Thursday, 19 March 2009
-
"Twilight's Bella Is The Ultimate Anti-Feminist"
As a 20-something self-respecting female, I'm sort of ashamed to say that I"m reading the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. I"ve been reading it since last summer - I'm a slow reader, okay? - and I'm now about halfway through the fourth book, Breaking Dawn. I've enjoyed the series insomuch as it's entertaining, easy reading. I don't think the writing is amazing by any means; it's not bad, it's just not a literary wonder. It makes for good subway reading though! But there's something about the whole series that has bugged me all along. Bella is the ultimate anti-feminist. Not only is she annoying, whiny, petulant and melodramatic, but she's kind of an embarrassment to women everywhere. True, she's a 17-year-old girl, so she can't be fully blamed for her immature tendencies, but if she's going to be making adult decisions like, oh I don't know, getting married, having sex, and possibly getting turned into a vampire forever and ever for the man she loves, then I'm going to treat her like an adult. And as an adult, she kinda sucks.First of all, all the men in Bella's life essentially control her, and she lets it happen. She just makes a show of being really annoyed anytime Edward overprotects her in his assumption that she is just a fragile little girl who can't help but put herself in danger's way. At one point, he "forbids" her from going to La Push to see Jacob because he "thinks it’s too dangerous for her". Yeah, right. I know the male ego. Edward is 104 years old, and he knows what he's doing - he's jealous, and he knows he has a power over her, so he acts on it. She whines and puts up a faux fight, but ultimately she lets him get away with it because she "loves him" (read: she wants to please him).
And it's not just that. The very first time Edward and Bella share a "moment," it's in the act of him protecting her from a skidding car. I'm not saying he should have let Bella die, but it is rather symbolic of their entire relationship: Bella on the ground crouching in fear, and Edward poised over her, shading her from the elements. What are you trying to say, Ms. Meyer? Do all women innately need protecting? The problem with being constantly protected from danger is that you are also kept from truly living, because life is dangerous by definition. Bella has no life outside Edward, and she is okay with that fact. That's not love; that's self-denial.
There are a million tiny examples of how Edward controls and manipulates Bella emotionally, and how she lets him, even enjoying his doing so: he won't let her drive her own car, he won't let her do stuff by herself, he hovers outside (or inside) her bedroom at night. I just want to shake her and say, "If he really loved you, he would let you be free to do what you want!"
Edward isn't the only guilty party here. Jacob is the same way, to a lesser degree. While he's more tolerable, he still treats Bella like a delicate flower that needs to be cradled and protected. And she lets all this happen; in fact, she's quite the willing participant.
What is Stephenie Meyer trying to convey to teenage girls? In my opinion, she's saying that love is about the protection and self-denial of women. Find a man who can protect you from the big, scary, dangerous world out there, girls, and you're all set. All you have to do to snatch the man of your dreams is give up everything that makes you who you are. Bella completely changes her life for Edward; she gives up her high school friends, she gives up her college experience, she gives up her body, and she plans to give up her humanity - all for a man. It’s true that love is about sacrifice - but what is Edward sacrificing? Shmeh, nothin'. But it's okay, because he's, like, sooooo pretty. Pretty and sparkly. *bats eyelashes*
What do you think of Bella’s sacrifices for Edward?
-
recommend
- recs 48
-
share
-
email
- sent 5
Related Posts
Post a Comment
- Back to datingish's Datingish Site!
- Note: your comment will appear in datingish's local time zone: GMT -05:00 (Eastern Standard - US, Canada)
About the Author
-
- From: misselephant
Stats: This Week All Time Posts: 0 11 Views: 0 101436 Comments: 0 1197 View all posts by misselephant
Comments (566)
She gets in trouble and always expects the guys to get her out of it. She whines.. about everything, constantly. Nothing is done right for her. She's never happy. She's obsessive.
It's really, really sad. She's the reason I don't like that book.
The vampire sparkles, that's fine, but the girl? No. Just, no.
If I'm going to read a book, the woman can't be like that unless there's a reason. I like to know the woman can kick ass too. And that she doesn't have to rely on everyone else to defend her.
and she faints all the time. ugh.
midnight sun?
do you mean breaking dawn?sorry. that just bugged me a little...Hate Bella. Period.
And this is why I think the book is stupid.
I dont realy know . . . I mean I've never dated a vampire before I do think that she canot always rely on him but it's like he is always there . . . like a fly that wont die (sorry couldnt think of anything eles) and wont let her live her life he is suffacating her AND I think that edward should at least try to give up something for her I dont think he thinks he has to (men what will we do with em) its realy rude when you think about it . . .
A) Uhh it's book relax.
B) Ew, Twilight sucks.
