Today on Jezebel, there was a great post about abusive ’80s romance novels and someone in the comments mentioned the ‘Twilight’ series and suddenly I had an epiphany. While I enjoyed the novels, there was something that just didn’t sit right with me. And I’m not talking about a minor annoyance. Something was digging at my core and I couldn’t figure it out. And now, suddenly, it’s clear: BELLA FAILS AT FEMINISM.
OK, let me clarify, Bella is imaginary therefore it is her creator who fails at feminism, but since I don’t know the author personally, I’ll focus on the character she created.
Throughout all three novels, we find Bella completely unable and unwilling to do for herself. She goes off walking in a strange town and almost gets herself assaulted by hooligans; Edward has to save her. An errant vampire wants to kill her and what does she do? Goes off by herself to try to fight him. Good one, kid. When Edward takes off, she engages in self-destructive behavior so she can hear his voice.
She lives at the mercy of the whims of others. She moves from her home to her father’s (whom she treats like crap) because of her, apparently emotionally unbalanced, mother. Upon arrival, instead of embracing her new home, Bella whinges and whines. Oh the horrors of having people happy to see you! Later she allows herself to be dominated physically and emotionally by Edward and Jacob. Granted, I’m on Team Edward all the way, as I am often emotionally difficult and over protective of things and people that I love.
And since we brought the male protagonists up, let’s discuss her reactions to them for a while. I won’t hate on her infatuation with Edward. I, too, am instantly attracted to any boy who’s mean to me. The difference between me and Bella? I know that shit is unhealthy and I try to stop. And as much as I do love Edward’s character, he is emotionally domineering and practically a bully in some situations. Now Jacob. Passive aggressive and manipulative. Just what I want in a man! And this is where I feel Edward comes out on top. He makes no bones about it. He tells Bella that it’s in her best interests to go the fuck away. Jacob on the other hand plays the ‘I’m not bad; nope, not me!’ hand.
How would a girl with self respect handle this predicament? By telling Jacob to fuck off and staying the hell away from Edward. Of course, there goes the plot of Mrs. Meyers’ novels, but hey, whatever.
Bella cannot form her own personality without the help of either Jacob or Edward. She doesn’t start to stretch her proverbial legs in Forks until she and Edward become an item. When Edward leaves, she completely erases herself and only begins to put herself back together when she realizes she can hear his voice in her head. Of course, who does she enlist for help in this? Jacob, who makes it very clear what his hopes and intentions are. She also lets him dominate and bully her. He also sexually assaults her on two occasions by forcing her to kiss him through physical force and coercion and threats of self harm. Fucking charming.
The line that really did me in though was, ‘We’re both wolf girls’ when she was hanging out at Emily’s house. I wanted to put my head through a window. NOOOOOOO! You are Bella. Please, grow some ovaries and start trying to figure out who you are and what you want. Please form an identity outside of your parents, Edward and Jacob.
At the ripe old age of 24, I know there’s nothing romantic about a domineering man. Nothing is worse than tying your identity to another person. I know these things. I fear the 14-year-olds who are also reading these books may not.
Again, I enjoyed the series for its entertainment value. Vampires! Werewolves! Teenage drama! Oh my! But I worry about the message it might be sending to confused young women. So, any young ladies reading this, take it from me: It is not romantic when a guy treats you like shit! Need proof, read my post about The Boy.
This is probably not my best work on the subject, and I’ll probably be revising and adding more to this after I’ve had a night of rest. But, please, discuss.
First off, my nephews are spending time with Mom right now in Virginia and Mom sent me this wonderful shot.
Aren’t they cute?! Zachary, 8, is on the left and Tristan, 5, is on the right. They rock!
Baking News: I broke down and bought a vegan brownie mix and just subbed in ingredients. Yes, it’s cheating; no, I don’t care. Of course, the fuckers turned out perfect. Whatever, I have brownies!
Nom nom nom.
I also spent the better part of my weekend (your weekend is probably Saturday and Sunday like nature intended. Nope, not me. I go against nature and have Wednesday and Thursday off. For now.) designing a cookbook. It covers only vegan baked goods and a few breakfast items like waffles and French toast. It also features photos of Davey Havok with captions courtesy of my loser self. Keep in mind these are recipes I found elsewhere and tweaked to my liking. Note to vegans: Stop using so much oil!!!
