Analysis of Romance and Damsel in Distress Tropes

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Delve into the portrayal of romance and the damsel in distress concept in literature through a study of Wattpad winners stories. Explore the evolution of these tropes and their implications on gender representation in media.

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New Media, Same Old Story: Damsel in Distress Analysis in Eight Wattpad Winners No. Abstract: ABS-ICOLLITE-24048 Ayu Fitri Kusumaningrum, Alya Zafira Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia

INTRODUCTION 1. Why romance? - Romance fiction is one of the most popular fiction genres in the United Kingdom and the United States (Mohammed, 2019) Romance has proven to be a popular genre for generations (Jansen, 2020). - Romance novels have lived through many reinventions, and today's contemporary romance is not only fun to read, but also showcases our diverse society (Jansen, 2020). - If media represents a mirror to predominant cultural beliefs, there are no limits to what might be interesting and useful to investigate through the lens of romance novels (M nard, 2013). 2. Why Wattpad winners? - If literary studies want to understand the reading culture of the youngest generations in the 21st century, we need to consider the phenomenon of digital social reading (Lang, 2012). - Wattpad was launched in 2006 and is now one of the largest global creative writing and reading social media platforms with approximately 80 million monthly users (Wattpad, 2019). 3. Why damsel in distress? - We need to understand how the media represent gender because the construction of femininity and masculinity is part of the dominant ideology (Mcquail, 2010).

LITERATURE REVIEW 1. Romance Genre Romance is the most popular genre The modern romance heroine has a right to companionate marriage, has not yet met her love match, but the possibility is firmly in her power (Regis, 2003). 2. Damsel in Distress Concept Damsel in Distress is a classic term in the world of literature, art, film and video games to describe a young female character who is in a difficult situation and needs a male hero to save her. After being rescued, usually the female character will marry the hero. Usually characters like this have various problems or situations that they cannot solve themselves (Kurniawati, 2020). 3. Feminist Theories - Gender is a performance with clearly punitive consequences. Discrete genders are part of what 'humanizes individuals within contemporary culture; indeed, those who fail to do their gender right are regularly punished (Butler, 1988). - While all of these characters seem to portray independence, they lack it; they are only capable of conquering through the help of another male character women will appear as the heroes but only as defined by their interactions with the male characters (Akiona, 2015).

METHOD (1) Primary: eight Wattpad winners stories (2) Secondary: journal & proceeding articles, books, etc . Type of data (1) Reads and observes significant text (2) Determine text excerpts Data collection Qualitative (1) Identifies focus of the study (2) Discovers similarities most stories depict damsels in distress characters Data analysis Data analysis Interprets entire data >> this study builds on the ideas of previous research related to romance genre and damsel in distress.

FINDING AND DISCUSSION OBVIOUS DAMSEL IN DISTRESS SCENARIO 1. Rich and famous boy who play sport with independent girl - A Perfect Fit by @lilyvictoriawrites - The Upside of Falling by @alexlightstories - How to be the Best Third Wheel by @summerbackthen (Loridee De Villa) 2. Rich vampire and full of debt necromancer - The Vampire Always Bites Twice by @AHopelessNecromantic 3. Atheist boy and catholic girl with same situation (feeling asexual) - Mask of Celibacy by @Carolyn_Hill 4. Problematic boy and ordinary girl - Checkmate by @officialrachaelrose

FINDING AND DISCUSSION Checkmate by @officialrachaelrose A Perfect Fit by @lilyvictoriawrites (Grand Prize Winners 2023) (Grand Prize Winners 2023) When a scandal hits perfect seventeen-year-old Rose in the run-up to an election, she starts to believe that her dreams of becoming Class President are over. But in the shreds of her reputation is where she meets Blake - Archbury High's favorite troublemaker. As morally corrupt as he is handsome, Rose knows that asking for his help is a risk, but it could help to claw back her dignity. After an eight-hour flight sitting next to her high school nemesis Jackson Carter, fashion designer and barista Isabelle Curtis thought that would finally be the last she would see of him. But as the saying goes, famous last words. * * * Isabelle Curtis and Jackson Carter were fierce academic rivals in high school, up until Jackson moved to the UK in junior year for boarding school. What starts off as a mutual arrangement soon begins to unravel, and as the pair grow closer and secrets are spilled in the run-up to the election, Rose starts to learn that maybe perfect isn't everything. Eight years later, Jackson has returned from abroad to take on the role of CEO at his late father's company. When Isabelle and Jackson meet again, there's a war of words, banter and a passionate dislike towards each other. Throw in a high school reunion, some more chaos, and a 'deal' in the mix-one that might just involve a little faking and pretending. It's all fun and games and tit for tat, almost just like in high school, until real feelings become involved

