[OPINION] why is depression/abuse/misogyny so romanticized in mainstream poetry?

I don't agree that the themes you've mentioned are romanticized in modern poetry.

There is a major difference in romanticizing something and using something as a key thematic concern, and whilst I would agree that these topics are being used as key concerns more frequently I don't agree that they're being romanticized.

Romanticizing is defined as "making something seem better or more appealing than it actually is" and I cannot see work by any of the poets you've mentioned that makes depression, abuse or misogyny seem better. In fact I would argue that all of their work highlights the issues and the negative repercussions of depression abuse and misogyny.

Many of Kaur's poems actually glorify and romanticize feminist concerns and actively attack misogynists/the patriarchy:

"there are mountains growing
beneath our feet
that cannot be contained
all we've endured
has prepared us for this
bring your hammers and fists
we have a glass ceiling to shatter"
https://www.instagram.com/p/BuwfSh3nRyH/

You can look as far back as Ginsburg and Plath to see poets using depression as key thematic concerns, especially in Plath's collections such as Ariel and Winter Trees. A huge amount of literature from the Confessional poets and the Beat poets use mental illness, abuse and misogyny in their poetry, so this has been going on far before Kaur and RH Sin were even born.

/r/Poetry Thread