Friday Rant Day: Shut Up and Don't Think
At dinner the other night I tried to tell a story about an article I had been reading. The article, without going into too much detail, is a Freudian reading of a children's film. It's funny and well-argued, but the point of my story was the initial absurdist nature of the topic. But I chose my audience incorrectly, for the first comment was, "Why
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I haven't read the entire Twilight series, as should be clear. A friend did assert that I could not fully judge the work without reading them all, but she was unable to give me any adequate reason why the whole is necessary to understand the part, or evidence that Bella's character is any different in the later books. Doesn't the second book contain blank pages because the days are meaningless to Bella without Edward in her life?
I am glad to hear that Bella gains some small measure of agency. However, female power isn't the only issue of concern when looking at things from a feminist perspective. There is also, for example, the politics of desire, which are particularly worrying in Twilight, as I briefly mentioned in my post. Edward says that Bella will be responsible should he lose control as a result of her failure to discipline her own desire. Given our society's rape culture, this frame of language is extremely problematic in that Edward claims he can hurt Bella but it will be her own fault, for tempting him, and not his, for failing to discipline his desire.
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It's kind of a strange issue for me, actually. Because most of my friends and family don't agree with my positions on gender - they being much more conservative on this issue - but most feminists don't agree with me either. Basically, I don't believe that there are inborn differences in the way men and women think - but I still believe in gender roles. So I'm a terrible combination of the worst of both worlds, for both sides.
Hmmmm. The second book does contain blank pages for that reason - but I will say that the second book is probably my favorite because the depiction of Bella's depression really resonates with my own experience in a similar situation. So for me, it's not really a gendered depression - that a female's life is meaningless without a man. Which is not to say I think it's healthy - the reason I was so depressed in the similar situation was partially I was at least partly codependent, and I would say the same definitely applies to Bella and Edward. But I'm don't think my liking the book is for antifeminist reasons.
I'm not sure the issue of desire is quite as simple either. I didn't really get the impression that Edward would hold Bella responsible for his loss of control. Additionally, I think the idea that Edward is actually right all the time is mistaken - especially in the third book, he is shown clearly disrespecting the boundaries between his decisions and Bella's - and is forced to change those attitudes.
Continuing the themes of desire, in the final book, Edward continues his whining about hurting Bella after their first time making love leaves her bruised from basically jumping up, down, and under a huge rock. He starts blaming himself and refusing to have sex with her again until she's a vampire - then she seduces him and doesn't get hurt the second time. I've actually read feminist perspectives on the books which think that the portrayal of Bella's desire is actually a more positive one, affirming the right of females to have such desires.
I think it really depends on how you're reading the books. For a lot of young girls, I'd definitely say it's not healthy to be so obsessed with the series. A lot of discernment is what allows one to see the potential dangers - and that the book doesn't always hold up certain characters or behaviors as the standard.
But then, I think it's funny that the book banning arguments tend to come up on both sides of the political spectrum now. Not that I think you actually advocating banning the books (obviously, given the point of your post) - but the arguments are extremely similar.
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