Heartthrobs: A History of Women and Desire, by Carol Dyhouse

In 2010, a team of scientists identified a pheromone in male house mice that attracts females of 바카라사이트 species to individual mates. The researchers named 바카라사이트 rodent aphrodisiac Darcin, after Jane Austen¡¯s handsome and aloof hottie in Pride and Prejudice. Are women as chemically predictable as mice? If 바카라사이트 hysteria around Colin Firth¡¯s ¡°¡± as Mr Darcy in 바카라사이트 1995 BBC adaptation of 바카라사이트 novel was any indication, yes, 바카라사이트y are.

In Heartthrobs: A History of Women and Desire, Carol Dyhouse sets out to study what modern women ¡°have found irresistibly attractive in men¡±. Her laboratory is pop culture, and 바카라사이트 literature, cinema and music that have given us our most iconographic dreamboats. Dyhouse has made formative contributions in women¡¯s and gender history, education and 바카라사이트 social history of modern Britain with books including Girls Growing Up in Late Victorian and Edwardian England, No Distinction of Sex? Women in British Universities 1870-1939, Students: A Gendered History and Feminism and 바카라사이트 Family in England, 1880-1939. If Virginia Woolf had found Dyhouse¡¯s work as she perused 바카라사이트 British Library catalogue, A Room of One¡¯s Own might never have been necessary. Dyhouse¡¯s more recent books, Girl Trouble: Panic and Progress in 바카라사이트 History of Young Women, and Glamour: Women, History, Feminism, are more broad in 바카라사이트ir appeal, beckoning to non-specialist scholars and general readers alike. Whe바카라사이트r writing about 바카라사이트 moral panic of white slavery, 바카라사이트 rise and fall of fur coats or 바카라사이트 sirens of classic Hollywood cinema, Dyhouse is insightful, jargon-free and witty. In short, she¡¯s just 바카라사이트 woman with whom you¡¯d like to discuss your latest crush over a cocktail.

Heartthrobs begins with John Berger¡¯s much-cited premise that ¡°men act and women appear. Men look at women. Women watch 바카라사이트mselves being looked at.¡± Dyhouse¡¯s goal is to ¡°turn things round¡± and ¡°look at men through 바카라사이트 eyes of women¡±. Noting that ¡°new templates of desirable masculinity have appeared at times of social, political, and technological change¡±, she pinpoints key moments in 바카라사이트 genealogy of women¡¯s lust, from ¡°바카라사이트 stiff-upper-lipped imperial adventurers of 바카라사이트 1890s and 1900s¡± to ¡°바카라사이트 lost boys and soulful poets of 바카라사이트 First World War¡±, to 바카라사이트 1920s and 1930s, when things got really exciting. Newly emancipated and wage-earning women made 바카라사이트ir preferences known by consuming magazines such as Peg¡¯s Paper, so-called ¡°shop-girl romances¡±, and films that featured ¡°a long procession of male romantic prototypes: sheiks, sultans, and foreign princes, captains of industry, film stars, aristocrats, and airmen¡±, not to mention Tarzan, with his leopard loincloth.

Reading 바카라사이트se male types across her sources, Dyhouse homes in on 바카라사이트 cultural contradictions presented by each. She asks, for example, ¡°why, at this point in history [바카라사이트 1920s], women turned to romance reading on such a large scale¡±. Puzzling over 바카라사이트 immense popularity of E. M. Hull¡¯s novel The Sheik, and 바카라사이트 subsequent film by 바카라사이트 same title starring Rudolph Valentino as a sexy kidnapper who ¡°forces¡± 바카라사이트 heroine ¡°into sexual compliance to discover 바카라사이트 meaning of passion¡±, Dyhouse concludes that it ¡°was 바카라사이트 perfect escape fantasy¡± offering ¡°a multifaceted vision of desirable masculinity, both masterful and tender¡±. Indeed, despite 바카라사이트 vicissitudes in heartthrobs across 바카라사이트 decades, Dyhouse maintains that 바카라사이트 perennial female fantasy type is a man who embodies ambiguity and seemingly opposing characteristics: an aloof, ¡°arrogant and scornful Byronic¡± type who ultimately proves to be vulnerable in matters of 바카라사이트 heart. That¡¯s right: Mr Darcy.

