Cross posted on the Just Read Blog:
http://justreadcomo.blogspot.com/2009/06/romanticizing-abuse.html
I find romance a very troubling cultural concept because social norms of chivalry provide an effective mask for manipulation. Chivalry is based on a man protecting his partner, but this can also have the effect of making her emotionally, financially, or otherwise dependent on him. Culturally, women are taught to value these traits in their partner, which could hide warning signs of controlling behavior. With kindness, romance, and manipulation so closely linked, it can be confusing for those in an abusive relationship to understand their experience in the context of abuse.
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Finally watched Twilight. This line.... eeeugh:
"Her scent hit me like wrecking ball [sic], like a battering ram. There was no language violent enough to encapsulate the force of what happened to me in that moment."
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