Welcome to our project page. The four of us are excited to explore the intersections of perimenopause and romance reading for our project,

“Reimagining Romance: The Voices of Perimenopausal Women.” (IRB-26-0836).

Explore the Zines

Our Team

Jessamyn Moxie

Jessamyn Moxie, PhD, MPH (she/her) is an Associate Professor in the Department of Public Health and Health Administration. Her research focuses on LGBTQ+ individuals, sexual health, and the use of visual methods in research (e.g. photos, zines). She serves as the Associate Director of Community Engagement at UNC Charlotte’s Violence Prevention Center. She loves a dark fantasy romance and queer characters and storylines. See her ORCID here.

Erika Montanaro

Dr. Erika Montanaro is an Associate Professor of Psychological Science at UNC Charlotte and Associate Director of Education at the Violence Prevention Center. A social health psychologist, she studies sexual risk behavior, problematic alcohol use, interpersonal violence, and sexuality development, using theory-driven interventions and advanced methods to promote behavior change, particularly among young and marginalized populations. She is also a mom who loves watching reality television and reading smut. See her ORCID here.

Margaret Quinlan

Margaret M. Quinlan, Ph.D., is a Professor of Communication and Director of Health & Medical Humanities at UNC Charlotte. She researches how communication shapes understandings of health, illness, and medical expertise, with a focus on reproductive health and practitioner-patient communication. An accomplished scholar and co-producer, her work includes the co-authored book You’re Doing It Wrong! and the Emmy-winning documentary series Courage of Creativity. She is new to romance novels and has yet to pick her favorite subgenre. See her ORCID here.

Bethany Johnson

Bethany Johnson is Affiliate Faculty in Health & Medical Humanities at UNC Charlotte and holds a doctorate in history of science, technology, and environment from the University of South Carolina. She is a historian who studies health communication, epidemics, and reproductive health, publishing widely and co-authoring You’re Doing It Wrong! . Since the fall of 2020 Johnson has read the full Throne of Glass series every December; make of it what you will. See her ORCID here.