group of three girls aged 11 to 13 [...] well-known to one of us. The girls all come from middle-class family backgrounds, their parents have university educations and professional educations, and the girls are all seen to be successful at school. (249)
None of them really wanted to like romance fiction. All of them assumed that the researcher and their parents thought such books were 'trash' or 'pathetic' (250)
Unsurprisingly, this small sample of girls did not respond particularly well to the romance texts they were read as part of Gilbert and Taylor's study. Gilbert and Taylor commented that
These three girls are, we would suggest, differently positioned as readers than are many other girls. Their class and family backgrounds have encouraged the perception that romance is a devalued genre, both as a popular art form, and as a source of information about adolescent girls. (253-254)
The lived experiences of some girls, as oppressed and marginalised groups, partially accounts for their willingness to accept romance ideology as an alternative solution to the patriarchal parameters of their present and future lives. (255)
Gilbert and Taylor have concerns about romance because they believe
Romance ideology is not a discourse intended for 'her'. It is a discourse which locks women into passive and submissive response rather than active and independent action; a discourse which cannot construct a future for women without men; a discourse which necessitates the humiliating and crippling romantic inscription of the body. (255)
Gilbert and Taylor interviewed a
Unsurprisingly, this small sample of girls did not respond particularly well to the romance texts they were read as part of Gilbert and Taylor's study. Gilbert and Taylor commented that
Gilbert and Taylor have concerns about romance because they believe