ABSTRACT
Romance, beautification, and sexuality have been central components of femininity in romance fiction. However, these are only part of the picture. Women are placed differently within the class structure partly as a result of gender and race. Wright explains that the middle class and women have “contradictory class locations”: they simultaneously occupy several class positions depending upon the criteria used. For women of color involved in domestic-service work, their own work at home and in others’ homes may give housework a different meaning. Housework and the paid work of women have historically interpersonal and relational. Consumption is one aspect of the nurturance which is anchored in a family structure where women are the ones who stretch the paycheck to buy more or just get by. In the final analysis, heroines can never step out of their present and future gender, class, and race positions as keepers of heart and hearth.
