Riska Tulus Wibawati/100222404190

HOW AFFECTION IS GENDERED AS REPRESENTED IN TEENLIT NOVELS

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
1.1.

Background of the Study

Affection is the expression of care. It symbolizes security, protection, comfort and

approval -- vital ingredients in any relationship. When one spouse is affectionate toward the
other, the following messages are sent like you are important to me. I will care for you and
protect you and I am concerned about the problems you face and will be there for you when you
need me. While we can see through our society that there are differences between men and
womens ways of expressing affection, and we can infer that the basic of the differences is
gender. Besides, we can also infer that ethnic culture takes part in constructing such phenomena.
Man and woman are at once empty and overflowing categories. Empty because they have no
ultimate, transcendental meaning. Overflowing because even when they appear to be fixed, they
still contain within them alternative, denied, or suppressed definitions (Scott 1988a, 49). From
that very statement we can infer that Scott is trying to tell that women and men are neutral and
have potentials to deny what the society tries to fill them up.
Teenlit novels are literary works mostly written by teenagers in which the theme they
usually take is love. These novels can be representations of gender construction in expressing
affection employed by men and women, and it proves that gender is involved in many aspects of
life, without any exception of expressing affection. The researcher finds something questionable
in Teenlit novels where women are very expressive in showing their feeling of love; they will
scream, shout vibrantly when they see their objects of love, however, when they are about to face
the objects of love, they will immediately be calm and grace. On the contrary, men are the ones
who have to gather their courage to express their affection straight to the object or they will
considered as losers. This may be related to the ethnic gender construction that one of the rules is
that women must not express their feeling of affection first and men are the ones who
This research is going to analyze how mens ways of expressing affection differ from
womens as represented in teenlit novels. This research will also observe the ethnic culture might
be employed in the stories which seemingly contributes to the construction of femininity and

masculinity in expressing affection. And from those points, it has been found the significance of
this study that is to understand how gender construction affects the ways of expressing affection
between men and women and how the ethnic culture takes part in the very gender construction as
represented in the stories.
1.2 Statement of Problems
This research focuses on answering how affection is gendered as represented in Teenlit
novels.
The research questions are specified below:
How do men's ways of expressing affection differ from women's as represented in Teenlit
novels?
1.3 Theoretical Framework
This research contains some theories related and supported the study of gender. The
theories are:
1.3.1 Masculinity,
1.3.2 Femininity
1.3.3 Previous Study
Sean M. Horan & Melanie Booth-Butterfield conducted a research entitled Investing in
Affection: An Investigation of Affection Exchange Theory and Relational Qualities.
1.4 Significance of the Study
The result of this study is aimed to give significance for the English Literature students
specifically, and generally for Teenlit novels readers. It is because this study discusses about
masculinity, and femininity in expressing affection.
1. Theoretically, the result of the study is to identify masculinity and femininity in
expressing affection as represented in Teenlit novels. It also attempts to explain about any
cultural influence in constructing gender in expressing affection represented in the
novels.
2. Practically, this study was designed for:
The students of English Literature, the findings are expected to give information

about gender constructionmasculine and femininein expressing affection as

represented by the characters in the novels.
The readers of Teenlit novels, the study is expected to give more understanding to
the readers about gender construction invoked in Teenlit novels.

The future researcher, this study is expected to be used as reference for

conducting study about gender construction in since cultures always have

improvements.
1.5 Definition of Key Terms
1. Affection is the expression of care which symbolizes security, protection, comfort and
approval -- vital ingredients in any relationship. When one spouse is affectionate
toward the other, the following messages are sent like you are important to me. I will
care for you and protect you and I am concerned about the problems you face and will
be there for you when you need me.
2. Gender is the sex of a person or organism, or of a whole category of people or
organisms (Encarta, 2009)
3. Femininity is an artifice, an achievement, a mode of enacting and reenacting
received gender norms which surface as so many styles of flesh (Sandra Bartky).
4. Masculinity as seen from essentialist perspectives can be defined by picking a feature
defining the core of masculinity and hang an account of mens lives on that.

CHAPTER II
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

2.1 Research Design

This research is descriptive-qualitative research. In this research, the researcher tries to
identify, interpret, and analyze the findings. The research is conducted by taking some
dialogues and acts done by the characters in the stories which are selected by the researcher.
2.2 Data Collection
There are some several steps in collecting the data. First, the researcher collects ten
Teenlit novels in which the theme is about love. Second, the researcher collects the data in
form of dialogues and acts which represent expressing affection. Third, the researcher will
differentiate the male and female characters ways of expressing affection. The researcher
will also consider about any cultural values invoked by the writer. Fourth, the researcher
analyzes and relates the findings with the theories of femininity and masculinity. Finally,
the researcher makes summary of the findings.

2.3 Data Analysis

The researcher analyzes the data use some steps. First, the researcher analyzes the data
which is taken from the male characters and continued to the female. The researchers will
seek the dialogues and acts that reflect the ways of expressing affection.
Second, the researcher explains how the data reflects gender construction by using
theories of femininity and masculinity. Third, the researcher summarizes the analysis.