CONTENT [WITHOUT] WARNING: A COMPARATIVE CONTENT ANALYSIS OF SEXUAL VIOLENCE SCENES IN PARANORMAL AND REALISTIC YOUNG ADULT ROMANCE NOVELS

Adolescent girls are at high risk of facing sexual violence during their teen years, risk potentially compounded by the media messages they consume about sexual violence and romance. I employ a coded content analysis of 10 paranormal and 10 realistic young adult romance novels to uncover the consistency of scenes of sexual violence, including sexual harassment, stalking, unwanted touching, rape and attempted rape, threat of sexual violence, and fear of sexual violence. Across the sample, sexual violence occurred approximately every nine pages, mostly sexual harassment and stalking, which were used as forms of flirtation and social control, with no statistical difference between paranormal and realistic romance novels. Additionally, there were gendered patterns in how characters responded to sexual violence, with girls enacting more passive responses and boys using more violence. Such media may help girls build their cultural toolkits, how they define and respond to real-world experiences of sexual violence.Master of Art