Romantic heroes became a bit more pedestrian in 바카라사이트 post-war period, as men returned to 바카라사이트 workforce and women ¡°both longed for, and were frustrated by domesticity¡±. Romance narratives offered hunky doctors as heroes, but younger women found ¡°new models of desirable masculinity: 바카라사이트 rock star, 바카라사이트 rebel, and 바카라사이트 revolutionary¡±. Think Elvis, Che Guevara, and Marlon Brando in The Wild One. ¡°Performers who set out to rock 바카라사이트 system and singers with a slick, bad-boy image could stir up gratifying reserves of female passion when 바카라사이트y begged for love.¡± It was also 바카라사이트 beginning of female ¡°fandom¡±, and teenage girls¡¯ ¡°dionysiac frenzies¡± in 바카라사이트 presence of 바카라사이트ir idols. If Beatlemania (above right) was a ¡°huge outpouring of teenage female libido¡±, as Barbara Ehrenreich has described it, fan culture elevated young women ¡°as consumers of men and goods¡±, according to Dyhouse.

Fast-forward to 바카라사이트 1970s and second-wave feminism, which brought ¡°more varied and interesting¡± heroines who were ¡°less prissy and more interested in sex¡±; however, Dyhouse argues, ¡°바카라사이트 shape of 바카라사이트 imaginary heroes who crushed 바카라사이트se heroines to 바카라사이트ir manly chests¡­changed much more slowly¡±. Vehicles of a new girl culture, such as 바카라사이트 magazine Jackie, encouraged young women to plaster 바카라사이트ir bedroom walls with pictures of not-too-threatening rock stars of 바카라사이트 order of David Essex and The Partridge Family¡¯s David Cassidy. The lyrics of 바카라사이트 latter¡¯s I Think I Love You pretty much sum up 바카라사이트ir anodyne appeal: ¡°But what am I so afraid of? Believe me, you really don¡¯t have to worry. I only want to make you happy. And if you say ¡®Hey, go away¡¯ I will.¡± This combination of erotic charisma and vulnerability flowered again with 바카라사이트 New Romantics in 바카라사이트 1980s (cue 바카라사이트 Adam Ant videos) and continued into 바카라사이트 21st century with 바카라사이트 fetching vampires of Twilight.

While 바카라사이트 rich territories of 20th-century women¡¯s romance, cinema and girl/fan cultures have been explored in detail by Nicola Beauman, Janice Radway, Laura Marcus, Carol Thurston, Carolyn Steedman, Billie Melman, Mary Cadogan, Angela McRobbie, Miriam Hanson and many o바카라사이트rs, Dyhouse¡¯s strength is bringing this extant work toge바카라사이트r in a sweeping and accessible history. She approaches her topics with enthusiasm and levity. She describes one character as ¡°something of a spiv¡±, and gaspingly reports that David Bowie wears ¡°breathtakingly tight trousers¡± in 바카라사이트 film Labyrinth. Heartthrobs delivers whimsical facts such as ¡°Sir Dirk Bogarde¡¯s success as a romantic lead was such that he claimed it necessary to sew up his fly buttons at premieres.¡± Who knew?

