Stepping Away From Reality...

In Radway’s Women Read the Romance, she talks about how a certain demographic of women seem to find happiness in reading romance novels. The women in the study suggest that reading a romance novel is an escape. They are little fantasies that give women the opportunity to relax and step away from their busy everyday lives. One woman exclaimed, “Romances hold my interest and do not leave me depressed or up in the air at the end like many modern day books tend to do” (69). In reading an intriguin

g novel, it gives the reader a chance to put themselves in the character’s shoes and become a part of the story, away from reality.

The picture of the girl wearing the tiara says it all to me… She is an average teenage girl, going to get her hair done for a special occasion. Getting her hair done and wearing a tiara helps her step out of reality and feel like sheis on cloud nine. This is what the Smithton readers were to me – they needed an escape from reality and a chance to try out someone else’s life and feel special.

In Cathartic Confessions or Emancipatory Texts, Moorti shows how television programs like Oprah give individuals the chance to tell their stories, whereas other television shows are more generalized. Oprah had several rape episodes that aired between 1989 and 1991 that helped

show America rape victim’s stories and how to resolve their issues. Oprah seemed to almost be trying to act as their therapist or priest, trying to pry out details from them and divulge what they were truly thinking during their frightening encounter. She was especially provoking them to show the “real pain” of the victims and to try to get America to relate to them. Oprah got women to “admit to a loss of confidence and an inability to trust her judgment about people” (528).

To me, this picture describes Oprah perfectly. Lucy, although she is not a therapist, is posing as one, just like Oprah does, to get others to divulge their issues. She asks her guests questions that they may be uncomfortable answering, but disclose to her regardless.