Gender and Twilight

I have had a number of conversations in recent months with girls who tell me they would not read the Stephanie Meyer Twilight series.[1] Not because it is trashy writing, but because they find the novels emotionally manipulating, likening them to pornography for girls.

The similarities with pornography are evident. Porn's attraction is that it baits a deeply embedded sexual impulse. It creates a fantasy world where these desires can be satisfied, free from the complications of a relationship. Time spent in this fantasy also affects the view of reality. So, acceptance of a fantasy world where women exist as nothing more than sexual objects, creates a real expectation that women will conform to this identity. Within a marriage, it also forces a women to compete with an impossible ideal, which can have a whole series of consequences.[2] The claim about Twilight is that it creates a fantasy world where a woman can assume the role of Bella and feel protected and loved by the adorable Edward Cullen. The more one feeds on this fantasy the more one's actual expectations of relationships change. Thus, readers of the novels will be expecting the impossible, the perfect man.

Yet, I don't really see the two as equivalent. Partly because Twilight presents what seems like a fairly positive ideal - a man who will sacrificially and unconditionally love - whilst pornography presents a very low ideal. Whilst the object of pornography may be physically perfect, they do not selflessly deny their desires, like Edward Cullen, but they have no desires of their own, apart from that of satisfying the consumer.

Also, I don't think the emotional desires of women which are evoked in the novels correspond to the sexual desires of men. Men have emotional desires which correspond far more closely.[3]

From my experience, I would say a novel like Tess of the d'Urbervilles might be the male equivalent to Twilight. Tess, by Thomas Hardy, is about a poor, naive girl who selflessly labours for the good of her family. Her naivety and good intentions are repeatedly abused by the men in her life, most notably in her rape [4] and her abandonment by her husband, Angel, on their wedding day. I once recommended the novel to a friend thinking that, because it had a female heroine, it would have a strong appeal to a female audience. It was only later that it really occurred to me that, although Tess is the protagonist, she is not a heroine. She is almost passive in her submission to the influences of Alec and Angel and her actions consistently lead her into, rather than away from, danger.

The novel very strongly brings out the protective instincts in a guy. Tess, beautiful and selfless, so clearly deserves a man who will protect her and appreciate her obvious virtue. The male reader observes how time and time again she is led into tragic circumstances, knowing that in each case that the male in her life - be it her irresponsible father, the cunning Alec or the unforgiving Angel - should have protected her. The man wishes he was in the story so that he could spare Tess from her suffering. So also the female reader of Twilight who wishes they were in the story so that Edward Cullen could love and protect them.

Bella is far from an ideal women - she is plain, uncoordinated and lacking in confidence. It is because of this that the novel is so emotive; the female reader is able to feel that they are more worthy of Edward Cullen than Bella. In Tess, Alec and Angel are so selfish they prove themselves unworthy of Tess. The bar is low enough that almost any reader is justified in feeling they are better equipped to protect and love Tess.

In both of these novels, there is a clear distinction in the gender roles of male and female: the man is the protector and the woman is the object of his protection. But the obvious difference is that Tess was written pre-feminism. It greatly surprises me that Twilight has been such a raging success in Western culture. Our society as a whole seems to be informing girls that gender distinction is not important, yet, when a novel emerges that seems to present the opposite message, it is a phenomenal success. American psychologist, Leonard Sax, has given this explanation:

Bella has broad appeal; as many girls can appreciate, she likes watching reruns of "The Simpsons" while she nibbles on Pop-Tarts. But the twist is that Bella's ideas about gender roles are decidedly unfeminist. The pairing of a modern setting and traditional gender roles is unusual in children's and teen literature…

Three decades of adults pretending that gender doesn't matter haven't created a generation of feminists who don't need men; they have instead created a horde of girls who adore the traditional male and female roles and relationships in the "Twilight" saga. Likewise, ignoring gender differences hasn't created a generation of boys who muse about their feelings while they work on their scrapbooks. Instead, a growing number of boys in this country spend much of their free time absorbed in the masculine mayhem of video games such as Grand Theft Auto and Halo or surfing the Internet for pornography. [5]

With the continuing popularity of Austen and the like, it is clear that there is a deep attraction towards traditional gender roles. But, at least in Austen the heroines are courageous and admirable, unlike Bella. Bella must be weak in order to highlight the strength of Edward, in much the same way that Tess's virtue is highlighted by the selfishness of the men around her.


[1] I have not actually read any of the novels, or seen the movie so it is quite possible that my observations of it are entirely false. If so, please leave a comment that says so. Thanks to my teenage sister, both the books and the movie are sitting around my house and I considered having a look at them before writing this post, but then I decided that I have far better things to do with my time.
[2] This presentation presents a fairly confronting description of the effects of pornography in relationships and society.
[3] However, I would concede that the emotional desires appear to be more powerful in women.
[4] The actual scene of the rape is not recounted, and it is never clear the extent to which Tess consented. But this is irrelevant since it is clearly Alec taking advantage of her sexually. As in case of the Matthew John's fiasco, it is clear that consent does not exclude rape.
[5] Leonard Sax, “'Twilight' Sinks Its Teeth Into Feminism”, The Washington Post, August 17, 2008

Prayer for the 21st century

For those tired of millennia old prayer methods, here are three easy steps to bring your prayer life into the 21st century:

1. Before praying, make sure you deck out your surrounds with lots of candles. Now, this little secret was discovered years ago, but has been lost amongst a maze of Bibles in in many of our 'contemporary' churches, just as the New Agers rediscover the aromatherapeutic power of the scented candle.

2. It can be hard to find the words to pray, so what you need to do is visit EXAMEN.me, which will do all that for you. And with the internet on your mobile phone, prayer can now be done on the train, at work, anywhere you want!

3. Now you have the prayers, get yourself a Prayer Answer-er.

This snazzy little gizmo will sort out those issues with lack of assurance. Its size may be a little inconvenient, but in a year or two it will have been adjusted so as to be a regular feature of all mobile phones - but don't wait 'til then to get in on the action.