ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to develop a theoretical base for a feminist classroom practice which focuses on cultural processes. It argues that romance is a central theme in the popular cultural texts which are part of teenage girl's everyday lives. A number of studies of teenage girl's subcultures provide useful insights about the conflicts adolescent girls experience and the concerns they express. Magda Lewis argues that people need to take seriously the implications of the conflict between women's desire for knowledge and their embodiment as sexually desirable human beings which lies always just below the surface in the classroom. Rosalind Coward sees female desire as being constructed through feminine pleasures such as romantic fiction and soap operas which work to sustain patriarchal gender relations. More recent discussions of feminist pedagogy continue to highlight the difficulties involved in challenging gender relations. Recent work on critical pedagogy emphasizes the importance of these kinds of activities in educational and social change.
