AAUW Dialog

It’s vampire romance time. Unlike the Harry Potter book and film series, which have audiences of all ages and genders, the Twilight books and movies have a much narrower target: teenage girls and women. On November 20, 2009, New Moon, the sequel to the first film, Twilight, was finally released. My 14-year-old cousin bought the presale tickets two weeks before the release date. New Moon raked in $72.7 million on its opening day, claiming the record for the biggest one-day gross, which included $26.2 million from midnight shows. We can say that this was the box office highlight of November and that, for fangirls, it was more exciting than Thanksgiving.

Twilight author Stephanie Meyer created characters like Bella, a pretty teenage girl who falls in love with a vampire, Edward, a vampire who is the epitome of the perfect guy, and Jacob, a werewolf who is Bella’s best friend. The characters play their gender roles: Bella makes dinner for her dad, Charlie, has slumber parties with Alice, Edward’s sister, and gives the impression of being weak throughout the series — until she becomes a vampire, of course.

But the stereotypes get much worse. Edward worries that Bella is a magnet for danger, so he and Jacob constantly rescue her from her near-death experiences. Bella describes herself as “helpless and delicious” in the third book. I even saw a T-shirt the other day that said, “Edward can bite my pillows, break my headboard, and bruise my body any day.” Alarmingly, this statement has more than a hint of violence.

Since we were young, we have been told that girls are capable of doing the same things and dreaming of the same goals as boys — that we are equal in every way. These books, however, have so many conservative gender stereotypes that can influence young readers. Meyer wrote the series from Bella’s perspective, so it is natural for teenage girls to imagine themselves as Bella. But do these girls believe that they will have to be saved by an Edward or a Jacob instead of creating their own destiny?

I know that teen girls are very receptive to being influenced by media and the entertainment culture. Even though we may love Edward (or Jacob), teenage girls and young women must remember that vampire love stories are not true. I am a Twilight fan, and I dream about meeting an Edward on campus everyday. I act like Bella sometimes, just for the fun of it, but I also know that “Bella” is fiction, and I do not let her influence my own aspirations.

Jane Kim is a member of the 2009–10 Student Advisory Council.