So the reader knew, when she went into the drugstore or supermarket or second hand bookstore that if she bought a Harlequin Romance she was guaranteed a "good read" with a happy ending. And because of this an interesting psychological phenomenon took place. The reader knew more than the heroine. (7)
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The reader, who knows the ending, feels superior to the heroine even if the reader is sitting in a shabby chair in a room she doesn't like married to a man who is neither a prince nor charming. At least she knows where she stands! (8)
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If a housewife/mother sits down to watch television when anybody else is home the chances are pretty good that she won't be able to watch the program of her choice. If she buys something sweet and self-indulgent (jelly do-nuts, a box of Turtles) she'd better eat it sitting on a bench in the park. But supposing she has something that she wants and nobody else wants? Why then she's home free. Her husband isn't interested in Harlequins nor are her children. (9)
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I no longer think they are harmless. I think, in fact, they are more and more approaching pornography, if they have not already arrived. If by pornography I mean stories containing sex and violence then the new Harlequins are full of it. They are ostensibly "new compelling stories of passionate romance for today's women." But when I started looking at the newer ones — and I think the change started in the mid-1970's— I was appalled at the element of fear and violence, if not actual violence, that occurs. (10)
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These aren't really "light reading" any more and the messages coming through are very disturbing. I have no answers at the minute, only questions. Why are women exploiting other women in this way and what's to be done about it all? (11)
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