To see where this has seeped into our perception of romance we don’t need to look back too far to find evidence of men’s role to be the protector, the decision maker, the one who knows all. Transfer this belief into the role of someone in a position of sexual power over someone else and we start to have a concern.
In the beginnings of romance, readers saw reflections of these behaviors in men. I vividly remember reading one of my mother’s romance books by a well-known author where the woman protagonist becomes pregnant unexpectedly, is left by her fiancé, and then cue unknown rich dude with an interest in her to come in and buy all her baby items now that she’s down and out. Arguably, this is a fantasy. Someone coming in and taking away the financial stress of the situation for the heroine isn’t common and who wouldn’t want that? But let’s be honest: if this were a real-world scenario and a guy we didn’t know well came in and bought all your baby clothes, and took a sudden interest in you, it would be creepy.
It’s creepy because today’s women have slowly gained independence. We are taught to guard our safety and protect ourselves from predators. It’s a common tactic for abusers to buy their victims things in exchange for good behavior or sexual favors. This is why I think the secret admirer trope with these scenarios has died out in recent decades. It can be really hard to pull off with readers who are searching for these red flags.
It’s not that those books written in the 70s, 80s, or 90s were meaning to feed into the problematic beliefs; they are highlighted as even more concerning now only because the context has shifted and shined a light on these micro-red-flags. Added together, they make for the beginnings of an unhealthy relationship. Yes, romance is fantasy. We are making the perfect match for our love interests. They are not real people. These are not real scenarios. I don’t expect my boss to fly me around in his private helicopter. Readers know this. We go into the novel knowing that it’s not true to life and we just want to be in that other world for a while. We look past the “is this real” to see the story of a relationship blooming underneath. But we want that relationship to have a sturdy, realistic foundation. Our characters consenting to the activity is key. Context of the character’s interaction is important!
What about the same scenario, but the love interest isn’t consenting and he or she doesn’t have any sexual interest or interest in a relationship? Then can you imagine that being sexy at all? I can’t. When the element of fear and lack of trust enter the picture, that’s no longer a fantasy. It’s a horror.
The situations we’re talking about in the real world are not the same as the ones we’ve seen in romance. They’re not even close. How often has the hero whipped out his penis unexpectedly? Usually our love interest is pining for that moment to happen. There has been talk and behavioral cues of interest, secret smiles and looks. We know the characters are consenting. That is building the anticipation. That is creating the amazing chemistry we know and love.
I’ve read so many books that feature the alpha male characters doing what alpha males do—being the decision maker, the one who jumps into danger at the call of duty, the one who gets hot and bothered and takes his love interest by the waist and brings him or her close. Most times he looks and checks to see if his actions are okay. A little nod. He or she nods back. That is consent. And it’s sexy as hell.
A few of those times the big, strong, ultra-manly man will ask his love interest “Is this okay? Are we really doing this?” Oh my. He jumps from buildings, he’s held a live grenade in his hand, and he’s asking for permission? That window into his vulnerability is hot, hot, hot.
I’ve lost track of the number of readers I’ve talked to who admit that well-written, consensual romance is what saved them from an abusive relationship and directed them into their true love’s arms instead. THAT is amazing. That is power in writing. If you ask most engineers or astronauts, they’ll tell you they watched or read science fiction, Investigators read mysteries, and lawyers were inspired by To Kill A Mockingbird or John Grisham books. The story, sure, is fantasy—but it can inspire people to better themselves. So why wouldn’t romance books inspire relationships?
We can all agree harassment is awful and needs to stop. We’ve all read a character that we just can’t stomach. Someone who reminds us of an ex, or a toxic best-friend, or is too one dimensional, or not someone we’d see ourselves with or even be friends with. And we put those books down like they’re hot potatoes. Or we toss them across the room in disgust. Sometimes this is personal preference and sometimes the writer missed the cues of a problematic personality. It’s hard. These issues are ingrained into our society.
