SBD:

[jmc_bks]

I have no review or observation to share for SBD.

But I have a question:  In what way has sexual harassment ever been romantic or sexy?

Just wondering.

Because I've been flipping through some old (from 1979-1986) category romances, and the boss-secretary/typist romance is a recurring set up.  Except -here's the thing- when you hit on an employee?  Not good.  When you do so repeatedly, ignoring her refusals, showing up at her house?  That's not sweet or romantic.  That's stalking and harassment.  And restraining orders and lawsuits often follow.  Plus (and here's where my practical nature kicks in, sorry, I can't help it) if you lose an employee because you keep harassing her, you lose productivity while searching for and training her replacement.  

Did women (and romance readers) think otherwise twenty years ago?

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I do remember going to see a play with my mum that made fun of that particular boss/secretary set-up, complete with compulsory almost-rape scene. Very funny. So some people did see how ludicrous it all was.
Truthfully, it's so long ago, and I was a teenager, so I can't remember. I know I thought most of the heroes would be hell to live with, because they had no sense of humour; and I know I didn't fancy the idea of a husband who'd been a playboy, because I had that argument with my best friend at the time. Whether I actually noticed the sexual harrassment issues, I'm not sure.
My first keeper, however, was a M&B by Kerry Allyne, who wrote Australian-set stories. It was a keeper simply because when the hero got all arrogant, and pointed out the heroine was in the wrong (which she was), she threw a bucket at him.

I think I bought that type of story just because that was all that was available - that, or Barbara Cartland.

Marianne McA

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

I read a lot of Harlequin Presents and other categories when I first started reading romance, and I'm sure I didn't notice this back then. I was 13-14 -- I had no idea what harassment was or what the rules about workplace romances might be.

It's only now that I'm reading them with a jaundiced eye that I'm so frustrated.

I love the idea of a heroine who throws a bucket at her hero :)

[jenfullmoon.livejournal.com]

Well, I suspect the shitty romances I keep seeing listed on ereader.com, published RECENTLY, often fall into this category. Except with pregnancies involved.

Those books scare the crap outta me.