Gender and Sexuality in Paranormal Romance: The Postfeminist Agenda of Contemporary Vampire Narratives Dissertation zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Doktors der Philosophie der Philosophischen Fakultäten der Universität des Saarlandes vorgelegt von Lea Maria Gerhards aus Braunschweig Saarbrücken, 2020 Dekan: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Heinrich Schlange-Schöningen Erstberichterstatterin: Prof.in Dr.in Astrid M. Fellner, Universität des Saarlandes Zweitberichterstatterin: Dr.in Stacey Abbott, University of Roehampton, London Tag der letzten Prüfungsleistung: 7. November 2018 Acknowledgements I would like to thank Prof. Astrid Fellner for her generous support throughout the whole Ph.D. process, and for encouraging me to find my own voice. My work is better thanks to her insightful and constructive feedback. In her research colloquium, she managed to bring together a group of like-minded scholars and to create a welcoming space in which I could regularly discuss my ideas in a friendly atmosphere. My gratitude also goes to Dr. Stacey Abbott, whose work on horror TV and film has been fundamental for my research, and who kindly agreed to be my second examiner. “TV Fangdom” and “Daughter of Fangdom,” two conferences on television vampires she co-organized, were events that spurred me on and gave me the opportunity to present some of my results to a wider audience. My work benefited greatly from the insight and critical feedback provided by my fellow Ph.D. students and everyone who participated in our research colloquium at Saarland University. My thanks to you all. I gratefully acknowledge the intellectual input and motivational boosts I received from countless audience members and fellow conference-goers whose questions and comments contributed to my thinking on this project. Last but not least, I am very grateful for the unflagging support provided by my family and friends, with some of whom I share a passion for all things vampire. A special thank you goes to my partner Gerrit, with whom I have discussed my ideas innumerable times, and whose support I can always count on. I Table of Contents 1. Introduction: The Cultural Politics of Paranormal Romance .............................................. 1 1.1. Contextualizing Paranormal Romance .............................................................................. 1 1.2. Originality of the Project ..................................................................................................... 8 1.3. A Cultural Studies Approach to Vampire Romance ......................................................... 10 1.4. Chapter Overview ............................................................................................................ 14 2. Postfeminism ......................................................................................................................... 17 2.1. Postfeminism – Introduction ............................................................................................. 17 2.2. Postfeminism as Theoretical Perspective ........................................................................ 20 2.3. Postfeminism as Historical Break .................................................................................... 24 2.4. Postfeminism as Backlash ............................................................................................... 30 2.5. More than a Backlash: On the Complexity of Postfeminist Discourses, or: A Postfeminist Analysis of Postfeminism ....................................................................................................... 37 2.5.1. A Complication of the Dichotomy between ‘Feminism’ and ‘Postfeminism’ ............. 37 2.5.2. A Contextualizing Approach to Postfeminism .......................................................... 43 2.5.3. An Update of Outmoded Cultural Theory ................................................................. 46 3. Genre – (Teen) Paranormal Romance ................................................................................. 49 3.1. A Brief Survey of Contemporary Genre Theory ............................................................... 49 3.2. A Short Definition of (Teen) Paranormal Romance ......................................................... 54 3.3. (Teen) Paranormal Romance, Genre Hybridity, and the Transgression of Boundaries between Self and Other ......................................................................................................... 58 3.3.1. From the Origins to the 19th Century ........................................................................ 58 3.3.2. The 20th Century and the Formation of the Humanized Vampire Figure ................. 63 3.3.3. Early Paranormal Romance Tropes and the Proliferation of the Romantic Vampire Hero .................................................................................................................................... 69 3.3.4. Paranormal Romance and the Teenager ................................................................. 74 3.4. (Teen) Paranormal Romance as a Transmedia Phenomenon ........................................ 77 3.5. The Gendered Dismissal of (Teen) Paranormal Romance and Its Consumers .............. 83 3.6. (Teen) Paranormal Romance and Postfeminism ............................................................. 90 II 4. Between Subject and Object: The Politics of Looking .................................................... 105 4.1. The Male Gaze in Feminist Film Theory ........................................................................ 106 4.2. Beyond the Male Gaze: Conceptualizing a Female Gaze ............................................. 111 4.3. Female Subjectivity and Desire in the Twilight Saga ..................................................... 116 4.3.1. Bella, Subjectivity and the ‘Gazed Gaze’ ............................................................... 116 4.3.2. Female Desire and the Reversal of the Gaze ........................................................ 120 4.3.2.1. Gazing at Edward ............................................................................................ 120 4.3.2.2. Gazing at Jacob .............................................................................................. 129 4.4. Female Subjectivity and Desire in The Vampire Diaries ................................................ 134 4.4.1. Stefan and Damon as Objects of Elena’s Gaze ..................................................... 134 4.4.2. Damon as Object of the Camera’s Gaze ................................................................ 139 4.4.3. Damon as Camp ..................................................................................................... 143 4.5. Female Subjectivity and Desire in True Blood ............................................................... 149 4.5.1. Sookie and the ‘Gazed Gaze’ ................................................................................. 149 4.5.2. Sookie’s Gaze and Desire ...................................................................................... 155 4.5.3. Undermining the Male Gaze through Parody ......................................................... 161 4.6. Postfeminism and the Straight White Female Gaze ...................................................... 166 5. Vampire Transformation as Makeover: The Making of Ideal Postfeminist Subjects ... 180 5.1. Neo-liberalist Postfeminism ........................................................................................... 181 5.2. “Born to Be a Vampire:” Bella Swan’s Vampire Makeover ............................................ 185 5.3. “You’re Just Going to Have to Work That Much Harder:” Caroline Forbes, Entrepreneur of the Self ............................................................................................................................. 193 5.4. “This Hunger in Me, It’s Never Going Away:” Jessica Hamby’s Continual Body Work . 198 5.5. Female Vampires and their Postfeminist Projects of the Self ........................................ 204 6. Fantasy Solutions to Postfeminist Culture: Vampire Heroes and Postfeminist Masculinity ............................................................................................................................... 210 6.1. The Evolution of the Postfeminist Man .......................................................................... 213 6.2. Humanized Vampires as Romance Heroes ................................................................... 218 6.3. Vampire Romance Heroes and Central Features of Postfeminist Masculinity .............. 224 6.4. Both ‘Overbearing’ and ‘Emo-Metrosexual:’ Edward Cullen as a Postfeminist Man ..... 234 6.5. A Compassionate Hero with a Penchant for Self-Criticism: Stefan Salvatore as a Postfeminist Man .................................................................................................................. 246 6.6. An Old-Fashioned Gentleman Willing to Look Forward: Bill Compton as a Postfeminist Man....................................................................................................................................... 254 6.7. The Contradictions of the Postfeminist Vampire Romance Hero .................................. 261 7. Conclusion: The Postfeminist Agenda of Contemporary Vampire Romance .............. 268 Works Cited .............................................................................................................................. 284 Deutsche Zusammenfassung ...............................................................................................