Dictionary

bodice ripper en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈbɒdɪs ˌɹɪpə/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /ˈbɑdɪs ˌɹɪpɚ/ (General-American)

Etymology

From the fact that the female protagonists in such novels would often have their bodices (blouses or corsets) removed with some force before sexual activity commenced.

Meanings

1. (informal) A romantic novel, usually in a historical setting, with frank depictions of sexual activity, especially one in which the female protagonist is seduced; (by extension) a film, television programme, etc., featuring such activity.
   • Publishers call them hot historicals as opposed to either the virginal variety Barbara Cartland writes or to the bodice rippers "because that's usually what happens to the heroines," Price explained. 1978 February 8, Charitey Simmons, “Dizzying passion ruffles the pages of the ‘hot’ historical novel”, in Chicago Tribune, Chicago, Ill.: Tribune Publishing, →ISSN, →OCLC, section 2, page 4:
   • The name "bodice ripper" was derived from the frequent rapes and sexual assaults that the heroines experienced. "Bodice-ripper" heroines were portrayed to be stronger and more active characters than gothic heroines. Editors of category romances, noting the popularity of the "bodice rippers," have borrowed the longer lengths, the overt sexuality and the assertive heroine from these romances. 1984, Margaret Ann Jensen, “Rivals and Writers”, in Love’s $weet Return: The Harlequin Story, Bowling Green, Oh.: Bowling Green State University Popular Press, →ISBN, page 66:
   • [M]y mother chased her dream of becoming a character in one of those frontier romance novels—buckskin bodice rippers, she called them—that she so adored. 2015, Seamus McGraw, “Sundance”, in Betting the Farm on a Drought: Stories from the Front Lines of Climate Change, Austin, Tex.: University of Texas Press, →DOI, →ISBN, page 5:
   • This book is the last stage of a long and varied journey that began with the first UK screening of The Piano. Never having been an ardent fan of conventional ‘bodice rippers’ or nostalgic fossilisations of a past we never had, I was surprised by my reaction to the costumes. 1997, Stella Bruzzi, “Introduction: Clothing and Cinema”, in Undressing Cinema: Clothing and Identity in the Movies, Abingdon, Oxfordshire; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, published 2009, →ISBN, page xiii:
   • These novels became known as "bodice rippers" because they were much more sexually explicit than earlier romances had been. Instead of experiencing a delicious kiss or a mystical wedding night at the end of the story, heroines in the bodice rippers were regularly ravished by the hero. Some feminist critics objected to these books as a romanticization of rape, but readers identified strongly with the heroine's powerlessness as a woman in a rigidly patriarchal society. Unlike the sweet virgins of earlier romances, the heroines of the bodice rippers were notoriously feisty. 1999, Paulette Richards, “Literary Contexts”, in Kathleen Gregory Klein, editor, Terry McMillan: A Critical Companion (Critical Companions to Popular Contemporary Writers), Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, →ISBN, →ISSN, page 23:
   • My aunt would bring a stack of torrid bodice rippers with her to the beach, and would unfailingly blush if disturbed in her reading.

Forms

Deriveds

bonnet ripper · bodice-ripping · bodice-rippery

Relateds

ladyporn · bonkbuster · mommy porn · chick lit

Synonyms

hysterical historical

Translations (2)

it racconto erotico (a sexually explicit romantic novel, usually in a historical setting) · de Nackenbeißer (a sexually explicit romantic novel, usually in a historical setting)