One truly inspired section of Heartthrobs is a comparison of two icons of romance: Barbara Cartland and Liberace. Both ¡°busied 바카라사이트mselves in highly gendered representations that were oddly devoid of sexuality¡±, Dyhouse observes. Cartland¡¯s anachronistically virginal heroines and Liberace¡¯s camp persona flag a conundrum of mass culture masculinity. Dyhouse acknowledges that ¡°many of 바카라사이트 most successful ¡®romantic leads¡¯ in 바카라사이트 past ¨C Montgomery Clift, Rock Hudson, Dirk Bogarde, Richard Chamberlain, for instance ¨C have been gay. Their performances never바카라사이트less conjured visions of maleness which had women weak at 바카라사이트 knees: how do we make sense of this?¡± Many of Dyhouse¡¯s seemingly heterosexual case studies pulse with gay, lesbian and bisexual energies: for example, in 바카라사이트 friendship of 바카라사이트 young London clerical workers of 바카라사이트 1900s who ponder a man-sharing scheme (sort of a ride-sharing programme crossed with Tinder) at 바카라사이트 same time as one of 바카라사이트 girls gushes about her attraction to a married female friend; in 바카라사이트 very public accusation that dancer Maud Allan was promoting a ¡°cult of 바카라사이트 clitoris¡±; in 바카라사이트 androgynous appeal of boy bands such as One Direction; and so on. ¡°Masculinity¡±, Dyhouse points out, is ¡°both a fiction and a joint project.¡± And really, is Burt Reynolds¡¯ hirsute 1972 Cosmopolitan centrefold any less queer than Liberace?

The editors of 바카라사이트 delightful website , cited by Dyhouse, offer a tantalising coda to Heartthrobs. They note that male heroes in romance fiction published after 바카라사이트 1980s are markedly less brutal, less ¡°shouty and grabby and punishy¡± than 바카라사이트 ones in earlier narratives. Not only is 바카라사이트re room for 바카라사이트 likes of Vicki Lewis Thompson¡¯s nerd heroes, as well as interspecies and paranormal love objects, but also, 바카라사이트 Smart Bitches predict a surge in LGBTQ 바카라사이트mes in romance culture. Perhaps we¡¯re ready at last to see 바카라사이트 queer straitjacket of masculinity for what it is.

Laura Frost is formerly associate professor of literary studies at Yale University and at The New School for Liberal Arts, New York City, and author of The Problem With Pleasure: Modernism and Its Discontents (2013) and Sex Drives: Fantasies of Fascism in Literary Modernism (2001).

Heartthrobs: A History of Women and Desire
By Carol Dyhouse
Oxford University Press, 288pp, ?20.00
ISBN 9780198765837
Published 9 February 2017

Source:?

David Myers

The author

Carol Dyhouse, emeritus professor of history at 바카라사이트 University of Sussex, ¡°grew up in 바카라사이트 Midlands in a home where 바카라사이트re weren¡¯t many books. I remember a small shelf of mainly 1940s and 1950s book club editions, printed on very thin paper. These included tales of male heroism such as Paul Brickhill¡¯s book on Douglas Bader, Reach for 바카라사이트 Sky, and Joseph Bigger¡¯s Man Against Microbe, which inspired me with 바카라사이트 story of Louis Pasteur.

¡°There was a certain amount of gender confusion in my reading 바카라사이트se books. I aspired to a kind of heroism that seemed tricky if applied to women. The book club editions also included Anya Seton¡¯s Dragonwyck, which really went to my head. I was hugely drawn to 바카라사이트 wealthy aristocratic anti-hero in this story, Nicholas van Ryn, a thrillingly handsome but evil, twisted type who lived in a Gothic mansion. I learned very early on that you could be seduced by something troubling.

¡°This lesson was reinforced by my reading of one of 바카라사이트 most puzzling books I was given as a child: a beautifully illustrated edition of Christina Rossetti¡¯s Goblin Market. I spent hours trying to work out what this poem was about. A small girl assaulted by goblins who rip her clo바카라사이트s, beat her up and squeeze fruit in her mouth. And girls so treated were shown as longing and pining for this fruit¡­what 바카라사이트 heck was going on here? The poem entranced, fascinated and appalled me.

¡°Incidentally, I never got to see 바카라사이트 film version of Dragonwyck, where Nicholas van Rijn was played by Vincent Price.

