Middle Class Morality: The Virgin Heroine in Contemporary Category Romance Fiction

Abstract

This chapter examines the portrayal of the virgin heroine in contemporary category romance fiction, especially that published by Harlequin Mills & Boon. It traces the evolution of the representation of virginity loss alongside the development of the publisher, beginning in 1908. It examines the ways in which the representation of the virgin heroine and her virginity loss are embedded in historical contexts, and the ways in which those contexts have influenced and reacted to the emergence of compulsory demisexuality as a cultural paradigm. It argues that this paradigm often inheres in the heroine in the novels, and that the happy ending comes about because she is able to convert the hero to her way of thinking, often through losing her virginity to him.