On the Convergence Between Femme Theory and Popular Feminine Fiction: Adolescent Girls’ (Re)territorialisation Of Fem(me)ininity Through Young Adult Erotic Romance

Here's the abstract:

Drawing on Femme Theory, this article explores the relationship between the devaluation of feminine knowledge and the academic abjection of feminine erotic romance. Here, I problematise femininity being inherently disempowering, arguing that it can be both a source of oppression (i.e., femmephobia) informed by intersectional axes of identity and a source of power that challenges gendered cultural frameworks. Applying a feminist, post-structuralist lens, I analyse how 100 girls (re)territorialise femininity through Spanish Young Adult erotic romance, contrasting their worldviews with the analysis of femmephobic regulatory discourse embedded in publicity. My findings suggest that publishers rework feminist discourse in an effort to appeal to girls’ presumed desire to assert (sexual) agency, simultaneously challenging gender binaries and revaluing femininity through the imposition of a culture of (sexual) self-confidence. Girls’ narratives support this finding, underscoring how Young Adult Erotic Romance is a gendered risk enforcing compulsory sexual agency, yet also a sex-positive space where they can co-construct fe(me)ninity outside the regulatory bounds.