He is a Monster: Masculinity, Animalism and the Gendering of Power in Paranormal Romance

Summary: Vampires, Vamps and Va Va Voom | Lenis Prater In my paper I contend that the genre of paranormal romance can provide new and more equitable narrations of sex and gender, but that this is rarely the case. The ‘self-evident’ (and self-perpetuating) construction of men as stronger than women justifies problematic power relations in most romance novels. Indeed, many feminist scholars such as Winifred Woodhull and Sharon Marcus have noted that the normalisation of sexual and domestic violence is due, in part, to the attribution of power to men and powerlessness to women. In paranormal romance, where vampires, werewolves, shape shifters and witches abound, common-sense understandings of men’s and women’s bodies can be undermined. Unfortunately, paranormal romance authors often create myths or pairings where the heroes are more monstrous and powerful than the heroines. Women in these novels are not correspondingly monstrous or animalistic; they are, for example, far more likely to be virgins and less likely to attack the hero. In order to articulate my arguments, I will examine two paranormal romance series in depth. The Immortals After Dark series by Kresley Cole exemplifies the problems associated with the paranormal romance genre. I will contrast this with the Black Dagger Brotherhood series by J.R. Ward that provides a framework in which men are at least held responsible for their misuse of power and demonstrates how paranormal romance can undermine anti-feminist constructions of gender and sexuality. Lenise Prater BA (Hons) is currently writing her PhD in literature on the torture memoirs produced in the ‘war on terror’. Her honours project was a feminist account of the romance ‘subgenre’ of ‘romantic suspense’. She also spoke at the After Harry symposium about the construction of romance in the Harry Potter series.