Written by Penguin Hydrant
I was shocked to find an old romance story I wrote 10 years ago, which depicted the female protagonist as willing to give up her career to become a professional wife.
As a feminist now, I absolutely cannot accept stories like that anymore.
Since romance novels are a genre created by women and for women—perhaps they can also serve as a vehicle for feminism. But how should the concept of ‘feminist romance’ be defined?
I believe the key to ‘feminism’ lies in the author’s attitude toward gender issues reflected in the text. Just as feminist philosophy encompasses many schools of thought, the feminist ideas conveyed in literary works and their modes of expression can also be highly diverse.
So I want to approach this with an open and inclusive perspective: for instance, avoiding misogynistic language is a linguistic direction I strongly support. But does the presence of misogynistic terms in a work automatically mean it cannot be feminist? I don’t think so.
If a work portrays how women persevere through adversity, couldn’t that also be a manifestation of female strength?
Even if a female character truly meets a tragic end under patriarchal oppression, this criticism and exposure of existing oppression clearly has feminist undertones. Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and Han Kang’s The Vegetarian both employ similar techniques.
However, the entertainment value of romance novels cannot be ignored. The romantic nature of these novels also makes intimate relationships an unavoidable topic.
Feminist perspectives often reject traditional family and marriage values, rejecting the narrative of the submissive wife and mom. Yet, love under a feminist narrative can still take many forms: perhaps the idealised, mutually respectful romantic relationship in Pride and Prejudice; or perhaps it could depict an experimental open relationship like that of Simone de Beauvoir and Sartre?
More importantly, what are female characters doing outside of romantic relationships? Do they have their own careers, ideals, and life goals to pursue? What they pursue can be diverse: careers, power, friendship, freedom… They can be kind, gentle, and supportive of others; they can also be ruthless, sharp, and ambitious.
Feminist romance should be an open and free subject. Since female characters are no longer objects waiting to be loved and rescued, and their lives encompass more than just romance, marriage, and childbearing, they can freely pursue, choose, even stumble and fall, then rise again. This could become a means for women to reimagine and redefine the world.
I feel regret for my former self, who wrote about sacrificing one’s career for love, while I am also proud that I can now write about female protagonists who reject marriage for their careers, challenge tradition, pursue freedom, and work to advance women’s rights.
