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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.
While I do agree that some of the aspects of Twilight are demoralizing towards women, I don't agree completely with some of the things you said. Although Bella does feel that Edward is her true purpose in life, Edward feels the same for Bella. He says his life is meaningless without her. Plus, one of the things that Edward says he loves about her is that she is a caretaker - she takes care of others and is independent. (She only says her mother will be okay will Phil because she knows her mother will not be okay on her own... her mother was fine with Bella and they're BOTH GIRLS! SHe was just saying that her mother is NOT responsible at all and that she needs to take care of her) Also, when you said that Bella was totally depressed over Edward leaving her, I agree with that. She was, but I don't think that demoralizes women. Bella was completly in love with him and he broke her heart and her future (her future of becoming a vampire). Plus, at least she did something with her time and tried to "live" and make her dad happy - Edward says "when I wasn't tracking, I was totally useless. I more or less crawled up into a ball and let the misery take me"
One more thing (I know I'm going overboard, but I want to prove my point) in the first book, before Edward saves Bella from James, she is brave and fearless enough to try to save her mother. I think she deserves some credit.
I completely agree! When I first read the book I was completely engrossed and I loved all of the characters but after I had finished the series and looked back...not only did I find that it wasn't all the great of a series but that Bella was completley helpless.
It is completley unrealistic that a new girl will be loved by everyone and have guys going after her on her first day at school...that almost never happens. Most of the time people try to find the things wrong with the new person rather than the good (at least at our school.)
She sinks into a major depression when Edward leaves and seems almost suicidal...which shows the sexism right there.
Overall...a very well written article! Great job!
dramaticgirl16-
Thanks for your reply!
But my friend, this is a website dedicated to people’s opinions, no? You and I both have the same justification to discuss our love or dislike of any certain topic, as we’ve agreed before, correct? Thus, regardless of however many people may disagree with me, your point is again unrelated to the conversation.
