Roper romps, feeling rules, and the “appropriately inappropriate” management of joy

The author explores the management of emotion at a recent pop culture leisure activity, Roper Romps. What emotions are expressed at local Roper Romps? How does the news reporting about these events assist in the construction of feeling rules? How does this situational context affect emotion management? To answer these questions, the author conducted a thematic analysis of local and national news stories reporting on Roper Romps between 2023 and 2024. The most frequent emotion observed was joy, which intersected with other emotions. Furthermore, though limited, results demonstrate the continued relevance of Hochschild' work (1979, 1983), the significance of feeling rules and emotion management techniques at a unique pop culture event. Pop culture trends, especially those that expect women to be "appropriately inappropriate" are opportunities for women to emotionally manage the routine expectations of everyday life.