Saturday, January 19, 2008
men's rights movement?
this starts with the romance novels we read last week.
while "the most wanted bachelor" was my first endeavor into the world of romance fiction, i think it's pretty obvious (correct me if im wrong) that they rely on traditional gender stereotypes and power relations.
all though they all have character and a story, ultimatly all the men are really strong, powerful and manly. by the same token, in the end all the women (even my practical, hard livin' cowgirl) want to get married. prof. kalmar suggested with the animal metephor, some want to tame and domesticate the wildman; to mix it up, we also determined through the oral sex analysis, that sometimes women are just looking to be dominated.
these themes are a little extreme and probably out of touch. this brought us to the contemporary romantic comedy. while they sometimes convey the same themes, kalmar suggested that an empowered women character is more popular these days. most likely she is still a sex object though, even if she's a smart one; Knocked Up is a good example. because the man is so dedicated, the woman protagonist holds all the cards. she can be wild and irrational, she even ends the relationship a few times. the audience doesn't mind that the male protagonist, seth rogan's character is unemployed, hairy and out of shape. maybe it makes us like him more?
as kalmar pointed out, women's roles have expanded and diversified. we've accepted that women can be ambitious, hard-working, irresponsible about sex, uninterested in relationships, etc. but i think that this film is also a good reflection of more realistic standards for men as well. instead of the usual attractive but insensitive, strong virile stereotype, society is making room for guys that are sensitive, lame, but desirable anyways.
this idea came from a summer film review of one of seth rogan's other movies, Superbad. According to the author, this saga about two teenage boys going to high school party, was a sign of the times and a benchmark in the "masculine revolution" or male rights movement?)
the gender revolution is a double-edged sword. Though we don't always recognise it, while we're allowing our girls to dream bigger, we're also letting our guys loosen up a bit. For some reason we arent celebrating this. but if anyone suggests an international mans day parade, where dudes can celebrate the new opportunities that lay ahead for them - eg. the removed pressure to be the bread-winner, the dictator of a relationship, or the father-knows-best - society should probably get behind them on this.
in closing, i wasn't really moved by "the most wanted bachelor," and im curious to know if anyone found that these books resonated with their idea of a romantic fantasy. brings me to my last question: is it be possible to have romance fiction without the traditional gender roles? how would a romance novel for our generation compare to the ones they sell now, which i think are marketed to our moms? or will romance fiction as we know it survive? just some thoughts...
while "the most wanted bachelor" was my first endeavor into the world of romance fiction, i think it's pretty obvious (correct me if im wrong) that they rely on traditional gender stereotypes and power relations.
all though they all have character and a story, ultimatly all the men are really strong, powerful and manly. by the same token, in the end all the women (even my practical, hard livin' cowgirl) want to get married. prof. kalmar suggested with the animal metephor, some want to tame and domesticate the wildman; to mix it up, we also determined through the oral sex analysis, that sometimes women are just looking to be dominated.
these themes are a little extreme and probably out of touch. this brought us to the contemporary romantic comedy. while they sometimes convey the same themes, kalmar suggested that an empowered women character is more popular these days. most likely she is still a sex object though, even if she's a smart one; Knocked Up is a good example. because the man is so dedicated, the woman protagonist holds all the cards. she can be wild and irrational, she even ends the relationship a few times. the audience doesn't mind that the male protagonist, seth rogan's character is unemployed, hairy and out of shape. maybe it makes us like him more?
as kalmar pointed out, women's roles have expanded and diversified. we've accepted that women can be ambitious, hard-working, irresponsible about sex, uninterested in relationships, etc. but i think that this film is also a good reflection of more realistic standards for men as well. instead of the usual attractive but insensitive, strong virile stereotype, society is making room for guys that are sensitive, lame, but desirable anyways.
this idea came from a summer film review of one of seth rogan's other movies, Superbad. According to the author, this saga about two teenage boys going to high school party, was a sign of the times and a benchmark in the "masculine revolution" or male rights movement?)
the gender revolution is a double-edged sword. Though we don't always recognise it, while we're allowing our girls to dream bigger, we're also letting our guys loosen up a bit. For some reason we arent celebrating this. but if anyone suggests an international mans day parade, where dudes can celebrate the new opportunities that lay ahead for them - eg. the removed pressure to be the bread-winner, the dictator of a relationship, or the father-knows-best - society should probably get behind them on this.
in closing, i wasn't really moved by "the most wanted bachelor," and im curious to know if anyone found that these books resonated with their idea of a romantic fantasy. brings me to my last question: is it be possible to have romance fiction without the traditional gender roles? how would a romance novel for our generation compare to the ones they sell now, which i think are marketed to our moms? or will romance fiction as we know it survive? just some thoughts...
# posted by sam.butler @ 4:53 PM 
