Abstract
This study examines the rhetorical visions of male/female relationship styles in category romances, tracing the development of fantasy themes over 33 years. While the four distinct visions emerge from a common genre, each creates distinct symbolic gender prescriptions for ideal male and female role and interaction behavior. In the 1950s, romance novel relationships were basically complementary. This behavior mode was challenged in the 1960s and 1970s novels by tentative female rebellion to male dominance. It was replaced in the early 1980s romances with a symmetrical relationship style when both sexes began to share traits formerly considered gender‐specific.
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