wow wow wow, I *love* the level of analysis and detail that went into this essay! kudos! IMO the romance genre gets overlooked because 1)misogyny 2)the formulaic arcs. But the best romance stories dramatize the complications of how two complex, individual characters can possibly come together, equally & amorously. This is difficult stuff (!!). I wouldn't say gender is the "main" component of conflict in romance novels, but since we live in a society where power is stratified by gender, of course it comes up frequently as a thematic obstacle/learning opportunity for many characters.
(Aside: I would be happy to recommend some queer romances where gender is secondary/unimportant to the plot.)
This is such an interesting topic and post, Andrea! ♡ I'm kind of curious about your thoughts on the emergence and inclination toward more gender-essentialist worldbuilding and dynamics in more recent romances (mostly of the fantasy variety, though some contemporaries seem to be dipping their toes I this too), because in my mind it feels like an evolution of this "gender all the way down" concept you're touching on. If it's gender all the way down, then heightening that and taking it to fantastical biological extremes kind of makes sense to me, at least in theory, though I don't know that it's always (or even often) done intentionally.
I also found myself nodding along to your mention of male grovelling being something readers have sort of grown to want -- it is something I have actually come to dislike because I feel like it's less interested these days in engaging with the gendered expectations it perhaps emerged from. What it's more interested in or what it's actually in service of, I can't say (and this very well could be just a me thing!) but I tend to come away from it feeling like it's done to an unhealthy degree, which then makes me wonder at the security of their Happy For Now 😂
wow wow wow, I *love* the level of analysis and detail that went into this essay! kudos! IMO the romance genre gets overlooked because 1)misogyny 2)the formulaic arcs. But the best romance stories dramatize the complications of how two complex, individual characters can possibly come together, equally & amorously. This is difficult stuff (!!). I wouldn't say gender is the "main" component of conflict in romance novels, but since we live in a society where power is stratified by gender, of course it comes up frequently as a thematic obstacle/learning opportunity for many characters.
(Aside: I would be happy to recommend some queer romances where gender is secondary/unimportant to the plot.)
This is such an interesting topic and post, Andrea! ♡ I'm kind of curious about your thoughts on the emergence and inclination toward more gender-essentialist worldbuilding and dynamics in more recent romances (mostly of the fantasy variety, though some contemporaries seem to be dipping their toes I this too), because in my mind it feels like an evolution of this "gender all the way down" concept you're touching on. If it's gender all the way down, then heightening that and taking it to fantastical biological extremes kind of makes sense to me, at least in theory, though I don't know that it's always (or even often) done intentionally.
I also found myself nodding along to your mention of male grovelling being something readers have sort of grown to want -- it is something I have actually come to dislike because I feel like it's less interested these days in engaging with the gendered expectations it perhaps emerged from. What it's more interested in or what it's actually in service of, I can't say (and this very well could be just a me thing!) but I tend to come away from it feeling like it's done to an unhealthy degree, which then makes me wonder at the security of their Happy For Now 😂