Wow, that must have been a revelation! I remember how it felt when I first encountered the words I didn't have until then, and they suddenly just... fit. And knowing that you're not alone can do so much already to lift you up. I'm glad to see you could take away something from this thread.
Yep! Which is, I suppose, also one of the reasons why romances or soap operas heavily draw from this connection. I mean, I love Jane the Virgin, for example (because it doesn't really take itself too seriously lol), but it still has the dichotomy of the "good girl" and the "bitch", even when these character tropes have been given actual personality.
Still, I feel like we're moving away from these tropes. Slowly, but surely. Then again, I would have to read more stories that are ONLY romance (and not a romance as subplot or more character motivation in a more complex story, which I love).
It's a start that discussions like this here are even possible, I'd say. We're seeing through it all, yay. xD