Rachel Collins
Jeannina Perez
WST3015
17 February 2010
When Twilight-mania began overtaking pop-culture about a year ago, I didn't think I whole lot of it. I didn't go out of my way to read it because I'm not really into vampire lore, I find it kind of boring. My roommate, however, is a huge fan. One day as I was teasing her about her obsession with the series, she challenged me to read the book before I criticized. So, I did. And I didn't like it. The movie follows the book pretty closely, and I didn't like it either, partly because of the way that sexuality is portrayed in it. It is notable that sex is rarely, if ever, directly mentioned in the book or movie. However, its implication affects many aspects of the relationship between the main characters.
Edward Cullen is a vampire who has learned to suppress his hunger for human blood by feeding on the blood of animals. However, he apparently finds Bella’s scent to be so delicious as to be maddening (3). Throughout the whole film, the potential act of Edward feeding on Bella’s blood and thereby turning her into a vampire is used as a metaphor for sex. This conflation of violence with sex is extremely problematic. Bella wants Edward to “turn” her, but he shows restraint. This restraint, which is portrayed is very difficult for him, is depicted as valiant of him. When we see this dichotomy through the lens of sexuality, it becomes problematic because Bella desires violence as a demonstration of affection. She also desires that sexual attention without seeming to care that it will hurt and possibly destroy her.
A double standard of sexuality is also present throughout the story. Edward breaks into Bella’s room to watch her sleep (16) is jealous of her contact with friends and especially other male figures, and generally stalks her in other ways as well. Apart from being generally scary, this behavior would be labeled “crazy” if it were performed by Bella. However, when Edward does it, it is portrayed as wildly romantic. Bella is also portrayed as extremely clumsy and childlike. As discussed in our Women's Sexuality reading, "as sex objects, women are commonly portrayed as child-like or doll-like playthings" (150). Depictions of women such as these represent discourses of heteronormative sexuality, which play a large role in maintaining power dynamics between men and women (177).
Perhaps the most disturbingly problematic aspect of sexuality’s depiction in Twilight is that it is depicted as a generally destructive force, and one that must be tightly guarded and controlled lest it escape and cause pain and havoc. Edward says that his family "doesn't understand why I can't leave you alone" (13). Bella strongly desires a violent symbol for sexual contact that she knows may destroy her, and Edward is burdened with policing his lust, which would likely maim the object of his desire if it were loosed. This is a very negative view of the power of sex, which seems to be largely based on very non-egalitarian views of sexuality and sexual relationships in general, with regard to both women and men.
Gavey, Nicole. McPhillips, Kathryn. Doherty, Marion. "'If It's Not On, It's Not On'- Or Is It?"
Women's Lives, Multicultural Perspectives. Ed Kirk, Ozakawa-Rey.
2010. 167-177
Kirk, Gwyn and Margo Ozakawa-Rey. Women's Lives, Multicultural
Perspectives. Mcgraw-Hill, 2010. 149-160.
Twilight. Dir. Catherine Hardwicke. Perfs. Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson. DVD. Summit
Entertainment, 2008.
I thought this was an interesting critique of the issues in _Twilight_. You systematically dismantle the nuances of the movie, revealing damaging subtext concerning sexuality. It makes me wonder about the evolution of the vampyr figure in literature and popular culture. That creature consistently connotes an inherent sexuality, and I would like to know the different message each famous vampire brings.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I would have liked to see you do is play devil's advocate, trying to find the positive qualities of _Twilight_. Like Professor Tweed said, it is extremely popular among girls, and the academia needs to not dismiss it. Any analysis of it is beneficial, but one should be able to extract the good in the series.
Like you, I really can't stand Twilight, although most of that is me not being able to stomach the poor grammar and less-than-mediocre writing style. I thought you did a great job of pointing out that there are serious issues with this story beyond grammar and style, which are confined largely to the medium of printed books. The sexuality critique is one I've read about Bella and Edward's relationship before, but never from this angle. Most analysis focuses on the controlling, borderline-abusive hold Edward has over Bella and the dangers of implicitly teaching girls to understand male tyranny as true, desirable romance. That's undoubtedly a valid, obvious point to raise, but I also really enjoyed your connection of this total male control to furthering the idea of sex as taboo and destructive for females. It's not one I had ever seen explicitly made before, so thank you for it!
ReplyDeleteWhat I find most interesting and ironic about the Twilight books and the culture surrounding them is that despite the sexual narrative sold in the books that you point out here, girls reading the books seem to largely ignore that view of sexuality. Stephanie Meyer pushes the traditional images of patriarchal sex roles, no sex until marriage, and sex as evil and destructive down the throats of readers until they're about ready to vomit, but Robert Pattinson still gets more panties than promise rings thrown at him.
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