What Women Want

I have mentioned several times that many believe that the melodrama and escapism are genres oriented towards women, I agree, but still remain confused on why it is such a negative thing. I found an blog post that I (sort of) agree with, it takes the side of women living vicariously through romantic melodramas. The blog post states that, "women who read these books live vicariously through the characters whose lives are nothing like theirs. They feel a sense of escapism when they read about women who have men lusting after them..." I agree that many people use melodramas as a mind-numbing escape, but this blog post made it seem like the women who read it are absolutely desperate to be loved like the characters they read about in their novels. I am almost positive that this is not always the case. I agree with the person who posted this blog post when they said that the, "...whole concept of women 'escaping' and becoming empowered through the act of reading romance novels sadly just reinforces gender stereotypes." This is a complete fact. Many believe that because mainly women are empowered by these types of novels that means that men aren't also. Not only women read these texts and feel empowered or are able to find an escape through reading them. I feel that this topic needs to be brought out and discussed in society a lot more. 

Melodrama Makes Money

Part of my research paper is about Nicholas Sparks and his novel, "The Notebook". I used this novel because it has not only been adapted and put onto the big screen, but because it is probably one of the most popular romantic melodramas. Even though romantic melodrama will always come with a negative connotation, it will never stop making authors, screen play writers, actors/actresses, directors etc.,. very very very rich. I found an article from, The New York Times, called "Romance Novels Discover a Baby Boom", written in April of 1991 by Alessandra Stanley. This article states that, "romance fiction, once dismissed as escapist fiction for bored housewives, has in the last two decades grown into a major industry, with annual revenues that publishing analysts say reach hundreds of millions of dollars." This article might have been written way before Nicholas Sparks wrote "The Notebook", but is proof that even though the romantic melodrama has and has had a negative connotation for so long, people still go out and use their hard earned cash on an escape into a character's fairytale.

Chick Flicks and Chick Culture

Another academic source that I will be using within in my research paper is a critical essay called, "Chick Flicks and Chick Culture" written by Suzanne Ferriss and Mallory Young. I am using this source because it describes the thoughts of society and why many people think that melodramas being oriented toward women is a negative subject. What I learned from this critical essay is that many people think that the definition of a melodramatic "chick flick" is, “ …[when a group of] unwilling male theatergoers [go along] to their girlfriends' film choices”. I feel that with society putting melodramas in this negative light today, it will always have a negative connotation, but I completely disagree with this thought. I feel that women choose to read and watch this genre because they either want a temporary escape from reality or want to see what they can aspire to. I feel that women ARE more emotional than men are, but not in a negative way, it is just a fact that is statistically proven. I feel that the melodrama is an important genre to our society today, without it there would be less book/movie options for women AND men to choose from after having a very long and/or stress day/week.

Resource for Research

Another academic source that I used for my research paper about the melodrama, is a source about society's thoughts in the present day and over the past several decades about "Women's Films". This source was introduced in class and it is called "Apt Feelings, or Why 'Women's Films' Aren't Trivial" by Flo Leibowitz. I agree with the thoughts that those who write melodramas write certain scenes in their novels planning for their readers to have an emotional reaction. When I watch and/or read melodramas there is always a point with in the novel or film where I am crying because of the pity that I feel for the main character or characters. What is also mentioned in this resource is that, "the melodrama....is typically associated with.....narrow escapes". This quote from this source is very important to my research because in my paper I will be comparing escapism and the melodrama as said in a previous blog post. It is a common thought that women are the sex that is mainly attracted to these types of films and novels, and I do agree. This source supports this and it also supports my opinion, that though women are always associated with watching or reading the melodrama it should not be a known as a subject of negativity.