Against the Machine

With its preoccupation with misogyny and violence towards women, the Romance genre instructs its female readers how to react to what has become unavoidable in a patriarchal world. Unfortunately, the abuse perpetrated by the Hero towards the Heroine counters the educational intentions of the genre and sends the wrong message. The readers of the Romance who see themselves in the Heroine– particularly the modern day, independent Heroine of the Time Travel Romance– are taught that in order to achieve their desired ‘happy ending,’ they must forgive their abusive significant others. Through satire and feminist edits to Janice A. Radway’s Narrative Logic of the Romance, Against the Machine addresses the presence of domestic violence and misogyny in the Time Travel Romance, and offers an alternative way to write in the genre.