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Twilight on Equality MAG
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that while reading Twilight I was “dazzled” (pun intended). Almost anyone alive for the past couple of months is certainly aware of the saga, which has received excited acclaim not only from teenagers worldwide but also such esteemed reviewers as The New York Times and Publishers Weekly. So why do I have a problem with it?
Twilight is about Bella Swan, a teen who moves to a new town and is immediately adored by everyone. She instantly has several men vying for her attention and a couple of pretty nice friends as well. Her adoration of classic books would imply that she is at least marginally intelligent. Then she meets Edward Cullen (who has a unique background that is not relevant here), and as their relationship grows, so does her obsession, until it consumes her. Seems harmless, right?
Actually, no. Bella is depicted as an evil temptress trying to persuade a morally honorable man into evil, while he attempts to keep their virtues intact. Succinctly, Edward and Bella are a modern Adam and Eve.
But the book goes further in asserting that women are inferior to men. Every time Bella is faced with a conflict and has to make a choice, Edward swoops in to save her, because apparently she can’t possibly decide on her own. He goes beyond protective to borderline abusive in Twilight, but Bella justifies it as “love” every time. When Edward dumps her for a couple months in New Moon, Bella becomes seriously depressed and dangerous to herself.
All the female characters in this series eventually portray similar helplessness. Even the first relationship introduced in the book – that of Bella’s mother and stepfather – is sexist. Bella expresses concern about leaving her mother, but then reasons that it’s okay now that Phil is looking after her.
What’s even more ridiculous is that many female readers look up to Bella! Her situation is idealized. After finding Edward, Bella is happy only when she is with him. She feels that he is her one true purpose in life. So what are girls who read the novels left wanting? Their own Edward, of course! Not only do they want one – they need one. The fact that so many intelligent young men and women have been sucked into the Twilight series and have swallowed its sexist manifesto has me worried about the future of gender equality.

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This article has 589 comments.
I totally agree with you especially with girls "fallin' in love" with the fictional character of Edward. All the girls, that I have met and have read the saga, wants to find their own guy personification of Edward when there is no guy like Edward because he is fiction and made up, not real. In addition, the guys in reality are human and not vampire. I'm afraid if the girls continue to look for "Edward" that there will be more single, hopeless romantic ladies in the future and a generation of ladies with too-high standards for their future mates. Girls just need to understand that there is really no guy that is like Edward, or any other "hot" fictional character for that matter, and they need to put down the new guy standards that have formed around Edward.
I truly agree and celebrate this article. 'Tis a very good opinion and argument. :)
-heard that this was in a magazine as well-
Twilight is sexist, and it glorifies abuse as well as pedophilia, racism (research the native american tribe it used- you know, the one Jacob Belongs to?) and repeatedly call extreme immaturity just the opposite- Bella is described by other people in the book as being "thirty years old" despite that she's only seventeen, yet she behaves similarly to a two or five year old.
And then the books are constantly speaking about one thing but showing something else.
Anyway, AMEN TO THIS. Bella is in Lust, not Love. And now that she no longer smells deliscious and no longer has that "plain jane appeal" for Edward, and now that he can't go on about how she's like an "angry kitten that thinks it's a tiger" she is, and now that he can read her mind and see how spiteful she is?
He's out of there. Or he would be, if he were, you know, something more than a cardboard cutout.
Loved the article~♥
This book would not be so horrible, as there are books just as bad out there, except for the way the fans are treating this as the best work of literature in centuries and taking all of the abusive messages to heart.
I'm simply calling for more recognition of underlying social themes in the works we read. "All art is propaganda." (George Orwell)
But I disagree about there being no other strong female characters. I'm sorry, but both Alice and Rosalie are the farthest from helpless. Same with characters like Leah and Kate.
Edward is overbearing and demanding. He makes decisions for Bella in a paternalistic way instead of making them WITH her. He treats her as though she has no ability to make up her own mind. If they were truly equal, as lovers, then he would realize that whatever her level of experience, she has the right and need to take care of herself.
I don't criticize the author for creating these characters. Her role was not to create a primer on teen love affairs. Rather I caution young women to avoid idealizing Edward into the perfect man.
for real
if you try and relive this you are dumb
its a cute story about a boy and girl
everyone loves a good romance story
Also, as Stephen King as already said: "Stephanie Meyer can't write worth a darn."And she can't! It's sad that literature is going on a rapid decline these day's.
(If you haven't noticed, I am in a strong opinion that Meyer can't write that well)
And the book isn't sexist. There are strong female characters all over. Look at Alice, for example, and Leah. They definitely have minds of their own, and they're not portrayed as inferior. Renee needed looking after, yeah, but Bella cared for her before Phil, and they both did equally good jobs. Phil's being a man has nothing to do with it. And Renee is very wise, in her own way.
As for the 'swooping in to save her whenever she needs to make a choice' part, Renesmee's existence pretty much makes that point invalid. She even did what she wanted in Eclipse - distracted Victoria and gave Edward the chance to win, and even though she didn't shed any blood. She convinced him to let her visit Jacob, despite the fact he thought he would kill her, she got him to change her into a vampire, she actually bullied her dad a little to get her way... It's a shred unbalanced, yes, but one human girl tossed into a world of vampires and shapeshifters? Her helplessness has nothing to do with her inability to make choices - it's obviously going to be kind of hard to be self-sustaining in a situation like that. What's she gonna do, pull out a magic sword?
Oh, and one more thing - the shapeshifters' imprinting thing also helps to balance the genders a little more - they obviously need the girls as much as or more than the girls need them. In retrospect, it's really like that with everyone in the book - the guys and girls need each other equally.