TY  - CHAP
AB  - Purpose This chapter explores factors presented in romance novels that reify gendered assumptions of masculinity and femininity to present readers with narratives that serve as powerful agents of socialization.Methodology/approach We conducted directed content analyses of over 180 mass-market romance novels published by Harlequin and Silhouette over an approximate 30-year period to ascertain common themes regarding gender polarization and gender schematicity in the maintenance of family and work.Findings Our review of this literature illuminates the assumption of “naturalized” gender roles for men and women in the construction and maintenance of marriage and the family, calling attention to the ways in which we remain constrained to polarized gender roles in the depiction of romantic encounters.Research limitations This study is limited to romance novels published prior to 2006, although we see replications of gender schematic narrative in current romance narratives featuring paranormal encounters (Twilight) and erotica (Fifty Shades of Grey).
VL  - 23
SN  - 978-1-78743-197-3, 978-1-78743-196-6/1529-2126
DO  - 10.1108/S1529-212620170000023006
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1108/S1529-212620170000023006
AU  - Kohlman Marla H.
AU  - Simpson Samantha N.
PY  - 2017
Y1  - 2017/01/01
TI  - For the Sake of Hearth and Home: Gender Schematicity in the Romance Novel☆
T2  - Discourses on Gender and Sexual Inequality
T3  - Advances in Gender Research
PB  - Emerald Publishing Limited
SP  - 115
EP  - 128
Y2  - 2024/04/25
ER  -