The second movie in the "Twilight" series was released on DVD this weekend and is expected to set sales records, proving that the teen vampires are not going away anytime soon.
If banning books were something I supported, the "Twilight" saga would be among the first to go.
Poor writing and plot structure aside, the "Twilight" novels are not appropriate for young girls. When all the pretty words and romantic ideals are taken out of Stephenie Meyer's famous work, it boils down to creepiness.
Bella, the main character, is weak, uninspiring and doesn't portray a strong woman. Instead, once she meets Edward — a glittering, morally-torn vampire — she becomes entirely dependent on him. Later in the novels, she gives up her future and the chance to go to a great college to marry him.
Bella and Edward's relationship is disturbing at times. Edward watches Bella while she sleeps, stares at her intently in the day time, occasionally makes Bella fearful, has the ability to harm or kill her — if only accidentally — and becomes infuriated when she is with other people, going as far as to damage her truck to prevent her from seeing someone.
He repeatedly warns Bella of how dangerous he is, and she continues to stay in the relationship because she believes they're really in love. When he leaves her, she begins showing signs of suicidal tendencies, but she immediately takes him back when he returns.
In the real world, these would be signs of an abusive relationship.
Abuse is a growing problem in America, especially in younger girls throughout middle and high school. Each year, one in four adolescents will report either verbal, physical, emotional or sexual abuse, and one in 11 will report physical abuse, according to statistics from chooserespect.org.
The same statistics show that because of media and popular culture, like "Twilight," adolescents actually find dating violence normal.
There is no problem for older teens and adults who enjoy the "Twilight" novels and are able to disregard them as fiction, but younger, developing girls may see Edward's actions as romantic, which is how they are portrayed in the novels.
The Web site provides a list of signs that a friend may be trapped in an abusive relationship. Bella displays nearly all of them.
Some of those are: constant thoughts about the partner; dropping out of activities; crying spells or hysteria fits; and bruises, scratches or other injuries. Edward also displays most of the signs of an abusive partner: getting serious about the relationship at a rapid pace and jealousy or possessiveness.
Young teens may not understand that this behavior is unacceptable. According to the California Women's Law Center, 80 percent of girls that are physically abused by their significant other remain in the relationship.
Books like "Twilight" provide them with plenty of excuses to do so.
These problems need to be addressed. This doesn't mean that parents should restrict their daughters from reading the novels. But parents should be prepared to talk afterward and explain why the relationship portrayed is unrealistic and unhealthy.
Emily Handy is junior majoring in mass communications.
'Twilight' sets a bad example for girls
Published: Sunday, March 21, 2010
Updated: Monday, March 22, 2010 00:03
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14 comments
What happened to all of those women rights movements? And the fight we're still battling? I can understand some girls being willing to give up a college education for marriage, but I can't understand not having a dream. Is that really all they want in life? "Yes, mommy, I wanna be like you! Make babies and clean and cook and pleasure my husband! Then if he leaves me, I can be broken and destroyed and have no real pride in myself because I didn't do anything for MYSELF."
The fact that there are women out there who have no aspirations other than to be a wife and a mother disturbs me, and this book just encourages those ideals. We live in a progressive society where each person is an individual. Shouldn't we pride ourselves on how we make ourselves, and not how we make our partner?
I couldn't finish the third book. That's how disgusted I was at Bella and Edward's relationship. I hope there are still people out there that see validity in this argument.
Not only was I unable to trudge through the boring, one-dimensional dialogue, but I found the book insulting to me as a woman. How can anyone find this rubbish attractive?
On the Disney topic: just because Disney had had a past of misogyny and sexism doesn't mean your argument throwing them into the fray and contending that they need vilification as well will take away from the author's main point. Twilight and classic Disney contain sexist elements. One doesn't negate the other. Disney needs to be called out as well. You'll remember in Beauty and the Beast, Belle defied social norms and took what little agency she was afforded. She didn't marry Gaston, and instead was content to be alone--proving that women don't need men in order to have purpose or be happy. She selflessly volunteered herself in her sick father's place, showing courage. She defied the Beast by refusing to come to dinner. In fact, she refused to pretend to be nice to him until he rescued her from the wolves and proved he was capable of being caring. She was defiant to every man in her life save for her father, the only one who gave her autonomy and didn't question her goals for her future. She fell in love with the Beast because he warmed up to her because she was just a good person. And, granted, the whole scenario is lame as hell, and I won't deny that Disney portrays a lot of sexism, but compared to Twilight? C'mon. Beauty and the Beast is almost 20 years old. Twilight is recently published, and in a time where JK Rowling was criticized for not having strong enough female characters?! (Hello? McGonagall and Hermione?)
Twilight can be a guilty pleasure. Go for it. I like trash too sometimes. But this over-hype is nonsense. It's a poorly written series that projects the obviously emotionally dim writer's sexual fantasy. And it does it at the expense of letting poor girls think that if a guy follows you around and obsesses over you, he must love you. Trust me, I've been there and it's not.