If the characters I’m reading were not attracted to each other, and not in a hate-to-love kind of goodness (a trope I LOVE), then I don’t really want to read it. There is too much of non-consent in the real world. We shouldn’t expect non-consensual relationships (verbal or non-verbal) in romance and we don’t get them today. I’ve rarely read a book where the character is thinking in their heads they don’t want to be having sex with the love interest, but oh well, “I guess I’ll think of England.” Doesn’t happen.
So, is consent going to kill our romance? No. It’s not. It’s going to make it a thousand times better. The fantasy in romance can be forward thinking into what we’d like to see from our love interests in real life. Healthy relationships are the new fantasy. The new romantic ideal.
All those men on social media asking how the heck they’re supposed to interact with women now in the age of harassment awareness? I have a small suggestion for them. Pick up a damn fine romance. We can provide you with a list if you like.
Further Reading on this topic:
Why Women Talk Less Than Men at Work
http://time.com/money/4450406/men-interrupt-talk-more/
Do Women Talk More Than Men?
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/women-talk-more-than-men/
The Unusual Phenomenon of Men Interrupting Women
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/14/business/women-sexism-work-huffington-kamala-harris.html
Beyond Bodice-Rippers: How Romance Novels Came to Embrace Feminism
https://www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2013/03/beyond-bodice-rippers-how-romance-novels-came-to-embrace-feminism/274094/
Copyright © 2018 by Alice Faris.
Lezli Robyn is an Australian multi-genre author and Assistant Publisher of Arc Manor, living in the US with her mini-Dachshund/Chihuahua, Bindi. Her love of books led to her meeting her future collaborator, Mike Resnick, on eBay. Since that serendipitous event Lezli has sold to prestigious markets around the world and is in the process of finishing too more small press books while writing her first two novels. Known for her bittersweet and heart-tugging writing technique, she has been a finalist for several prestigious awards, including the 2010 Campbell Award for Best New Writer. In 2011 and 2014 she also won the Catalan Premi Ictineu Award for Best Translated Story. You can find her at www.lezlirobyn.com.
IN SEARCH OF
THE SASSENACH CONNECTION
by Lezli Robyn
Outlander Opening Title
If you haven’t been swooning over Jamie Fraser, aka actor Sam Heughan, aka sexist-Scot-in-a-kilt, then you clearly haven’t been reading or watching Outlander—either the first in a (soon-to-be) nine book series by Diana Gabaldon, or the Starz television show, which just concluded its third season. More importantly, you haven’t been watching one of the best in the current crop of television showcasing female empowerment. Its other lead Claire Randall, played by Caitriona Balfe, shows us how strong a woman can be, even if she was from the 1940’s, a time when women were empowered by WWII to step up alongside men to contribute to the war effort, but then expected to return to a submissive “housewife” role upon its conclusion.
Not only is Claire a forthright, forward-thinking lass who cusses like a sailor, fighting the inequality experienced by women during her time, but she is thrust two hundred years into the past, where she has to use her keen i
ntelligence and war veteran grittiness to help her survive a time where woman effectively had no rights and were owned by their husband.
And therein lies the beauty of this couple. Because while Jamie and Claire are from different times, different cultures, and born with very different role expectations upon adulthood, they challenge each other to better themselves, to become more equal partners. The lead characters are from time periods 270 and 70 years in the reader’s/viewer’s past, yet Diana Gabaldon shows us a couple that are often more enlightened in their beliefs and their trust in each other than many representations of romance set in the modern age.
Now, that doesn’t mean this couple doesn’t have problems—theirs often seem insurmountable. For one thing Claire was already married when they met, to the liberal-for-his-times Frank Randall. But they put the effort in...as does the Starz Network. Diana Gabaldon’s words are beautifully reflected on the screen, and the locations filmed are often as breathtaking as the relationships depicted.
Outlander Season 1 Poster
The scene where Frank proposes to Claire was filmed in Glasgow’s bustling George Square. While most fans of Outlander are Jamie/Claire shippers, you can’t help but be swooned by the gorgeous locations that play backdrop to Frank and Claire’s romance, too. The scene was wonderful in giving us a glimpse of the 1940’s Glasgow, and is probably one of the easiest locations for fans to access.
