The Courtship Between the Lion and the Lamb:

An Analysis of Rape Culture Romanticised in The Twilight Saga

Abstract

The paper aims to study how rape and the stereotypical notions of gender get perpetuated in society as part of its popular literary discourses. It shines light on the ways in which selected fiction series glamorizes and sexualizes violence against women. Sexual violence is often ignored, excused, condoned, and even encouraged throughout the world. This paper analyzes the development of rape as a cultural phenomenon branching from deep-rooted sexism and misogyny that extends towards rape myths, locker-room talks, victim shaming etc. It gives special attention to treat rape as a social crime that breeds through psychologically, morally and ethically built cultural tools where violence against women is normalized. It tries to emphasize the importance of a gender sensitive approach in popular literary discourses. The Twilight Saga, initially released as a novel series, and later through movie adaptations with the same name, has a massive fan base especially amongst young-adult audiences. This investigation  raises consciousness regarding the various problems of toxic masculinity, misogyny, consent, violence, trauma etc. portrayed in the series.