Week 2 - "Women Reading the Romance" Summary

In the suburb city of Smithton lives Dot Evans, a woman who picks out romance novels that the town's resident women are most likely to enjoy. In fact, she has become so good at choosing the most successful novels, that the bookstores regularly ask for her advice as to which books they should carry. Dot's customers tend to be middle-class mothers between the ages of 25 and 44. These women primarily read romance novels, they say, as a means of escape from the real world and relaxation. They feel that the level of pressure placed on women to always be nurturing and motherly is overwhelming, and thus use these novels to take a break from everyday life. It seems that most of the women try to identify with the heroine, so that they can vicariously live out a relationship with a hero who is commonly very masculine and yet surprisingly sweet and nurturing.

The article also describes a highly specific formula for a romance novel that the women of Smithton will enjoy. According to Dot's assessments, the novel should illuminate the relationship between one man and one women as they meet and work through their personal problems together. At the end of the novel, the two should fall completely in love with each other and essentially live happily ever after. The women in the story should be determined and independent, while the man is handsome and masculine, yet tender underneath. Much deviation from these standards seems to decrease the popularity of a novel. In particular, novels that entail the man chasing after multiple women are less favorable, even if the hero falls in love with the heroine at the end. The Smithton women also find novels that include rape or cruelty toward the heroine very discomforting. Stories that involve these two areas are strongly disliked, at least within this town.

Despite the unrealistic nature of these books, the women, for the most part, understand that the characters are fictional, and that the events described in the stories are unlikely in real life. Nonetheless, these ideal stories inherently make the women feel disappointed in their current marriages or relationships. The women sometimes feel neglected or put down by their significant others. A man may accuse a woman of not accomplishing meaningful work during the day when the woman spent all her time cleaning the house, managing children, and running necessary errands. The woman's work here is most certainly significant, but the man may not see it as such, unfortunately.

The article concludes with saying that these romance novels help show what women desire (and often fail to get) in a relationship. The author seems to suggest that we use this information to help progress society toward one that helps women feel more satisfied with their relationships. Whether or not that can become reality is something that has yet to be determined.