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Since the 1960’s in the Western world, feminist theory has become increasingly mainstream, and challenged gender

roles. Feminist values continually question the traditionally patriarchal mentality, and thus dating between

heterosexual couples has changed, as well as how they are depicted in romance novels. In the romance novel genre,

casual violence from men has been a long-standing trope, with the colloquial term ‘bodice ripper’ coming from how

commonly the male protagonist physically tore the female protagonists’ top off their body. In the past decade, a more

absurdist trope has emerged: the male protagonist is anything other than a man, ranging from being a honey badger, a

billionaire minotaur who donates sperm, a seven-foot-tall blue alien, or even a door. There is an abundance of

contemporary romance novels centred around a woman and various creatures or objects who still exhibit

hypermasculine characteristics, including casual violence. How does this trend speak to the dating world of today?

Why are authors writing romances between women and anything besides a man, while giving the ‘not man’

hypermasculine characteristics? My creative work explores the genre’s boundaries by questioning the acceptable

amount of hypermasculinity women would accept from a male partner, and how, if at all, men are socialised to be

violent as a demonstration of love.

2 Apr 2025

22 Mar 2023