It is stated within the document that "The original title of this essay presented at the Northeast Popular Culture Association in 2015 was "Becoming the Monster: A Jungian Analysis of Monster Erotica, and the Acceptance of the Animus through the Shadow."
Here's the abstract:
Teratophilia, the erotic attraction to the monstrous, has been on the steady increase in Western media since the last century. Within the past few decades and due to the ease of disseminating online material anonymously, literature and art depicting the monstrous as erotic has burgeoned beyond the capacity for quantitative measures to properly calculate. Online literature, blogs, art, and ebooks have now added to the supply of monster erotica which was formerly restricted to oral tales, esoteric texts, and a scant few artistic depictions. Using a Jungian framework within the context of modern American society, this paper offers an explanation for the escalation in monster romance and why heterosexual female readers may prefer to fantasize about sexual relations with a monster rather than a human male. In a world of globalized media where the worst faces of patriarchal oppression can be streamed twenty-four hours a day, monster erotica offers an alternative sexual object and serves as a means for individuals to avoid cognitive dissonance evoked by the dichotomy of the aggressive masculine and the relenting feminine common in the traditional romance. The "Shadow", i.e. the monster, acts as an intermediary between these two archetypes that can be at odds in a context where the masculine is viewed as a harbinger of suffering and oppression. By identifying with the protagonist who engages in sexual activity with a monster, readers cathartically engage with the masculine through the "Shadow" in her subconscious. This interaction is portrayed in a positive manner which differs significantly from past literature in which sexual engagements with the monster were depicted in a tragic or disastrous way. The struggle with the "Animus" finds expression in contemporary monster erotica and utilizes it as a means of reconciliation within the psyche through these narratives. This paper analyzes the monster erotica trilogy "Ensnare: The Librarian’s Lover" by Mac Flynn as a case study.
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The focus of this paper is [...] what is termed "romantic erotica", that depicts explicit sexual activity but does so within the framework of romance and uses traditional literary tools of that genre to propel the reader towards romantic/relational closure. Because most monster erotica features female humans copulating with male monsters, this paper will only focus on the implications for female heterosexual readers who may identify with the protagonist. The significance of monster erotica for homosexual readership or for queer theory is not addressed. Furthermore, since narrators are typically female, the implications for male heterosexual readers is not analyzed. Though there is an increasingly sizeable genre of homosexual monster erotica, and there is certainly a male readership, more research is needed for these specific areas and it is beyond the scope of this paper. As a pioneering work attempting to analyze a previously un-researched topic, this paper represents the first step into a new field and therefore a more detailed investigation into other areas must come later. (7)
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Ensnare: The Librarian's Lover(2014) by Mac Flynn has been chosen as the primary text because it is longer than most monster erotica (three volumes), thereby allowing a more detailed analysis of its subtleties. Additionally, the monster depicted in this erotica is completely non-humanoid and therefore circumvents problems which may arise from an investigation of humanoid monsters such as aliens. (8)
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In the current climate of intensifying female demands that are being met with retaliation, eroticizing the monstrous may circumvent cognitive dissonance. For example, reading about a "rugged but kind cowboy" from a Harlequin novel may summon anxieties about female autonomy or remind the reader about potential masculine violence. Alternatively, reading about "a massive, throbbing cock" may seem ridiculous to a reader in a political climate where terrorism elides with masculinity. For some, humanity has lost its sexual affect or become problematic. The problem of eroticizing a species that is literally (through power structures) and symbolically (through language and culture) conflated with 50% of the population that is prone to violence/oppression seems insurmountable. Teratophilia offers an alternative, and allows readers the opportunity to engage the feminine elements of the psyche towards the masculine without relying on normative heterosexual relations. Though it may be masculine (in some cases), the monster is not human, and the problem of humanity eliding with the male is circumvented. Thereby, the female (Anima) is given latitude for objects of arousal and means of engagement. (9)
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The three primary archetypes in monster erotica are the Shadow, the Anima, and the Animus. The Shadow, represented by the monster, embodies all that is hidden (Jung 18-21). However, it would be a misunderstanding to characterize the Shadow as merely the archetype of the taboo and the repressed. While it is true the Shadow contains a large amount of what is negatively repressed, it also houses positive aspects of the self which an individual may have rejected for various reasons. An individual might find his or her sexuality repulsive due to a traumatic event and have hidden it in the Shadow, but its repression doesn't make such sexuality negative in and of itself. Therefore, the Shadow may contain things considered Other but it also contains elements which can be fundamental to the individual psyche and merely concealed in the subconscious. Rather than simply a collection of harmful psychological aspects removed from the conscious mind, the Shadow is a complex archetype which also holds elements necessary for the function and health of the psyche. (15-16)
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With the increased autonomy of women and the convenience of online publication, it's possible that monster erotica has arisen as an expression of the female erotic imagination in response to the anxiety associated with typical heterosexual erotica. This may explain why many monster erotic stories tend to depict human males negatively, and male monsters positively or at least neutrally. (19)
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teratophiliac narratives share something with traditional romance. Both attempt to obscure the seemingly ambiguous moral boundaries concerning rape. They simultaneously depict examples of clear violation, such as when the bullies violently attacked Leslie, with examples of subtle coercion, such as when Leslie was first seduced by the book-monster. (30)
It is stated within the document that "The original title of this essay presented at the Northeast Popular Culture Association in 2015 was "Becoming the Monster: A Jungian Analysis of Monster Erotica, and the Acceptance of the Animus through the Shadow."
Here's the abstract:
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