From passionate romantasy novels to premium television dramas, culture is bringing the agency, desires and interior lives of women to the fore. It\u2019s proving good for business, but is this a permanent revolution?<\/p>\n
Do you voraciously read the pages of steamy romantasy bestsellers by Sarah J Maas or Rebecca Yarros? Or flood your group chat with breathless recaps of the latest goings-on in TV series such as Heated Rivalry or Bridgerton? Or even immerse yourself in the divisive and challenging cinematic worlds of Emerald Fennell? If so, you surely can\u2019t have failed to notice that in pop culture, the female gaze \u2013 storytelling that highlights the meandering, textured, sublimely messy inner worlds and wants of women \u2013 is enjoying an explosion.<\/p>\n
On TV, you can see it everywhere, in the interior lives and desires taken up by Big Little Lies, Sirens or Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington\u2019s Little Fires Everywhere. Romantasy harbours it in the shape of powerful maidens and sex in fae (fairy) realms, while Fennell\u2019s Wuthering Heights and Promising Young Woman are marketed with the promise of converting women\u2019s experiences into dark beauty on the big screen.<\/p>\n
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