/So, do people usually just announce that kinda stuff (your period) at the table all the time in America? Can't say that's a tradition we have in Australia :P/
No, not that I've noticed. I'd certainly never announce something like that in public myself. Vee's just being annoying.
/And I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but since Patch is supposed to be the 'bad boy' and ~Italian~ in this story, but it kinda reminds me of the stereotypical stories of old (like in old Harlequin novels) where the ethnic bad boy is always 'bad news' and doesn't play by the rules./
Oh, yes, I know about those. I've seen plenty of awful Harlequin novels featuring bad-boy Italian millionaires, bad-boy Greek shipping tycoons, bad-boy Egyptian sheikhs, etc. who all manage to hook up with pretty, pale, WASP heroines with bland names for some reason. I'm Greek-American and it ticks me off whenever I see Greek love interests in these types of stories portrayed as swarthy, "exotic" bad boys, as if Greece is some mysterious, dangerous country located somewhere other than Europe. And don't get me started on how those books stereotype Middle-Eastern love interests or how they always have to pair "ethnic" heroes with WASP heroines.
/Now, considering if Patch is supposed to fit the whole 'dark and swarthy' mould , wear a leather jacket and hang around in 'ghetto' areas, then that could lead to some pretty Unfortunate Ethnic Implications. Which kinda irritates me, because, of course all ethnics must be involved with crime somehow >.</
You're right and it does have unfortunate implications. Especially since Nora has a name that sounds Anglo-Saxon and is supposed to be the "good girl," while Patch, who is described as being tanned and has an Italian surname, is supposed to be the "bad boy." Maybe Fitzpatrick was trying to create an "opposites attract" romance? Except that Patch isn't just some wild kid from the wrong side of the tracks; he's a sexually aggressive creep and stalker who deserves to be slapped with a restraining order.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2011-06-11 09:48 pm (UTC)No, not that I've noticed. I'd certainly never announce something like that in public myself. Vee's just being annoying.
/And I don't know if anyone else has noticed this, but since Patch is supposed to be the 'bad boy' and ~Italian~ in this story, but it kinda reminds me of the stereotypical stories of old (like in old Harlequin novels) where the ethnic bad boy is always 'bad news' and doesn't play by the rules./
Oh, yes, I know about those. I've seen plenty of awful Harlequin novels featuring bad-boy Italian millionaires, bad-boy Greek shipping tycoons, bad-boy Egyptian sheikhs, etc. who all manage to hook up with pretty, pale, WASP heroines with bland names for some reason. I'm Greek-American and it ticks me off whenever I see Greek love interests in these types of stories portrayed as swarthy, "exotic" bad boys, as if Greece is some mysterious, dangerous country located somewhere other than Europe. And don't get me started on how those books stereotype Middle-Eastern love interests or how they always have to pair "ethnic" heroes with WASP heroines.
/Now, considering if Patch is supposed to fit the whole 'dark and swarthy' mould , wear a leather jacket and hang around in 'ghetto' areas, then that could lead to some pretty Unfortunate Ethnic Implications. Which kinda irritates me, because, of course all ethnics must be involved with crime somehow >.</ You're right and it does have unfortunate implications. Especially since Nora has a name that sounds Anglo-Saxon and is supposed to be the "good girl," while Patch, who is described as being tanned and has an Italian surname, is supposed to be the "bad boy." Maybe Fitzpatrick was trying to create an "opposites attract" romance? Except that Patch isn't just some wild kid from the wrong side of the tracks; he's a sexually aggressive creep and stalker who deserves to be slapped with a restraining order.