Getting Laid, Getting Old, and Getting Fed: The Cultural Resistance of Jennifer Crusie’s Romance Heroines
The human body is a cultural text, and can be therefore be used to promote or resist various social norms. Jennifer Crusie, who defines herself as a writer of feminist romances, uses the bodies of her heroines to countermand several patriarchal assumptions about femininity. Within the Western patria...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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International Association for the Study of Popular Romance (IASPR)
2012-04-01
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Series: | Journal of Popular Romance Studies |
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Online Access: | https://www.jprstudies.org/2012/04/getting-laid-getting-old-and-getting-fed-the-cultural-resistance-of-jennifer-crusies-romance-heroines-by-kyra-kramer/ |
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author | Kyra Kramer |
author_facet | Kyra Kramer |
author_sort | Kyra Kramer |
collection | DOAJ |
description | The human body is a cultural text, and can be therefore be used to promote or resist various social norms. Jennifer Crusie, who defines herself as a writer of feminist romances, uses the bodies of her heroines to countermand several patriarchal assumptions about femininity. Within the Western patriarchal hegemony women are valued primarily for attractiveness, and the unspoken cultural definition of female beauty is a woman who is, among other things, young, thin, and sexually modest. Crusie, by creating heroines who are older, fatter, and more sexually experienced than the “ideal” woman, yet who are still able to establish their social and romantic worth, illustrates the feminist ideology that women have value and accomplishments beyond the limits of the socially paradigmatic definitions of femininity and beauty. Her novels serve as a feminist parables that reaffirm the inherent normalcy and desirability of an imperfect female body. |
first_indexed | 2024-03-08T03:13:40Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-522187caa6f24f909849987cf27b386d |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2159-4473 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-08T03:13:40Z |
publishDate | 2012-04-01 |
publisher | International Association for the Study of Popular Romance (IASPR) |
record_format | Article |
series | Journal of Popular Romance Studies |
spelling | doaj.art-522187caa6f24f909849987cf27b386d2024-02-12T19:03:09ZengInternational Association for the Study of Popular Romance (IASPR)Journal of Popular Romance Studies2159-44732012-04-0122121Getting Laid, Getting Old, and Getting Fed: The Cultural Resistance of Jennifer Crusie’s Romance HeroinesKyra Kramer The human body is a cultural text, and can be therefore be used to promote or resist various social norms. Jennifer Crusie, who defines herself as a writer of feminist romances, uses the bodies of her heroines to countermand several patriarchal assumptions about femininity. Within the Western patriarchal hegemony women are valued primarily for attractiveness, and the unspoken cultural definition of female beauty is a woman who is, among other things, young, thin, and sexually modest. Crusie, by creating heroines who are older, fatter, and more sexually experienced than the “ideal” woman, yet who are still able to establish their social and romantic worth, illustrates the feminist ideology that women have value and accomplishments beyond the limits of the socially paradigmatic definitions of femininity and beauty. Her novels serve as a feminist parables that reaffirm the inherent normalcy and desirability of an imperfect female body.https://www.jprstudies.org/2012/04/getting-laid-getting-old-and-getting-fed-the-cultural-resistance-of-jennifer-crusies-romance-heroines-by-kyra-kramer/ageanthropologyanyone but youbet mebodiescrusiefatfeminismfoodmenopausenonconformityresistance“romancing reality” sexualitywelcome to temptationkyra kramerweight |
spellingShingle | Kyra Kramer Getting Laid, Getting Old, and Getting Fed: The Cultural Resistance of Jennifer Crusie’s Romance Heroines Journal of Popular Romance Studies age anthropology anyone but you bet me bodies crusie fat feminism food menopause nonconformity resistance “romancing reality ” sexuality welcome to temptation kyra kramer weight |
title | Getting Laid, Getting Old, and Getting Fed: The Cultural Resistance of Jennifer Crusie’s Romance Heroines |
title_full | Getting Laid, Getting Old, and Getting Fed: The Cultural Resistance of Jennifer Crusie’s Romance Heroines |
title_fullStr | Getting Laid, Getting Old, and Getting Fed: The Cultural Resistance of Jennifer Crusie’s Romance Heroines |
title_full_unstemmed | Getting Laid, Getting Old, and Getting Fed: The Cultural Resistance of Jennifer Crusie’s Romance Heroines |
title_short | Getting Laid, Getting Old, and Getting Fed: The Cultural Resistance of Jennifer Crusie’s Romance Heroines |
title_sort | getting laid getting old and getting fed the cultural resistance of jennifer crusie s romance heroines |
topic | age anthropology anyone but you bet me bodies crusie fat feminism food menopause nonconformity resistance “romancing reality ” sexuality welcome to temptation kyra kramer weight |
url | https://www.jprstudies.org/2012/04/getting-laid-getting-old-and-getting-fed-the-cultural-resistance-of-jennifer-crusies-romance-heroines-by-kyra-kramer/ |
work_keys_str_mv | AT kyrakramer gettinglaidgettingoldandgettingfedtheculturalresistanceofjennifercrusiesromanceheroines |