The 1980s and 1990s began to crack the mold. While mainstream media still leaned on the prince narrative, a quieter revolution was happening in young adult (YA) literature.
S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders (though focused on male gangs) showed young girls that love could exist in violent, unstable contexts. More importantly, Ann M. Martin’s The Baby-Sitters Club series offered something radical: romantic storylines that were secondary to friendship and entrepreneurship. When Kristy Thomas got a boyfriend, the storyline wasn’t about the wedding; it was about how she balanced her softball team, her babysitting charges, and her changing schedule.
Suddenly, a young girl’s relationship was a subplot, not the plot. This was a massive psychological shift. It told young readers: You are a whole person with a business, friends, and hobbies. Romance is a part of your life, but it is not your life.
Simultaneously, Judy Blume’s Forever (1975) became the touchstone for realistic sexual relationships. For the first time, a young girl’s romantic storyline included the logistics of birth control, the awkwardness of first intercourse, and the painful reality that "forever" rarely lasts past senior year. Blume didn’t punish her protagonist for having sex, nor did she glorify it. She simply reported it, validating the real experiences of millions of teenage girls. young girl has sex with a huge dog wwwrarevideofree free
Before plotting romance, define your protagonist as an individual.
| Aspect | Questions to Answer | | :--- | :--- | | Flaws | Is she impulsive? People-pleasing? Arrogant? Insecure? Prone to jealousy? | | Desires | What does she think she wants (e.g., popularity, freedom, safety)? What does she actually need (e.g., self-worth, trust, independence)? | | Past Wounds | Has she witnessed a bad marriage? Lost a parent? Been bullied? This shapes how she approaches love. | | Outside Life | Friends, family, school, hobbies, secrets. The romance should interact with these, not replace them. |
Where adults often fail is in dismissing these romantic storylines as "fluff." When a young girl obsesses over a fictional ship (a relationship between two characters in a show or book), she is not being frivolous. She is engaging in a practice narrative. The 1980s and 1990s began to crack the mold
Romantic fiction for young girls serves three critical psychological functions:
The classic love triangle (Bella choosing Edward or Jacob) positioned the girl as a prize. The new love triangle positions the girl as the active selector. In The Summer I Turned Pretty (Amazon Prime), Belly Conklin has relationships with two brothers (Conrad and Jeremiah). But the narrative is not about which boy is hotter; it is about Belly’s evolving understanding of what she needs versus what she wants. She makes mistakes, hurts people, and is hurt. The storyline treats her romantic decisions as serious, consequential choices that define her character, not just her relationship status.
To understand where we are, we must look at where we started. In the classic fairy tale structure (Cinderella, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty), the young girl’s primary relationship was with suffering. Romance functioned as the reward for endurance. The Prince was not a character; he was a plot device. He represented safety, status, and the end of the story. Once the girl "got the guy," the narrative closed. Marriage was a full stop. Hinton’s The Outsiders (though focused on male gangs)
The 20th century brought incremental change. In the 1950s and 60s, romance was the obsession. Films and books for teenage girls revolved around getting a date for the prom, securing a boyfriend for the summer, or managing a love triangle with the boy next door. Think of the Betty and Veronica dynamic in Archie comics—the storyline was about competition between girls over a boy.
The 1980s and 90s saw the rise of the "romantic comedy" heroine, but she was often clumsy, neurotic, or in need of a makeover (Sixteen Candles, She’s All That). The implicit message was clear: romantic love is the ultimate validation. A young girl’s worth was measured by her desirability to a male gaze.
The most exciting trend on the horizon is the de-escalation of romance. The new generation of young female protagonists—think characters like Amaya in The Hazel Wood or the girls in The Baby-Sitters Club reboot (2020)—are increasingly allowed to be single. The storyline no longer requires a romantic subplot to be complete.
In the Apple TV+ series Surfside Girls, the young leads are far more interested in solving a supernatural mystery than in holding hands with a boy. The message is revolutionary: A young girl can have a full, rich, emotionally complex life without a romantic partner. When romance does appear, it is a flavor, not the main course.