Nothing But An Escape

Romance novels have never been my idea of "good literature." Even though I have very limited experiences with romantic novels, I have always thought them to be a little too superficial and unrealistic. To me, romance novels seemed to simply be an extension of society's flawed notion of romance and the relationships between men and women. I just didn't see the point of reading romance novels. Janice Radway's piece definitely gave me a slightly different perspective on the issue of romance novels and media consumption in general.

Before reading this piece, I had never even considered the idea of using romance novels as a form of escape from the realities of life. It had never occurred to me that the seemingly cliché characters and predictable story lines could actually serve as a way in which to immerse one’s self in an idealized fantasy world. Radway’s study of Dot’s clientele was very interesting to me because it gave the female readers of romance novels a chance to express themselves and to explain their love (or obsession?) with these novels. Although I do not plan to go out and start reading as many romance novels as I can get my hands on, I did begin to identify with the women on their use of this media as an escape from real life. For instance, I am an avid viewer of MTV’s Jersey Shore. As a fairly educated young woman, I am fully aware that the show’s portrayal of women isn’t the most favorable. However, I watch it because it provides a break from the stresses of college life. Once a week, I can watch other people party it up and momentarily forget about the giant assignment I have to finish.

The chapter in Gill concerning audience consumption was also very striking to me in the manner in which it analyzes different kinds of media consumption studies from different points of view. I was struck by the fact that things like differences in location could have such a profound effect in the consumption of media and the manner in which it is interpreted. As a very large consumer of media (especially electronic media), I was pleased to see that research was being conducted from the point of view of the audience; as opposed to the research done by academics without any consideration of the average audience.

An Escape to "Real Life"

            Gill’s reading discusses audience studies specifically looking at the encoding/decoding moment of the audiences, the pleasures audiences receive from the media they view, and the shift to studying information and communication technologies in the context of everyday life.  The encoding/decoding moment describes the way a person takes in and understands a message they receive from the media.  Gill talks about how a message can have more than just one meaning and sometimes we may not understand the true meanings behind a message.  With looking at audience pleasure, Gill discusses the idea that many women who read romances enjoy fleeing from their own, real life and falling into the heroine’s life in their imagination.

            This leads into Radway’s article “Women Read the Romance.”  This article describes a group of romance readers, whom she calls the Smithton women, who enjoy reading romance novels in order to escape their real life.  In order to feel happy and content, many of these women turn to romance novels because “reading the novels gives them hope [and] provides pleasure” (Radway, 49).

            It was interesting to me how both of these articles stated the idea that women become more comfortable and find reading or watching television more pleasurable when they are by themselves.  Women want to be loved and treated right and sometimes they do not receive that attention so they turn to romances in order to make them feel better about themselves.  Many women treat men with care and respect, and many men do not reciprocate those actions, which is why it is unfair that women have to turn to romance novels in order to become happy.  It is also noted that some women have to watch their favorite television show by themselves to make it an enjoyable activity.  Women see romances as an escape from their real life and if your wife, girlfriend, or partner, whatever you would like to call them, is turning to romances to be happy, maybe you should check your relationship and the way you are treating her.