What the Myths of Romantic Love Hide in Twilight: A Feminist Perspective

Abstract

[eng] This paper examines how myths of romantic love are used to hide patriarchal violence towards women in a rose-tinted atmosphere, illustrating this with scenes from the Twilight film saga. This series of five films became a sociocultural phenomenon from the time of its release due to its worldwide popularity. While much has been written about the saga’s problematic views on gender roles, sexuality and relationships, less has been said about how Twilight uses myths of romantic love to perpetuate patriarchal discourses. I draw attention to the fact that these myths are permeating films and they are particularly dangerous because of their ability to convey harmful ideology towards women in a way that makes it seem harmless and desirable. I will start with an explanation of the main myths and the origin of romantic love as well as their relationship to the perpetuation of violence and patriarchal structure, followed by the connection of these myths with vampires. Furthermore, I will illustrate how these myths convey anti-feminist discourses using scenes of the Twilight saga. The paper aims to identify the danger of romantic love myths due to their ability to hide, normalize or even romanticize discourses and situations that allow the systematic abuse towards women to continue.