What can we learn about romance and yearning by looking at women’s reading of fantasy romance books? Anuja Pradhan from the Symbiosis Institute of Media and Communication discusses her research with women’s experiences of this genre and its readers. Tune in for a deep dive into romance, sexuality, and book recommendations. 

References 

Pradhan, A and Daskalopoulou, A (2026) Romantasy: Sexy tales of women‑centred fantasy fiction are boosting the publishing industry. The Conversation: https://theconversation.com/romantasy-sexy-tales-of-women-centred-fantasy-fiction-are-boosting-the-publishing-industry-272737.  

Balling, G and Martens, M (2024) BookTok helped us sell it: How TikTok disrupts publishing and fuels the# Romantasy boom. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies [Online First].  

Hakala, H, Niemi, L and Kohtamäki, M (2017) Online brand community practices and the construction of brand legitimacy. Marketing Theory, 17(4), 537-558.  

Daskalopoulou, A and Zanette, MC (2020) Women’s consumption of pornography: Pleasure, contestation, and empowerment. Sociology, 54(5), 969-986.  

Website: tvtropes.org 

Do men need to vent their masculine energy Jacob Ostberg from Stockholm Business School explores how masculinity is experienced as an excessive energy to be spent that cannot be simply contained. Starting from Swedish family men, we venture into expressions of excessive masculinity in media. 

References 

Ostberg, J (2010) Thou shalt sport a banana in thy pocket: Gendered body size ideals in advertising and popular culture. Marketing Theory, 10(1), 45-73. 

Thurnell-Read, T (2011) Off the leash and out of control: Masculinities and embodiment in Eastern European stag tourism. Sociology, 45(6), 977-991. 

Join Athanasia and Daniela in the first episode of Frisky, a podcast on everything  sexuality and marketing. Research minded but conversational in nature, Frisky discusses research in sexuality, gender, and romance.  

References 

Daskalopoulou, A and Zanette, MC (2020) Women’s consumption of pornography: Pleasure, contestation, and empowerment. Sociology, 54(5), 969-986. 

Daskalopoulou, A, Pirani, D and Ostberg, J (2025) Sexuality in Marketing and Consumption: Queer Theory, Feminist Research, and Intersectionality (1st ed.). London, UK: Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003454533. 

Nelson, M (2015) The Argonauts. Minneapolis: Greywolf Press.  

Preciado, PB (2018) Countersexual manifesto. New York: Columbia University Press.