FINDING AND DISCUSSION The Vampire Always Bites Twice by @AHopelessNecromantic Mask of Celibacy by @Carolyn_Hill Grand Prize Winner 2022 Grand Prize Winner 2021 When a client drops dead in her parlor, former necromancer turned fortune teller, Isla, has no choice but to illegally resurrect the poor gal. Better that than go back to jail for keeping a corpse, am I right? The gal's just a Tourist. Isla is certain nobody will notice... At least she was until a handsome vampire strolled in. In the late nineties asexuality is all but ignored as an orientation. Jess doesn't understand her complex array of emotions or why she finds it so hard to relate to her fellow classmates. Catholic high schools and churches simply don't address the issue, and the internet is still nascent. When vampire private investigator, Gregorio, is hired to find where another vamp misplaced their favorite barista, he never expected the case to lead him into the parlor of a fraudulent psychic with a secret. Or that that psychic would be so distractingly attractive. Jess can't tell anyone the truth. Not even her best friend Care. Instead, she hides behind the guise of faith. Behind a mask of celibacy. Until she meets Eric, that is. He lets slip that he's asexual, and Jess wants to learn more. Neither expected they'd need to team up to find the not-dead girl before both the authorities and a lovesick vampire discover there's a new reanimated corpse in town. Sparks fly and blood splatters as Greg and Isla investigate Philadelphia's underground magical Society, negotiate with the werewolf mafia, dodge arrest by anti-necromantic wizards, and occasionally pop off for late night cheesesteaks.

FINDING AND DISCUSSION How to be the Best Third Wheel by @summerbackthen (Loridee De Villa) The Upside of Falling by @alexlightstories Grand Prize Winner 2017 Grand Prize Winner 2020 Becca's life takes a thrilling turn when she pretends to date Brett Wells, the most popular boy in school. It's the last year of high school, and everything has changed . . . Becca Hart is determined to coast her way through her senior year at Eastwood High School. Counting down the days until graduation had become her crutch. After a summer spent in the Philippines, Lara Dela Cruz is eager to start her senior year and, most importantly, reunite with her three besties. But what she did not expect was to show up on the first day of school to all three of her friends now in relationships. Her plans come to a screeching halt one afternoon when she ends up sharing a spontaneous kiss with Brett Wells, who's known for being captain of the football team and an all-around good guy. Fighting for their attention, catching some new and confusing feelings for long-time frenemy James, and wading through the pressures of post-high-school plans all have Lara reeling. And to make matters worse, Lara's beautiful and untrustworthy cousin conveniently appears and wiggles her way right between her and James' budding relationship. Feeling like a third wheel in more ways than one, Lara must learn to accept that change is inevitable, love is complicated, and being the odd one out is sometimes where inner power is found. Their "love" spreads like fire and their fake relationship begins. But the two quickly learn that just because it started off fake, doesn't mean it won't become very real.

CONCLUSION - Most Wattpad winners depict damsels in distress characters in the stories (6 out of 8). - These damsel in distress portrayals perpetuate the patriarchal system even though the heroines may seem to be empowered women. - Wattpad as a new media offers something (un)new since it is (still) used to spread the perpetuation of patriarchy.

REFERENCES Akiona, J. (2015). Dependent women and the male gaze in fictional domestic violence films. HOHONU, Vol. 13, 1-4. Butler, J. (1988). Performative acts and gender constitution: An essay in phenomenology and feminist theory. Theatre Journal, 40(4), 519 531. https://doi.org/10.2307/3207893 Jansen, A. (2020). Rethinking romance: An argument for adding the genre to the popular shelf. The Journal of Academic Librarianship, 46(2), 102100. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2019.102100 Kurniawati, N. (2020). REPRESENTASI FEMINISME DALAM TOKOH UTAMA FILM MALEFICENT MISTRESS OF EVIL DAN FROZEN 2. HORTATORI: Jurnal Pendidikan Bahasa Dan Sastra Indonesia, 4(2), 133 142. Lang, A. (2012). Transforming Reading. In editors (Ed.), From Codex to Hypertext: Reading at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century (pp. 1 24). University of Massachusets Press; Nakamura, L. (2013). Words with Friends : Socially Networked Reading onGoodreads. PMLA, 128(1), 238 243. https://doi.org/10.1632/pmla.2013.128.1.238 M nard, A. D. (2013). Note from the Field: Reflecting on Romance Novel Research: Past, Present and Future. Journal of Popular Romance Studies , 3.2. McQuail, D. (2010). McQuail s Mass Communication Theory. SAGE Publications. Regis, P. (2003). A Natural History of the Romance Novel. University Of Pennsylvania Press. Wattpad. (2019). Wattpad announces 80 million monthly user milestone. Wattpad Blog. https://company.wattpad.com/blog/2019/8/15/wattpad-announces-80-million-monthly-user-milestone