this trend in
other romances feeds into the idea that aggression is the same as passion, that
lust is the same as love, that force is the same as persuasion, that dominance
is the same as protection.
No.
I've had reviews of my
books that said it was ok, but they couldn't love the hero because they prefer
their men arrogant and dominant. If that's what you're looking for, you will
have to look somewhere else because I won't do it. I will continue to write
about the kind of men that I will want my daughters to marry. Yes, they will
have flaws, but they will have respect, they will know the importance of
backing away and keeping their hands to themselves when asked. They will
apologize if they ever overstep their bounds, regardless of whether they
understand.
I believe in
redemption. I believe in second chances. But this corrosive idea that a woman
should just give in and let a man show her what she really wants is damning and dangerous.
So let's all do
ourselves a favor. Let's reject those plots. Let's reject those ideas.
Because if we don't, where does that leave us?
We could all take a
lesson from Jane Eyre. When Mr. Rochester tried to assign the blame for his
choices to her, she wouldn't allow it:
"Then you condemn
me to live wretched, and to die accursed?" His voice rose.
"I advise you to
live sinless; and I wish you to die tranquil."
"Then you snatch
love and innocence from me? You fling me back on lust for a passion—vice for an occupation?"
"Mr. Rochester, I
no more assign this fate to you than I grasp at it for myself. We were born to
strive and endure—you as well as I: do so." -Jane
Eyre
Or there's this gem:
About Annette Larsen:
Annette K. Larsen fell in love with Jane Eyre in high school and
later decided that if she wanted more clean, worthwhile romance novels, she
might as well write few of her own. She is the wife of one handsome husband,
the mother and four adorable children, and the author of Just Ella and Missing
Lily. Her third book, Saving Marilee will be coming out in a few months,
barring any catastrophes.
Website: www.annetteklarsen.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authoraklarsen
Twitter: @AnnetteKLarsen.
Thank you, Annette for sharing with us today. I look forward to having a review for one of your novels up in the near future.
Karen
No comments:
Post a Comment