disrupt and consequently, subvert the chain of signifiers that operate to keep patriarchy functioning.
             Literature targeted at children tends to lock them into a gender role that signifies their position within society. The concept of a prince who saves a girl from the evil, whether social, political or economic, begins in children's fairy tales such as "Cinderella", "Sleeping Beauty" and "Beauty and the Beast", amongst others. Independence and individuality are removed from female discourse because they are positioned to rely on males in order to give them power. They do not attain their own power and are not expected to within patriarchal discourse. Radway (1984) supports Walkerdine's (1984) statement that females are positioned to look for a prince by romance fiction where females passively consume discourses of masculinity that render females impotent. Gal (1993) presents an oppositional reading to Radway (1984) and Walkerdine (1984). Gal (1993, p. 4) states:
             For many romance readers the act of reading, often done in stolen moments of privacy, counts as educational and socially useful; moreover, stolen moments of privacy, counts as something these women do for themselves. It is a way of fighting for a modicum of autonomy and against the usual self-abnegation of their lives.
             Arguably, even though reading romance novels is something young women do for themselves, they are still constrained by the hegemonic discourse embedded within romance fiction. Romance fiction is socialising young girls to develop a gendered consciousness, be submissive, accept and welcome being an object of the male gaze and valorise heterosexuality. The conflict arises from the positioning of the male/prince as both saviour and subjugator. By accepting the male/prince as a saviour, young women are negating the possibility that these males are subjugating them in the public sphere of society.
             Pascal's (1998) Sweet Valley High: A picture-Perfect Prom ...