George Square, Glasgow
When Claire is given her marching orders by the military, she leaves on the train, in uniform, as her husband Frank watches her carriage pull away, his heart in his throat. The historic Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway near Falkirk stood in for the bustling 1940’s London station, one of its locomotives being used to depict her departure. While it was an important moment showing us another facet of Claire and Frank’s relationship, the scene also flipped the gender norms; the traditional “leave for war” moment is usually depicted with the man in uniform hopping on the train, with his lady love waving a teary farewell from the platform.
The Bo’ness and Kinneil Railway
If you were to visit the station with your love, you could take one of the scenic tours, which helps raise money to keep the trains serviced, but if you truly want to go to one of the most pivotal season one locations between Claire and Frank, go no further than Falkland, Fife, which is a picturesque town that stands in for the bigger city of Inverness in the show. Fayre Earth Gift Shop became Farrell’s Hardware and Furniture Store, where Claire daydreams about how her life might be different, if only she had have bought that vase. And down the road is The Covenanter Hotel, which stands in as Mrs. Baird’s Guesthouse, where Frank and Claire are dedicated to rediscovering each other, biblically and otherwise, on what they determine to be their second honeymoon. Not only can you stay at the hotel with your own significant other, making it a romantic night away, but you can go outside to see the majestic Bruce Fountain, where one of the most important (and unexplained) encounters of Outlander happens, when Franks sees Jamie (his ghost?) looking up into their hotel room window at Claire.
Bruce Fountain and Covenanter Hotel
While the author has still has not revealed how Jamie came to be standing at the fountain in the 1940’s, around two hundred years passed his time (Diana recently told fans on her Facebook page that this mystery will be solved in the last scene she ever writes for the series) if you travel up Rannoch Moor, in Perthshire, you can see the location of the Craigh na Dun stone circle, through which Claire travels into the past to meet the love of her life. The stones themselves
Rannoch Moor
are fictional, alas, but you can take a nice stroll with your partner through the surrounding scenery; pack a picnic, and you can have a romantic lunch on an Outlander-inspired tartan blanket on the very spot Claire leaves her tartan wrap to explore the 1740’s.
Clava Cairns
The nearby Clava Cairns are said to have provided inspiration for the more Stonehenge-like Craigh na dun—especially the tall rectangular slab that could represent a stone door. The ancient standing stones are around four thousand years old and one of Scotland’s most evocative prehistoric locations. Two parts of the site, Balnuaran of Clava and Milton of
Outlander Season 3 Poster
Clava, are open to the public and contain a range of burial monuments and what remains of a medieval chapel, so you can brush up on the burial beliefs of the Bronze Age society. Not only that, you could do a mini photoshoot with your significant other to recreate Outlander’s third season promotional poster. If you pose on each side of the tall rectangular stone—maybe even in clothes that match Jamie and Claire’s respective time periods—you and your loved one can create the visual that you are separated in time. But I digress....
When Claire first travelled through the stones, the location scouts used the sweeping area of Tulloch Ghru, near Aviemore and The Cairngorms, to depict the hilly, woodland journey Jamie and his clansmen take the bewildered Claire on after their run-in with Frank’s ancestor, Captain Randall, and his English soldiers. (The location is also used quite extensively in the opening credits.) Their long journey leads them to one of the most significant locations of the first season: Doune Castle, in Perthshire, which stands in for Castle Leoch, home to Jamie’s Uncle, Colum MacKenzie, and his clan.
Doune Castle, Stirlingshire
We first see the castle when a bedraggled Claire and an injured Jamie ride up to the entrance after successfully evading the English. But Claire is not in the mood to admire the 100ft high gatehouse. While today Doune Castle can host everything from large wedding ceremonies in its remarkably-preserved stone-walled Great Hall to more intimate affairs in the thirty-person-capacity kitchen—both of which were used extensively in scenes throughout the first season of Outlander—all Claire wanted to do was is escape, to return to the Craigh na Dun stones and, through them, her husband, Frank. (The castle also featured heavily in the first episode when Claire and Frank visited the ruins of the castle during the 1940’s and use the opportunity to get reacquainted...in the most intimate way possible.)
