Traumatized young women seek idealized romance as a healing narrative

Evidence

Over time in Virginia, her connection to Laith grew more solid and turned into real love, with all its ups and downs. It helped her own mental health. Finally she had the romance she’d been looking for. “Ever since I was a little girl,” she explained, “I’ve always dreamed of living one big love story.” Now she had found it, and she felt as if she were acting a part “in an Abdul Halim movie,” she told me with a glow, referring to the black-and-white classics from a bygone era in Egyptian cinema. — Moustafa Bayoumi, How Does It Feel to Be a Problem? Being…, 673

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader theme of people rebuilding identity after trauma (cf. The Reluctant Fundamentalist’s psychological aftermath).