I watched a short segment on the Today show that questioned the age that models should be. A 13-year-old is modeling adult women’s clothing and it raised the question of how young is too young. I think that the same can be said of heroines in novels. How young is too young?
As I get older I want a slightly older heroine (no 18 year olds for me!) but I still don’t want to read about someone my age. Pretty weird, huh? How do you feel about this issue? While we’re at it, what about the hero being younger than the heroine?
3 Comments
September 18, 2007 at 1:29 pm
Oooh, good topic! I’ve ALWAYS thought that young models gave the wrong message to our teens. This has lead to some huge fashion bo-bos in my book. You see so many KIDS dressed like little street walkers. Sorry, but it is true.
As for heroines, I agree there too. With baby boomers making most of the reading population, I think that the heroine should probably shove on past puberty and at least be mid to late 20’s, but that is merely my own opinion since I’m older than that…by quite a bit
I do find it hard to read romance books that have 30 something and 40 something heroines though too. I know, I’m fickle and probably not adressing your issue by flip-flopping, but that is just the way I am 
September 18, 2007 at 7:01 pm
Sue- You are soo right. My girls know that they are not allowed to dress in short tops of mini skirts.
I’m a tad bit odd, too.I prefer heroines in their late 20’s. Finally, what’s life without a flip flopper?
September 18, 2007 at 8:48 pm
I do like my heroines to be a bit older — late 20s or early 30s. I’m in my early 40s and one does not find many books featuring a fortysomething.
I love the No. 1 Detective Agency series, which features a “traditionally built” Botswanian woman who is 35 when the series starts. It is charming. You would swear the author was a girl, but he’s a guy.
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