Twilight series degrades women, ruins chance for normal men

Libby Moore

I have a challenge for you right now. Find me a teenage girl who has NOT read at least one of the four books in the bestselling Twilight series. What? You say that’s impossible? Well, for the most part, you are correct.

It wasn’t until after my friends finally persuaded me to read the series that I finally cracked open Twilight this past summer. I must say, I wasn’t very impressed.

I thought: “Yes, that’s nice, but it’s not as spectacular as everyone claimed. Maybe it will get better as the series progresses.” I was wrong.

I forced myself to read all of New Moon followed by the painfully dull Eclipse. I’m still in the process of mentally preparing myself for Breaking Dawn just so I can say I finished the most destructive series ever written. That’s right, destructive, destructive to its mostly female audience.

Aside from being poorly written excuses for books, the Twilight series shows  Bella, the lead female character who falls in love with a vampire, Edward.

While initially this sounds intriguing, it soon becomes a stereotypical high school relationship in which Bella and Edward cannot be separated. This is where the problems begin.

I see no harm in presenting a sweet and loving high school relationship to the girls of America. What’s wrong is giving girls a fictional female role model that is completely dependent on a boy. Bella abandons her friends (and eventually her family) to devote her time exclusively to Edward.

When Edward briefly leaves Bella in New Moon, Bella is crushed. She becomes reckless, self-destructive, and fails to heal from the breakup in a healthy manner. Her happiness returns only once she and Edward are reunited. Worse yet, Bella abandons all of her future college plans, marries Edward, and has his baby, all at the tender age of 18.

In the real world, society frowns upon this. By the way, I’m not even touching on the sexual undertones throughout the entire series that I don’t want my little sister trying to decode.

With the books sending out negative messages like this I was shocked I hadn’t heard about rallies of concerned mothers protesting the books outside Barnes and Noble stores nation wide.

It was then I realized everyone’s mother was reading Twilight, as well. And why not? Bella is a boring character, so typical it is very easy for the reader to put herself in Bella’s place and imagine herself in the arms of the flawless Edward.

Here’s where the men should get concerned: if you thought it was tough to beat Casanova, give Edward, the sensitive and gorgeous vampire a try (p.s. he composes music).

Ladies, don’t drink the Kool-Aid. Women have fought for hundreds of years for equal rights, and in the 21st century this is the kind of literature that our girl’s read?

I can’t keep the Twilight series from being the hit of the decade, but I suggest avid readers take the time to locate books that present strong and resourceful female characters who enjoy relationships with guys, but manage to succeed in other aspects of their lives.

Because those characters are worth taking time to read about.