Doune Castle Interior
Interior of Doune Castle, Stirlingshire
It is during Claire’s stay at the fictional Castle Leoch that she meets Geillis Duncan, a somewhat conniving and mysterious woman who is
immediately interested in discovering Claire’s secrets. While Glasgow’s Pollok Country Park doubles as the grounds surrounding Castle Leoch, playing host to the scene where Claire and Geillis look for herbs to treat the ill in the 1740’s, the Royal Burgh of Culross, in Fife, with its cobblestone roads, stands in for the village of Cranesmuir, where Geillis lives. Not only is the Royal Burgh managed by the National Trust, which helps it maintain its historic condition, behind the impressive Culross Palace you can find an exquisite garden filled with herbs and vegetables, which doubled for garden Claire works in during her stay at Castle Leoch. It is a real treat for fans, because it appears unchanged from what you see on the screen compared to real life.
Culross Castle Garden
Claire’s early excursions outside of Castle Leoch were often not of her own volition, with Claire regularly being teased or bullied by the Scottish clansmen (who believed her to be a spy), until she proved through her own acerbic wit, on their tax collection tour through the MacKenzie villiage, that she is no pushover, nor weakling female. The Folk Museum in Newtownmore features replicas of traditional turf-roofed Highland crofts, which made it an ideal setting for the fictional MacKenzie Village. While there were no romantic scenes filmed there to channel into a date with your loved one, if you visit the Folk Museum, you and your significant other can see what it was like to live the Highland life, how they built their homes and how they dressed and tilled the soil in a warm welcoming environment. You could see for yourselves what it was like for Claire to be thrust several hundred years into a more rustic past.
But if you are looking for a much more romantic location to take your partner, then you can go no further tha
n Glencorse Old Kirk in Midlothian. The 17th century church rests near the foothills of Pentland Hills, and it is the spot where Jamie and Claire are married to protect her from Captain Randall, who catches sight of her again when the English intervene in the MacKenzie’s tax collection tour to “rescue” her, believing (somewhat correctly) that she is not travelling with the Scotsmen of her own volition. The location is breathtaking with it’s beautiful ancient church, old graveyard, lush parkland and atmospheric garden, and it is the perfect location for a marriage proposal—or indeed, to get married yourself.
Glencorse Old Kirk
Speaking of locations to get married, Blackness Castle is often a popular venue to tie the knot in Scotland. The ex-artillery fortress is often referred to as “the ship that never sailed” because of its sea-vessel shape, and the 15th century castle offers couples a breathtaking view over the Firth of Forth, the beautiful backdrop for many a romantic occasion with your loved one. It also stood in for Fort William, in Outlander, where “Black Jack” Randall’s headquarters were based in the series (and where Jamie rescues Claire, after she is kidnapped by Randall lfollowing their marriage) so you would be able to experience what it would be like to visit one of the show’s more unusual filming locations.
Blackness Castle
If you were wanting to go all out on romance, you could do no wrong then visit Hopetoun House in South Queensferry, on the outskirts of Edinburgh, which is owned by Adrian, Marquis of Linlithgow. It is a beautiful grand stately home that doubles as the residence of the fictional Duke of Sandringham in Outlander (played by the brilliant Simon Callow), whom Jamie and Claire visit in order to obtain a pardon for Jamie, after his latest encounter with Jack Randall at Fort William reinforces how precarious their position is. The estate is open to the public in Summer, and many a couple have taken over the splendid estate for their wedding day, saying “I do” in the stunning Adam Stables before having their reception in the House’s main ballroom. (Don’t be surprised by the size of Hopetoun House, as the Outlander special effects team digitally erased some of its outer wings for the show. One of the rooms also doubled as the spare room in Jamie and Claire’s Paris apartment.)
Issue 7, Febraury 2018: Featuring Jayne Ann Krentz: Heart's Kiss, #7 Page 14
