Discussions regarding the portrayal of Heroes and Heroines in
Romanceland always fascinate me. The truth is we do tend to fall back on some
staples. The term ‘charm fatigue’ came up in a post by Anna Cowan. You can find it here http://annacowan.com/2012/04/26/the-ugly-hero/ She discussed the ugly hero and the trend towards more normal looking people
inhabiting our bookshelves. I thought I might muse upon this matter.
Fact is we’re
writing fantasy (not necessarily as in swords and unicorns, though swords and
unicorns are v. cool), but being open to a wider array of features for our heroes
and heroines is not a bad thing. Cherise
Sinclair comes to mind as someone who doesn’t mind mixing up her minxes. Lauren
Dane and Lorelei James have both had some heavily tattooed and pierced types
parading through their pages. They don’t
all need to be petite beauties with raven hair and flashing blue eyes, do they?
Truly? For shame... ride away on your white stallion with the red velvet skirt
of your gown trailing behind you!
Romance
is a big mother of a genre, there’s room for everyone willing to go the Happy
Ending and beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Geek girls need love too. Boys
do make passes at girls that wear glasses. Instant Attraction by Jill Shalvis
and Hard and Fast by Erin McCarthy for instance. Viva lá Difference! Our hero
might not be over six feet tall and pushing the parables of marble-like
perfection. He might be like my other lust object of the week, Jeremy Renner. Now,
Jeremy, (currently cast as Hawkeye in the Avengers and The Bourne Legacy later
in the year) has acne scars, a non classically handsome face, and is 5’9.
Shock! Horror! But wait... he’s got charisma in spades. Attitude. I think he’s a sexy
devil.
Now, a great love story doesn’t rely upon perfect specimens to carry
itself off. It’s the love. The emotion that sweeps you away. Now watch closely because this is where
my double standard comes in. No, no, this hand, look at this hand! Shit. You
saw. Yeah, Jeremy’s ripped. I’m not talking muscle-bound freak, but he’s a fit
boy. For this is my fantasy and I am unwilling to forgo the hunky man body, it’s
true. Romance is still mostly written by
women for women. But a perfect male specimen to rival David Gandy I don’t
always require. It’s still the personality that nails it. The charisma. A
certain confidence, even.
My last piece of evidence? Displaying my geek girl cred, I gave you ‘Silk’
from David Edding’s ‘The Belgariad’ series. Silk was an aristocrat and a thief.
He had a nose prone to twitching like a rat's. He was thin and not
particularly tall. Silk had attitude through the roof and you couldn’t help
but swoon when he entered the scene. So dashing and clever, sarcastic and daring
was he. What wit! Simply put, Silk rocks. He was a great hero and I was delighted when he met his plus one in series two.
That’s all from me but I'd love to hear your comments...
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