Welcome to the blog I really did not want to write. From gender politics to bestiality, the stories we have read cover it all. So, what is so important about this that it warrants blog space? I'm not entirely sure yet, but let's see where it goes.
Looking to Frye to guide us through the dilemma of sex in romance literature, I found the following passage,
"The central element of romance is a love story, and the exciting adventures are normally a foreplay leading up to a sexual union. Hence romance appears to be designed mainly to encourage irregular or excessive sexual activity. This may be masturbation, which is the usual model in the minds of those who speak with contempt of "escape" reading, or it may be a form of voyeurism. Most denunciations of popular romance on such grounds, we notice, assume that the pornographic and the erotic are the same thing: this overlooks the important principle that is the function of pornography to stun and numb the reader, and the function of erotic writing to wake him up" (Frye 24).
Later Frye states, "But the fact that sex and violence emerge whenever they get a chance does mean that sexuality and violence are central to romance: this is an important cultural fact..."(26).
Let us begin with the second quote. Romance is filled from beginning to end with sex and violence. The reason for this is pretty obvious. Remember what it was like being a teenager? Which story was more interesting for lunchtime chit chat; the one in which you learned something interesting in geometry or the one about the guy who got beat up for kissing the football captain's girlfriend? When girls get together and chat about their relationships the deep meaningful discussions concerning Mandelbrot's theory generally get skipped over in favor of how the end of the evening goodnight kiss went. Sex and violence are interesting at some basic human level; no matter how we try to ignore it or how interesting math class really was, we are going to pay attention to these two aspects of life.
This brings us to the reason for the "irregular or excessive activity" found in romance. The more unusual something is, the more likely we are to remember it-whether we like it or not. My fiance just asked me if I were writing about "the donkey story" as he calls it when I told him the title of this blog. I am not sure he remembers what other stories we have discussed over dinner lately, but that one was the first that came to mind. I assure you he has no affinity for cross species romance.
Enough of sex, let's get to the violence. I am not an advocate for violence with the exception of the occasional daydream that the woman in front of me at the check out with the six screaming sick kids who waits till the last minute to dig in her enormous diaper bag to excavate for her checkbook will be bodily removed from the store by the manager before she says "Just sayin'!" one more time. However, a bit of violence in a romance story never really hurt anyone. The purpose of violence in romance is to give us something to cheer for. Did we really want to see anyone suffocated in a jar? Not really. Did it work well and was it an interesting way to get rid of the thieves in Ali Baba's home. Yes. Besides, they were bad guys. We need bad guys in our stories so we can root for the good guy. We want him to win, we are on his side, we need him to win so that we can win. We need our little victories.
As for sexual politics, this varies from story to story depending upon the moral values of the author and the society which is set up in the story. We secretly want the hero to marry the virgin, but we do not really mind if he has a bit of time with a harlot or two on the way. The fair maiden must give up her freedom and virginity and the grand hero must give up his heart. There are of course exceptions, Merlin for example, gave up his freedom in return for his true love's heart.
In conclusion, go ahead and enjoy the violence of romance. Cheer for your hero, share in his victory. As for the intimate details illustrated...I'll let you decide what to do with all that. I would caution you that somethings are difficult to forget. Which is also good advice if you are writing a romance-make it a bit odd and the audience will be more likely to remember it.
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