So Where Are The Thick Romance Heroines? Article by Tracy Cooper-Posey

 

 

Written by Tracy on May 7, 2012
Categories: Sex & Sensuality, The Romance Industry

 

 

 

 

I’ve been thinking a lot about the recent rash of images on Facebook and elsewhere, of gorgeous women, who are in no way, shape or form, slender.  There’s a motivational poster out there called “Thick women” that has four not-slender women in various sexy poses, that encourages people to celebrate women in all their sizes.
It’s a laudable sentiment, and I encourage it.  Women should be appreciated for their inherent beauty, regardless of their current size.
BUT
Heroines in romance novels aren’t “thick”.  Every Hollywood A-List actress you could name is not “thick”.
When you read romance novels, do you ever image the heroine to be carrying the same excess weight as you?
I know I don’t.  The heroine is always the perfect weight I have never been.  She is my mirror image perfected.  She is me as I’ve never managed to achieve.
There was a short-lived attempt to portray “realistic” heroines, about fifteen years ago.  The Rubenesque romance line lived a short life and died quietly, unremarked.  These days, any romance heroine who is less than perfect is usually only found in chick lit or romances with a high comedic element, like Bridget Jones’ Diary, where the excess weight is part of the humour … as pathos.
We don’t like our heroines to be less than perfect.  I don`t believe Hollywood will be allowing their actors to gain weight any time soon, because the box office receipts will drop as the actors’ weights soar.
For the same reason, I don’t believe I would be willing to experiment with an overweight heroine in one of my romance novels.  I’m sure it would tank, just as my novels that feature non-Caucasian heroines do.
So while we’re saying we should celebrate the “real” shape of women, why do we cling to this perfect – and slender — image in books and movies?  I know I do it.
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As you can see this was written several years ago and I'm glad to say, things have gotten better where BBW are concerned.  Being one myself, (maybe not the beautiful part) I'm glad to say there are now quite a few authors who have "Thick Heroines" in their books.  Two of them are Carmen Falcone (you can check out her books, here, in previous post) and VA Dold/Tori Austen. You can check out her books her as well.