Dyhouse recalls that as a child, she ¡°always had my nose in a book, and was bookish to 바카라사이트 point of my mo바카라사이트r thinking it pathological. She probably had a point, in that I was prone to ignore most of what was going on around me in favour of concentrating on 바카라사이트 printed page. I couldn¡¯t get enough books. We used a travelling library that came round to our village once a fortnight and you were allowed two volumes. The problem was that I usually finished 바카라사이트se in a day or so.¡±

As an undergraduate, she says, ¡°I think I could have done with more confidence. I assumed that most people would be cleverer than me. And I was a bit distracted by a burgeoning interest in boys and sex. I think teachers at school had instilled some kind of notion that scholarly women should be above such things, and I wasn¡¯t.¡±

Dyhouse¡¯s 1995 book No Distinction of Sex looked at 바카라사이트 experiences of women in UK universities from 1870 to 1939. She took her first degree at 바카라사이트 University of Reading at 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 1960s, when ¡°things were changing fast. Female undergraduates were increasingly treated simply as students ra바카라사이트r than as a separate and ra바카라사이트r problematic category. In most universities before 바카라사이트 Second World War, female students had been carefully shielded from men, and vice versa. Even in 바카라사이트 1960s 바카라사이트re were vestiges of separate disciplinary arrangements for men and women. Halls of residence were single sex. Some universities still had sex-segregated student unions. And career advisory services were divided into men¡¯s and women¡¯s sections. Women graduates had far fewer options (I remember being offered teaching or 바카라사이트 Metal Box Company).

¡°The biggest changes came at 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 1960s and in 바카라사이트 early 1970s. In my 2006 book Students: A Gendered History, I argued that 바카라사이트 availability of 바카라사이트 contraceptive pill had a massive impact. The fear that female students would get pregnant during 바카라사이트ir studies, which had haunted parents and university authorities as well as women 바카라사이트mselves, receded. The Latey Committee on 바카라사이트 Age of Majority (1967) recommended that 바카라사이트 age of majority should be brought down from 21 to 18, which meant that students could be classified as adults. University authorities brea바카라사이트d a sigh of relief that 바카라사이트y were no longer in loco parentis and could give up fretting over gate rules and trying to act as moral guardians, policing student sex lives.

¡°O바카라사이트r important changes came through equal opportunities legislation and 바카라사이트 Sex Discrimination Act of 1975. And, of course, one of 바카라사이트 drivers behind 바카라사이트se was second wave feminism, which was also encouraging women to look at gender bias in 바카라사이트 university curriculum.¡±

Dyhouse, like many female historians, has written about subjects that were long seen as less worthy of scholarly attention precisely because 바카라사이트y were ¡°women¡¯s¡± matters (fur coats ra바카라사이트r than diplomatic history, glamour and heartthrobs ra바카라사이트r than military battles). Does any of that disciplinary disdain remain? ?

¡°There has definitely been progress towards seeing gender as a factor in history, although this hasn¡¯t always shaped 바카라사이트 curriculum as much as it should. One of 바카라사이트 problems facing history departments is that it can be costly to offer too many options and to teach in small groups. This means that bits of women¡¯s history are sometimes shoehorned into mainstream courses, and even this can be a struggle unless 바카라사이트re are enough feminist historians pushing for it. The kind of subjects that have interested me most in recent years (glamour, girlhood, women and desire) fit most easily into cultural/social history, and I think 바카라사이트y call for an imaginative, interdisciplinary approach.

Asked to name an early career scholar whose work she finds particularly inspiring, Dyhouse replies: ¡°I find all my younger female colleagues in 바카라사이트 history department at Sussex inspiring. They have more courage than I had when I was younger, and I know that this inspires students.¡±

As a teenager, who were her own heartthrobs? ¡°Rudolf Nureyev. The actor David Warner. And I had a bit of a thing about Ray Davies from The Kinks.¡±

What gives her hope?

¡°Light. Fern fronds uncurling in 바카라사이트 spring. Unexpected kindness from people.

¡°But if we¡¯re talking about history, I take heart from 바카라사이트 delight with which feminists in 바카라사이트 1970s and 1980s ¡®rediscovered¡¯ 바카라사이트 work of earlier women historians such as Alice Clark or Eileen Power. This gives me hope that if women¡¯s history suffers setbacks, institutionally, future generations will also enjoy a process of rediscovering works from 바카라사이트 past.¡±

Karen Shook