Women on the Intersection of Two Spectrums : Autism and
Asexuality in Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient and The Heart
Principle

k 2022

Women on the Intersection of Two Spectrums : Autism and Asexuality in Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient and The Heart Principle

VARGOVÁ, Veronika

Základní údaje

Originální název

Women on the Intersection of Two Spectrums : Autism and Asexuality in Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient and The Heart Principle

Autoři

VARGOVÁ, Veronika

Vydání

Community in Peril : From Individual Identities to Global Citizenship, The Graduate Studies Conference, Masaryk University, 25-26 November 2022, Brno, Czech Republic, 2022

Další údaje

Jazyk

angličtina

Typ výsledku

Prezentace na konferencích

Obor

60202 Specific languages

Stát vydavatele

Česká republika

Utajení

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Odkazy

URL

Organizační jednotka

Filozofická fakulta

Klíčová slova anglicky

autism spectrum; asexuality spectrum; masking; women

Příznaky

Recenzováno

Změněno: 20. 1. 2023 17:36, Mgr. Jana Pelclová, Ph.D.

Anotace

V originále

While several novels with autism and asexuality representation were published over the past decade, they mostly belong to the middle-grade and young adult genres. In 2018, The Kiss Quotient written by Helen Hoang was published. It is one of the first - if not the first - contemporary romance novel with an on-page adult character on the autism spectrum. This paper focuses on Stella and Anna, Hoang’s two female protagonists from her first and third novels, The Kiss Quotient and The Heart Principle. As these are romance novels published by Berkley, a major contemporary romance publishing house, romantic relationship is at the forefront of the story. And while the main relationship is a standard Berkley romance, Stella and Anna repeatedly express their dislike of intimacy and the sexual aspect of their relationship with their previous partners, with whom they lacked strong emotional connection. However, a major change in their attitude takes place once they meet their respective male protagonists and enter relationships in which they feel safe and understood, instead of pressured and coerced to change. Therefore, Stella and Anna’s characters can be read as being also on the asexual spectrum, in addition to being autistic. This paper will discuss how the protagonist’s intersecting autistic and demisexual identities impact their daily lives, romantic relationships, and relationships with family and friends.

Návaznosti

MUNI/A/1478/2021, interní kód MU

Název: Paradigms, strategies and developments - Anglophone literary and cultural studies II

Investor: Masarykova univerzita, Paradigms, strategies and developments - Anglophone literary and cultural studies II

Citovat

VARGOVÁ, Veronika. Women on the Intersection of Two Spectrums : Autism and Asexuality in Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient and The Heart Principle. In Community in Peril : From Individual Identities to Global Citizenship, The Graduate Studies Conference, Masaryk University, 25-26 November 2022, Brno, Czech Republic. 2022.

@proceedings{2237597,
   author = {Vargová, Veronika},
   booktitle = {Community in Peril : From Individual Identities to Global Citizenship, The Graduate Studies Conference, Masaryk University, 25-26 November 2022, Brno, Czech Republic},
   keywords = {autism spectrum; asexuality spectrum; masking; women},
   language = {eng},
   title = {Women on the Intersection of Two Spectrums : Autism and Asexuality in Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient and The Heart Principle},
   url = {https://english.phil.muni.cz/konference/ds/citizenship/abstracts},
   year = {2022}
}

TY  - CONF
ID  - 2237597
AU  - Vargová, Veronika
PY  - 2022
TI  - Women on the Intersection of Two Spectrums : Autism and Asexuality in Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient and The Heart Principle
KW  - autism spectrum
KW  - asexuality spectrum
KW  - masking
KW  - women
UR  - https://english.phil.muni.cz/konference/ds/citizenship/abstracts
N2  - While several novels with autism and asexuality representation were published over the past decade, they mostly belong to the middle-grade and young adult genres. In 2018, The Kiss Quotient written by Helen Hoang was published. It is one of the first - if not the first - contemporary romance novel with an on-page adult character on the autism spectrum. This paper focuses on Stella and Anna, Hoang’s two female protagonists from her first and third novels, The Kiss Quotient and The Heart Principle. As these are romance novels published by Berkley, a major contemporary romance publishing house, romantic relationship is at the forefront of the story. And while the main relationship is a standard Berkley romance, Stella and Anna repeatedly express their dislike of intimacy and the sexual aspect of their relationship with their previous partners, with whom they lacked strong emotional connection. However, a major change in their attitude takes place once they meet their respective male protagonists and enter relationships in which they feel safe and understood, instead of pressured and coerced to change. Therefore, Stella and Anna’s characters can be read as being also on the asexual spectrum, in addition to being autistic. This paper will discuss how the protagonist’s intersecting autistic and demisexual identities impact their daily lives, romantic relationships, and relationships with family and friends.
ER  -

VARGOVÁ, Veronika. Women on the Intersection of Two Spectrums : Autism and Asexuality in Helen Hoang’s The Kiss Quotient and The Heart Principle. In \textit{Community in Peril : From Individual Identities to Global Citizenship, The Graduate Studies Conference, Masaryk University, 25-26 November 2022, Brno, Czech Republic}. 2022.

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