“I do what I want with you and your body.” the disturbing success of a dark romance that has been praised by young readers

In the middle of summer, L’Échappée Belle de Sète bookstore is in full swing. In the air-conditioned units, vacationers come for a walk in search of their future beach book. Although many will stick to the classic summer thriller, a new wind is blowing and worrying booksellers. dark romance. In this sub-genre of erotic literature, the heroines are systematically subjected to physical, psychological and sexual violence. bad boys mysterious.

The sales award is far from a niche phenomenon captive, a saga written by Sarah Rivens featuring Ella, a young “captive” held against her will in a criminal network. Used for his body by his first ‘master’, he is then locked in a cellar and physically tortured by his second, with whom he ends up having a passionate affair thanks to his daring and resilience… Volume 2, released in early 2023 The Dethroned Prince Harry’s biography, climbing to number one in sales. Another success of its kind. 365 days by Blanka Lipinska, adapted into a 2020 film. In this trilogy available on Netflix, Italian mobster Massimo kidnaps and kidnaps a woman he gives 365 days to fall in love with.

In the video, 365 daysmovie adapted from Dark Romance book trailer

far awayAngelica, Marquise of Angels

A young reader in Sète tries to order volume 3 of the series captive From the bookseller at L’Échappée Belle. The latter replied that he does not sell this book to people under the age of 16. And also to question the mother of a pre-teen, who seems to be hearing this age limit for the first time and trusts that she sees only the modern equivalent of former sulphur; Angelica, Marquise of Angels. Once the duo left, the employee told us in annoyance that the demand was such from 12-13 year old girls that she ended up hiding the books with dark covers. The problem is not the sexual nature of these stories. he says he has “a lot of good erotic literature,” but rather the violence and dominance relationships they idealize.

“It’s always the man who is dominant and the woman who is submissive,” says Lisa*, 27, an occasional reader. “There’s this issue of ownership in sex, with repeated phrases like ‘you belong to me’, ‘I do what I want with you and your body.’ Even outside of sex, a man will have very angry reactions, being very careful about how the woman he interacts with dresses. It’s going to be shot to make him look protective, but mostly it’s a macho reaction.”

However, it is on social media, which has seen the emergence of the MeToo hashtag anyway, that readers of the genre meet and give advice to each other, not to mention: “Don’t forget to read the list. trigger warnings (a warning, usually written warning that the content may cause psychological trauma to a person, editor’s note)”. But why do these stories of violence and manipulation have such an impact on a generation where 83% of young women between the ages of 17 and 19 identify as feminists (1)?

A community away from it all

Before bookstore shelves were dressed in fancy covers, dark romance was born online. He is a direct descendant of “fanfictions” such as Fifty Shades of Greyor a series based on the handsome vampire Edward Dusk; or after inspired by One Direction. Most of these stories were and continue to be published on platforms such as Wattpad or our own Archives before being noticed by specialist publishers. Digital resources that have made social networks places for literary promotion and conversation. “It is a highly committed and radical society that often organizes itself in a communal way around something tropes: (recurring narrative theme or dynamic, editor’s note),” explains Margot*, a reader and publishing employee.

“There’s a super-accurate labeling system on the dedicated platforms, it’s like you can make yourself a customized meal, choosing exactly what you want after a day in a world that doesn’t suit you.” Alix, 23, who has been reading fantasy for ten years, explains. Margot sees it as a world “away from reality” and imagines that the appeal of dark romance lies in the discrepancy between “reality and fiction”. Alix claims: “Young women who use dark romance are often introverted, at the top of the class; go for more dark it’s also a way out of this caricature.” The dark romance takes on an effectively disruptive side that Georges Bataille would have appreciated. the author of History of eroticism indeed saw prohibition as the founder of desire.

Lisa agrees. “It’s a very intimate moment to read a book. There’s no one over your shoulder who knows what you’re reading. It can push you to your most controversial corners.” And if the latter finds there “to feel things that he would not otherwise have had the opportunity to know,” he highlights a form of inconsistency; “It is very paradoxical that in these completely imaginary worlds we choose to reproduce the same sexist stigma. “.

Endless romance

Could this paradoxical reproduction be dangerous? Margot is worried about the effect these shows can have on the youngest and their idea of ​​love. “They don’t necessarily have the ability to back down. I saw young girls on Tiktok saying they wanted it to happen to them, but how can you want to be considered a sex slave? And add: “They have a hypertoxic image of relationships, and the danger is that they actually accept a lot of things that they shouldn’t because that’s the representation they’ve had. Except that in the play it ends well, the boy changes for her; but this isn’t real life.”

Because, and this is part of the stereotype, all is (almost) always well that ends well in dark romance. Men with troubled pasts and backgrounds eventually “come together” out of love. For researcher Mellie Freise, author of Thug Love, another subgenre of online romance (2), “the women in these stories are there to help the hero move forward. It was already in the Harlequin novels. man always had a flaw. It is this scenario that we convey to women, that in any case, love and sexuality are a woman’s story.

According to the academic, this recurring scenario is exacerbated here by the background of violence, which “forces acceptance of women” and the idea that violence will be justified. eventually by the power of love.

executioner or toy boy ?

But if romance heroines often have a white-goose side, ready to accept anything, are readers also naive? Academic colorization raises the “dangers” of this literary genre, leading Janice Radway, a pioneer in the study of reception of romances, to assert that readers have no way of mistaking this conservative-tinged fiction for the real world. American literary critics even considered that readers of Harlequin’s novels find in it a compensation, a freedom away from their role as mother and wife, making this reading “a limited, sensible but legitimate form of protest (3)”.

In the case of dark romance, the same scheme can be applied. “There is an internal redefinition of power,” emphasizes Meli Friesen. “This is an area where women are strong, kidnapped but escape, tortured but resist.” And about the violent side of these stories, genre sociologist Sébastien Chauvin explained in columns: The time In 2019. “Women are rediscovering the erotic charge of the story they write, and about which they are not deceived. If the executioner in the story seems to impose his desires on the female prisoner, he is actually serving the authors and their readers, who he really is. toy boy“.

Critical thinking

But in order not to be deceived, you still need to be able to arm yourself with a critical spirit forged by experience. in an article he authored Set free , a booktok influential admitted. “I was too young for these readings. Result: I internalized a lot of womanizing behavior. But the question of how to prevent these stories from falling into too young hands seems intractable. “Mature audiences don’t want dark romance. “Putting an age limit would make distribution and marketing very difficult,” explains Margo. On the other hand, the young employee of the publishing house calls for collective responsibility. especially parents, who always have to read the synopsis and even more so find out when it’s an unknown genre.”

Finally, it seems very important to open a conversation about the origin of these imaginations and their stereotypical structure, which Camille Emmanuel denounced in his essay. A letter to anyone who reads my erotic romances and who should stop immediately. The author wrote there. “Romances, they produce ready-to-consume fantasies. Fantasies that stick in the nails and are part of an ultra-traditional male-female relationship. Typical reader, you should wet your panties, but you shouldn’t emancipate yourself either.

*Names have been changed.

(1) Equality, stereotypes, discrimination between women and men. perceptions and experiences among younger generations in 2022.Report n°2022-02-28-STER-52, published on February 28, 2022.
(2) “Love bandit. Sentimental Novels That Test Class and Race,” by Meli Frise Meli and Marie-Carmen García, gender in the series : cinema, television, mediaNo. 9, 2019
(3) “Rosewater Readings. Women, Patriarchy, and Folk Literature,” Janice Redway, Politics, flight. 13, No. 51, 2000