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From: hok382@houxa.UUCP (P.CARSTENSEN)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: pornography
Message-ID: <362@houxa.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 17-Feb-84 08:40:49 EST
Article-I.D.: houxa.362
Posted: Fri Feb 17 08:40:49 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 18-Feb-84 02:06:34 EST
Organization: Bell Labs, Holmdel NJ
Lines: 15

I heard on the radio a couple years ago, the really interesting 
comment that books like Harlequin romances and gothic thrillers
were a form of feminine pornography...that is, the proper
analogue of Playboy or whatever.  This strikes me as correct, tho
I have never had much luck explaining the idea convincingly.
I only read gothic romances when I am on a junk-book binge that
even cheap science-fiction won't satisfy, and, to be honest, I have
never read a Harlequin romance, so maybe I don't know what I'm
talking about, but based on a small sample, where the meek
innocent girl gets the handsome mysterious man (after he expresses
his admiration for her by raping her) because she doesn't care
about his numerous possessions but just wants to have his kids
(there's always a rival that just wants his possessions, see)
I've pretty much decided that reading such stuff encourages
some attitudes in me that I've been working n years to get rid of.