We are currently having a course on popular culture texts. In the discussion forum we are debating on romance fiction and the following question was presented: "why should romance fiction be realistic?"
I was supposed to go on about saying how close to actual reality romance fiction is and why it is therefore important that it should have some responsibility on it's stories but I realised something very disturbing: I am partially behaving like a man when I assume that women in general need protection and that they (as in straight women) cannot tell stand up for themselves in real life.
I have to pay attention to this kind of thought pattern closely in the future!
8 kommenttia
Rokkihomo
22.10.2008 17:54
Step by step... Congratulationes.
JPHki
22.10.2008 20:39
According to my logic your thought about responsibility in romance fiction doesn't imply any sex discrimination. Is it because women are supposed to read romance fiction more than men (is it proven so?) that you worry about "a wrong though pattern"?
millikan
23.10.2008 11:22
Unless you want to ponder further about the issue of pseudorealism also in other genres, and consider how action films or superhero comics can influence people to think of morality in black/white terms and consider violence a viable answer to moral disagreements.
In many ways pseudorealism has potential to be damaging, as people do take patterns from there and apply them to real life.
Splenetic
23.10.2008 14:48
Thanks, Rokkihomo. Just makes me wonder... what exactly is the next step and what's the destination?
According to my professor and numerous studies made on romance fiction, the answer to JPHki's question is yes. There was one student who said one of her male relatives reads Harlequins but I suppose he's in a minority.
I think my worries on the effects of romance fiction is that one study presented in the lectures was that one of the reasons women read romance fiction is to escape the oppression of their husbands in a world where men in the end realise how much they love the female protagonist and abandon his old bachelor ways for her healing love (and virginity, of course). The study went on saying that (to quote millikan) they want to "apply the pseudorealism"(good word!!!) of the romance novels they've read on their own, not-very-perfect marriage. 'Huojuva talo', anyone?
And as I pointed out in the discussion forum as well, people don't have to consider violence a viable answer to moral agreements from fiction, all they have to do is to know what's going on in the world. It's all due to finances and moral disagreements.
JPHki
23.10.2008 23:04
"In many ways pseudorealism has potential to be damaging, as people do take patterns from there and apply them to real life."
Indeed, I just commented in some other discussion that as for (romantic) relationships there are two sources from which people should NOT take advice: The Bible and the Harlequins!
Splenetic
24.10.2008 16:36
Very, very true...!
Rokkihomo
24.10.2008 16:59
"Just makes me wonder... what exactly is the next step and what's the destination?"
In practice? Gender-pattern police acting aloud in each of our personal lives? Why not?
And finally, revolution, of course.
Splenetic
27.10.2008 18:20
Revolution... your view on homo sapiens (..not!) is apparently a whole lot more optimistic than mine. Not gonna happen in our lifetimes and the couple of following generations will die due to our current actions. Nice idea, though. =)