In order to make this post, I must first make an admission I'm not proud of. On occassion, I've been known to read a romance novel or two. Now, in my defense, my genres of preference are the classics and science fiction, but sometimes, having made my way through Faulkner or Hesse, my mind needs a little break. This is when I'll pick up a romance novel. I tend to radiate towards the completely politically incorrect ones where the man is the strong dashing hero who rescues his damsel in distress...yeah, I don't think I possess a feminist bone in my body. Anyhow, back to my point. Due to my occassional reading of these kinds of books, I started to notice something that I'm sure isn't thrilling feminists. I'm going to use for an example a series of books out right now called 'The Dark Series' by Christine Feehan. Brief synopsis,

An ancient race of vampiric creatures exist in the Transylvanian Mountains. Not, evil, just a different race than humans, they possess great powers. The men of the race known as Carpathians, are very powerful and very much 'head of the household', so to speak. The Carpathians mate for life and literally cannot live without their mate. Their mate and families are everything to them. The Carpathian race is dying out, the Carpathian males have found that they are able to pro-create with human women possessing psychic abilities.

You're wondering why I'm torturing you with all this? Women are buying these books by the truckload. Why do women buy specific romance novels? Because they're drawn to the men and relationships that are portrayed in them and the love story that unfolds. What kind of men are they being drawn to? Ultra-masculine, strong, completely unfeminized, utterly un-politically correct ones. Sure it's all fairy tale, but the fact remains, no matter how much the feminists tell women they don't want to be beholden to any man, they don't want to be the weaker sex in need of protection...if you look at the money the author's raking in from her series, the figures tell a very different story.

Unfortunately, due to the fine mess that feminism has made of things, this will all just translate to disaster. Women are beginning to realize the feminists were wrong, what they said we want isn't what we want after all, but they've still been indoctrinated with the 'I can have anything I want and don't need to consider anybody but myself' attitude that prevails among empowered women. The concept will be, "I want a man who's strong and in control...up until the point that it impedes me getting things my own way". This is the muddled mess we're in. Until women realize that you really don't get it both ways, they'll never be truly happy because they're trying to embrace two completely contradictary ideals that are incapable of co-existing.

Fem-porn !

Confession is good for the soul, Kim. We are all frail sinners.

I too have been known to let my eyes linger over a snap of a near-naked woman or two - but only to examine and think about the lighting and f.stop used, the composition, the muscle tone and shadow effects, the engineering principles in her bra construction and the type of stitching in her knickers.

You will understand that such detailed consideration takes time. But if a job's worth doing......

Really? I just enjoy the titties... mmMMmm titties...

I know, I know....of course, I prefer ones from the 70's, they're a little more along the PG lines and leave out the PC, feminist crap.

I actually haven't indulged in quite some time....I'm in recovery.

Ah, yes. The 70's. I haven't seen 'Emmanuelle" for years. Must go back and look again with more mature eyes. It was PG then. Pretty Good!

Yes, many females really want storng men.

Some years ago I wrote a review of the "GOR" novels by John Norman. Just yesterday I got an e-mail from a female looking for strong manly men who are willing to treat females in the manner that fictional men of "GOR" treat their females. Desire dies hard. Females need strong manly men. Unfortunatly, I know of no men to send her to.

Blessings

Bob

What is a strong man? Is this the male model on the cover?

I have never read a romance novel. My mother in law reads them all the time when she is not working high up in the political scale. Funny that! With a family of all wrong doers she is the secretary for the Minister of Justice and has been for so many years. She started off as the typist in the court proceedings.

Hmm.

Women fantasize about rape too, but I don't see them really wanting it.

I'm not sure the desire for romance will make them give up their current matriarchal lifestyle. Most women are, first and foremost, pragmatic creatures.


Heh, you've just defined the nature of women.

Sarcasm I would guess, women are not pragmatic.

True that some women want strong man so she can have more fun trying to break him down. Isn't that what women are about?

No, women really do want that. That's why it's a fantasy -- it is a place where women really can have a strong man and everything else like they want and have all the other things that aren't consistent with that. The reality is that to get such a man like that she has to be thin, beautiful and submissive. But, she wants to be able to have all that and be an overweight, middle-aged shrew. Yeah, that's completely inconsistent, but lets not act like that's not what women really want. And, what Kim says is true. When push comes to shove, the strong patriarchal male really is what they really do want -- what makes most women happy. The problem is that most women still think they can have both. It's not as obvious as trying to land Fabio even though you are a frumpy old lady, but it is essentially the same thing.

Also, women really do have rape fantasies that aren't just a fetish. Their rape fantasy isn't about some toothless hillbilly taking them against their will. It's about some tall-dark-and-handsome vampire of mystery absconding with them. They really do want that to happen just like in their fantasy, too. And, if it ever did happen just like in their fantasy, they would love every minute of it. What makes it a fantasy isn't the reality of the deed, itself, not being what they imagine, but the reality of life after the deed (which doesn't ever make it into the fantasy, anyway) being so contrary to what they want in the long run that on the balance of it all, they really don't want to do that. A lot of women, nevertheless, do end up running off with a "vampire" though. And, it happens way too often to just be some sort of fetish -- it really is a lot more closely tied to the female condition than that.

In fact, the whole idea of a vampire, in the first place, and the original tale of Dracula is actually just high brow fem-porn, for that matter. That doesn't mean it's a bad story or anything -- that men shouldn't find it entertaining, even. But, the whole vampire biting a woman thing is just a metaphor for sex. And, it all happens precisely in the rape fantasy paradigm which has all sorts of wonderful characteristics for the woman:

She makes a man so crazy with desire that he can't control himself
She doesn't have to take any emotional or moral responsibility for the act
It carries so much more entertaining drama than just a normal encounter
She doesn't have to do anything to please her partner
...

So long as it's a guy she is actually attracted to and not truly a toothless hillbilly -- that's exactly what she wants.

Interesting post, Adrian. I agree with what you say. My original wording may have been a bit clumsy. I meant women wouldn't be willing to pay the price for allowing rape in this reality.

Maybe a better example would have been people professing to see the Bible as an absolute moral guide, then continuing to steal, lie and fornicate. The spirit is willing and such.