Global Journal of Human Social Science, C: Sociology and Culture, Volume 22 Issue 6

are physical, chemical and hormonal phenomena that also have a cultural and social component, which is constructed and varies from time to time and from culture to culture. There is no single type of love, since it changes with time and space, but many authors argue that the idea of "loving" is part of the the human condition (Herrera, 2020). Romantic love is a socio-cultural construction, by this model of love, we understand an idealization of the significant other and, at the same time, this model is nurtured by gender roles and stereotypes, already established and normalized within society Herrera (2012). García et al. (2019) consider that in order to understand how the romantic love model has been built and internalized, it is important to understand that this is closely linked to differential socialization or social contexts, those roles that have been defined, starting with the family nucleus and continuing through the educational system, the media, religion and society in general, which are the ones who dictate the role pattern and stereotype to follow, reiterate it and legitimize it, since from the moment a person is born, it is erroneously believed that he or she must play certain roles because they are men or women. Romantic love corresponds to the preservation of gender roles and stereotypes defined by society, since the idea that people have about romantic love and relationships has been built thanks to the discourses and myths that society provides to them and commonly covers up gender-based violence (García et al. 2019: Vara-Horna and López, 2017). This model of love has become an ideal that has been gaining strength and is the one that teaches people how to relate, repress themselves and how the models of masculinity and femininity that conform to the current society should be and how to find a partner (Herrera, 2020). Romantic love is strongly sustained by its myths, understood as collective beliefs; illusions that are socially shared and plagued by false promises. Throughout time, the myth of romantic love has grown stronger, sentimental novels have gained strength, as have numerous movies that present love stories that promote the image that love is sacrificial and represents the only happiness in life, becoming a "collective utopia of an emotional nature " leaving aside the meaning and construction of holistic love as such (Herrera, 2020). Romantic myths are consolidated gender stereotypes, and make gender inequalities more evident (Herrera, 2020). Among the most common myths are: the myth of the better half, the myth of Prince Charming, the myth of jealousy, omnipotence and free will. As long as these myths promoted by society continue to be reproduced, couple-relationships and affective bonds will remain as they are today and will continue to be perpetuated and lead to VAW, which is why there is a need to understand them, in order to subsequently transform them for the benefit of all (García et al. 2019). Vara-Horna y López (2017) define VAW as: “Any action or omission exercised by men against women, within a present or past intimate relationship and in a context of inequitable power relations, so that they act against their will, through the imposition of power, threat or physical, sexual, psychological or economic harm” (pg. 23). This concept is based on the gender approach, which recognizes this type of violence as the consequence of unequal power relations between men and women, which have been constructed throughout history and have been naturalized through a series of socio-cultural processes (Vara-Horna and López 2017). Law 348 enacted in Bolivia establishes different forms of violence, which are based on four universal and priority types that can be psychological, physical, sexual and economic, these types of violence are interrelated and it is more common to find several types of violence at the same time, rather than cases with a single isolated type of violence (Programa Regional ComVoMujer, 2018). It is important to emphasize that VAW is most costly for society, affecting at multiple levels, such as individual, household, community and government, and that to deal with it, violence in intimate partner relationships should be encompassed in the framework, as statistics show that within the ranges of VAW, the main aggressor is the partner (Vara-Horna and Lopez, 2017). To conduct the analysis of this research it is necessary to know the gender approach, or also known as gender perspective, which sustains the difference between both sexes and how social roles are constructed based on this difference (López, 2007), aims to achieve equal rights and opportunities for both men and women, but respecting their differences, contributing to understand relevant aspects associated with the cultural construction of each person's identity, to understand how they are generated, how relations of domination and social inequalities are produced (Miranda-Novoa, 2012). About emerging adulthood, it can be said that in some countries it occurs legally from the age of 18 or 21, when they can vote, marry etc., without the authorization of their parents or guardians, but from another point of view, a person goes through emerging adulthood when they are able to support themselves on their own, when they choose a career, when they start an important relationship or a family. Although psychologically maturity depends on the fulfillment of certain achievements, such as independence from parents, being able to discover one's identity and develop a value system, there are psychologists who affirm that the beginning of adulthood is given by internal factors such as self-control, autonomy, etc., and not by external criteria. It is then that it refers more to a mental state, since from another point of view, some people despite their chronological age, never become adults, however, there are scientists who claim that for most people, within industrialized societies, emerging © 2022 Global Journals Volume XXII Issue VI Version I 11 ( ) Global Journal of Human Social Science - Year 2022 C Romantic Love and Violence against Women from a Gender Approach