C) Bella is not normal. So adjust to her abnormal ways plzzz
Wow - you really summed up what I felt about Bella. Great blog!
...it's a book. Jeez.
I've never read Twilight, but I have friends who are in similar relationships. It makes me happy that my boyfriend pushes me to be more independent that I want to sometimes. I'm grateful because my boyfriend is making me a stronger woman and not like my friends who let their boyfriend manipulate them like this Edward character.
Bella did annoy me at times. she's alright.
I think Twilight is a literary blunder. I read about five pages into the book and deduced that this book was child's play and that I should go read books of literary value.
Yeah, I do not like Twilight at all.
all i think about is how in the world they can possibly have sex if edward can't get an erection due to the fact that vampires do not have blood.
Amen! Hate Bella so much, ugh.
@robynrenee1@xanga - That doesn't change the fact that there's misogyny in Twilight. If a book said, "Women suck and should stay at home and serve men" should it not be taken seriously just because it's a novel?
Furthermore, there's literary analysis for almost everything. Tell that to anyone who is an English major and they'd scoff at you.
I saw the movie. I thought it was terrible (for the reasons listed above), I can't believe it's marketed towards teen/preteen girls. There was a mom with her daughter (maybe 10/11) and younger son sitting in front of me. I wanted to throttle the woman and ask her what the hell she was doing letting her kids watch this.
agreed.
HAHA. I loved the last sentence right there.
I don't read Twilight. Don't plan to, either.
@sakebombs@xanga - so sorry! I fixed it.
Over analyzing texts can suck sometimes. Especially when sometimes the author isn't even trying to send any message to readers.
Finish all the stories...she takes on vampires as a human. NOT fragile.
Also, the fourth book is Breaking Dawn. Midnight Sun is the fifth (and unfinished) book, where parts of it are available on Stephenie Meyer's site.
While most of your observations are correct, she does things (which I know if you haven't read them all yet, so I won't spoil it for you...which is why I told you to read all of it first)...that prove that even though THEY believe her to be fragile (which she is more fragile than superhuman vampires...) she doesn't believe that she is. After all, she did go wandering off to meet James and her death on her own...didn't she?
1. Bella had independence and was even responsible for a grown adult (her mother) at one point and sacrificed that for her mother's happiness.
2. Dating a vampire HAS to be more dangerous than dating Joe Blow Cool Guy.
3. I am EXTREMELY independent. But I found Bella's dependence refreshing. Don't you think there's enough "oh I can do it on my own. I'm a woman. GIRL POWER!" out there? There's nothing against relying on a man sometimes.
4. Reliance doesn't equal love and love doesn't mean relying... but they do kind of go hand in hand.
5. Edward gave up... DRINKING HER BLOOD! Duh.
6. She didn't really have a lot of highschool friends that she was really attatched to and the few she did have she didn't give up until the very end when she has to give up just about everyone. Vampire rules.
7. So their first moment was when he saved her life. What do you expect? She could just muster up a crap load of feminism and push the van herself? She's not a vampire. And it was a good way to tip her off on finding out.
8. The books are amazing if you just leave it at that. They're great books that take you to incredible places. If you read that much into it then sure things can get ridiculous... but it IS a book about VAMPIRES! and werewolves too. What do you honestly expect?
9. Damsel in distress is an age old technique.
10. Just think about this.... When a little girl is on the play ground and a little boy pushes her down and calls her names, is the little girl told it's because she's gross and deserved it? No. She's told that it's because the little boy likes her. Is this teaching that if guys hit you it's because they love you? Is this why women just take being beaten? This may seem off course but it's just about as crazy as what you're saying about Bella. This book does not teach girls to lose their own opinions anymore than playground boys teaching it's okay to hit because they like you.
ch4n2o@xanga - Magical erections.
I liked the books because it was entertaining, and because the plot was just something different. I didn't agree with a lot of the hidden messages, including the "I'm so fragile" portion. Whether or not Stephenie Meyer purposely put these messages there is another story. Maybe she even has some unconscious part of her mind control her writing. Eh. Honestly, I can't wait until you get through the fourth book so I can talk about the juicier parts. The fourth book is the best. Action, babyyy ;D. Have fun!
Edit: wow. I sound like such a Twilight hater. I like the series, I really do. I just don't love the series. And of course, I was disappointed with the movie, but whatever. It gives people something to talk about =].
@ch4n2o@xanga - As my crazy vampire-obsessed friend said...they drink blood, so they have that circulating through their system. Then she launched off into about how they don't decay for that very reason, and something about a coffin...I dunno. I stopped listening. More information that was necessary for my question...hope that answers your question! (I had posed the question how can they all stand to be around Bella when she was on her period. I got my answer, though.)