Representations of Nation and Spanish Masculinity in Popular Romance Novels

The Alpha Male as “Other”

Bibliographic Data

ID12413014
AuthorsMaría del Mar Pérez Gil (0000-0002-4656-0025, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, corresponding author), María del Mar Pérez-Gil (University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Las Palmas, Spain)
Year2018
Volume27
Issue2
Pages169-182
Publication date2018-09-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Journal of Men s Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1060-8265 • E-ISSN: 1933-0251
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1060826518801531
OpenAlexW2894517948
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited30

The alpha hero embodies the hegemonic masculinity that has long dominated romance fiction. The portrayal of this male type is, however, problematized when he is an exotic foreigner, as his hyper-heterosexualized masculinity is often associated with the gender backwardness of his country. This article is concerned with popular romance novels set in Spain in the 1970s. It explores how British authors rely on gender and national clichés that construct an essentialized image of Spanish men. The primitive and instinctual masculinity attributed to them reveals these novels’ complicity with the ideology of Britain’s superiority

Art · Complicity · Hegemonic masculinity · HERO · Ideology · Literature · Masculinity · Political science · Politics · Romance · Sociology · Gender Politics and Representation · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · Gender, Feminism, and Media · History · Law