“He seized her in his manly arms and bent his lips to hers…”. The surprising impact that romantic novels have on our work

Publication year
2011
Journal
Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care
Volume
37.3
Pages
179-181
Comment

Years later, in "Tiptoeing Away" (2016), Quilliam's final "Consumer Correspondent" column, she recalled:

The most stressful piece I have written? Undoubtedly the 2011 coverage of romantic fiction that brewed up a worldwide storm because I dared to suggest that such novels might influence readers’ attitudes to intimate relationships. Despite the fact that I identified myself as one such reader, I actually received death threats. Though there was, I'm glad to say, a happy ending to this particular tale in that it helped to trigger a more academic article on the subject written by medical student Kundan Iqbal, which was joint winner of the Margaret Jackson Prize Essay in 2014.

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Quilliam, Susan. “Tiptoeing Away.” Journal of Family Planning and Reproductive Health Care, vol. 42, no. 1, 2016, pp. 71-73.