Abstract:
This research aimed to discuss representations of the feminine and sexism in literary novels and their relationship with a possible idealization of romantic relationships. A bibliographical research was carried out to discuss sexism, psychology, feminism and art, and a 19th century Russian novel, “Anna Karenina” (Liev Tolstói, 1877/2017), and two 21st century North American novels, “Beautiful Disaster” (Jamie McGuire, 2011) and “It Ends With Us” (Colleen Hoover, 2016) were analyzed in order to compare female representations of the feminine. It was concluded that sexist characteristics in literary novels do not necessarily reinforce sexism in the idealization of romantic relationships, but this possibility exists when the representation is romanticized by the novel. Furthermore, advantages were highlighted in the presence of criticality in the novel itself, as it makes it possible to raise awareness about the subject. Therefore, the importance of questioning gender standards is reaffirmed, especially among the media, given the risks in relationships guided by sexism.
Keywords:
Sexism; Literature; Romantic relationship; Subjectivity; Feminism