Suzanne
Do you agree that these books perpetuate the culturally stereotypical role of females by portraying that role as a personal choice, "freely designed", and thus more desirable?

Ashley
Radway points out that from a feminist perspective, "romance reading can also be seen as an activity that could potentially disarm that [oppositional] impulse" to declare independence. Is this an accurate statement? If so, to what extent?
Cara
Do you agree with the way that Radway labels the reading of these novels a form of protest?

Danielle
Do you think that reading romance novels is a form of protest?

Beth
Are romance novels really a form of a protest?  What are they protesting against?

Peter
On its most basic level, are romance novels good for those who read them and their surrounding lives?

Katie
The author says how both ideal and failed romance novels convey the idea that agressive male behavior is not threatning to women, that "masculine behavior is benign because it does not prohibit the establishment of a relationship that can provide a woman with the relationality she needs" (p. 168). Do you think that this is the belief in a society with domestic violence?  

Lauren H.
Radway writes that "One of the measures of an ideal book's success is its ability to deal convincingly with female fears and reservations by permitting them to surface briefly during a reading process that then explicitly lays them to rest by explaining them away." Do you think that it is healthy for the women to always see problems neatly resolved?

Katy
Women have a "desparate need to know that exaggerated masculinity is not life threatening to women" and this is portrayed in romance novels by heroines conquering hyper-masculine heroes. Is this normalizing hyper-masculinity? Might these portrayals have real life consequences on men?

Dan
Do romance novels effect a man's perception of masculinity, even though many men don't read them?

Tommy
Do you believe the Smithton women, unconsciously learn and apply to their real lives these concepts and ideas they read about in these fantasy stories?  The Smithton women believe that their real life relationships are unaffected by their reading, are they in denial?

Allison P.
Radway states that the writers of these romance novels all use the exact same language and that repetition is key. This writing style is very poor and Radway says it resembles story-telling.  Why do you feel the women do not tire of reading the same plot line over and over again?

Chris
How would you compare and contrast the Romantic novel phenomenon to the cult following of romance films like the Notebook and Titanic, or daytime soap operas?

Marie
Why does it seem that "repetition is the rule" in romance novels? Do authors think the people reading these books are unintelligent? Is it just the style these books are written in?

Brandon
In conclusion do you think romance novels provide a fantasy space for all women or does it only touch a certain demographic?

Lauren B.
After the reading the conclusion to Radway's book, it was interesting to see that, for the most part, she only talked about the readers of romance novels, and not so much about the authors. Do you think focusing on the authors as well would have made her arguements stronger? Also, why do you think she chose to approach this matter through the eyes of the readers rather than the authors?

Matt
The author bases her tenative conclusion around a community of readers in a small locale, but is this affected by the sampling?  Would interviewing a wider audience with different lifestyles reveal different trends?

Zach
Woudl it be possible to study the womens reactions to these romance novels after the books are put down? What kind of methods would one attempt to studying this?