I’ve been meaning to continue my deconstruction of The Smashing Pumpkins catalog, but I’ve been too busy to devote the time it richly deserves. I’m going to be skipping Gish, because, well, I don’t care for Gish. Sorry. Adore will most likely be the next album I tackle. I’m gonna wedge a few takes from Pisces Iscariot in there at some point.
Until then, enjoy this clip!
Oh yea, the Twilight review? Yeah, about that. My roommate borrowed the books and I just got Twilight back. I need to give it a good once over before I write the review. I’m so incredibly excited for the movie and I’m absolutely distressed over the new book. I just know the author’s gonna make Bella do something stupid, I just know it!
But enough of that; how fucking sexy is Edward in this clip?!
Usually my self-diagnosed ADD prevents me from being able to read anything longer than a really compelling magazine article. Unless the story is fresh, the writing tight and the subject interesting, I can’t make myself slog through much in the way of written word these days. Chalk it up to my day job where I spend all day reading other people’s crap and trying to turn into gold when I can.
However, I believe I’ve found my saving grace. Teen Lit. I love it. Well, to be specific, the current series I’m reading: ‘Vampire Kisses’ by Ellen Schreiber. I’ve already devoured the first two, now I’m hunting down the next two in the series.
Quick synopsis: Raven is a 16-year-old Goth kid living in white-bread suburbia. She finds out that a family has moved in to the creepy abandoned mansion in town and immediately starts investigating. She meets and soon falls in love with the teenage boy residing in the mansion, Alexander. Raven then discovers that her ‘Gothic Mate’ is in fact a vampire. Shenanigans ensue, hearts are broken and then quickly mended, kisses are exchanged, etc. etc.
Raven is my favorite part of the whole thing. She’s plucky, funny and incredibly likable. She’s accepted her lot in life as the Goth kid and doesn’t let it bother her. Despite a tough, scary exterior, she’s an incredibly tender-hearted character with a vibrant sense of humor. I almost wish she were a real person because we totally would have been best friends when I was a kid. Whenever I picture her character, I think of Ellen Page in Goth gear.
Alexander’s character is also extremely interesting. Because the story is written from Raven’s first-person perspective, you learn about his personality in bits and pieces right along with her. From the descriptions, he sounds incredibly hot. Definitely the kind of dude my 16-year-old self (and hell, my 24-year-old self) would go insane over. I keep seeing a slick, polished Davey Havok in my mind’s eye. Sorry Sheena, but Davey’s way more convincing as a vampire than Gerard. It’s the facial structure, I think.
The actual writing is excellent as far as teen lit goes. A few spelling errors and typos marred the first book, but I found none in the second. Though the insistence on using excess serial commas annoys me, I’ve found that in every single book I’ve read. I don’t know if the publishing world chooses to ignore that rule or what. Raven talks as you would expect a teenager to talk. There’s no ridiculous slang which makes me think that the writer actually knows actual teenagers and didn’t just write a bunch of nonsense and go ‘That’s how the kids these days talk, right?’ (Diablo Cody, I’m looking at you.) A few pop culture references could be lost on some, like Raven’s ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ and ‘Edward Scissorhands’ accessories, but if you don’t know those two films, frankly you are dead to me, so that takes care of that. Some of the more veiled references made me giggle. There’s a store in the book called Hot Gothics. Anyone want to guess what that’s like?
‘Vampire Kisses’ is really a very fun, rewarding read. You’ll find yourself smiling and laughing right along with Raven in her various hijinks. It doesn’t take long to fall in love with the characters. According to the author’s Web site, she’s signed on to do write at least through Volume 8, so I look forward to reading a lot more about Raven and her gang.
Another series worth checking out, and one that I will be blogging on as soon as I get them ordered and in my hot little hands, is ‘The Last Vampire’ by Christopher Pike. I read it when I was in high school and actually did project for English class my junior year on the last one in the series. It’s more adult with sexual themes and death and destruction and the like, but still a very satisfying read.
