Am I the only one who thinks the Twilight books are misogynistic?

[Anonymous]

Stalking, eavesdropping, forbidding contact with other males. Plus the physical helplessness of Bella vs. the paternalistic caretaking by Edward. Do young females readers realize this?

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't say misogynistic. I do think Edward has some major stalker tendencies though - don't think many girls would like him in real life. Hard to judge hatred of women on the basis of one weak female character though. The other women are fairly bad-ass as far the book goes. Its pretty hard to say what Edward actually sees in Bella - pretty much boils down to "she smells yummy".

[Anonymous]

Well, the author is a graduate of BYU, what do you expect?

[Anonymous]

The third book bothered me on this front...don't know that I would call it misogynistic, but there were definite stalking, control issues. But, I couldn't put it down!

[Anonymous]

I've only read the first two but the "sex is dangerous!!" theme is too obvious to be ignored. (To which I kept thinking, "Girlfriend, he's a vampire. Get a real boyfriend who doesn't half want to kill you and you can do whatever.")

[Anonymous]

from a Time magazine article:
"But it is the rare vampire novel that isn't about sex on some level, and the Twilight books are no exception. What makes Meyer's books so distinctive is that they're about the erotics of abstinence. Their tension comes from prolonged, superhuman acts of self-restraint. "

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure the BYU connection has much to do with Edward being a crazy stalker boyfriend. I certainly wouldn't put too many BYU graduates in that category. I do think there are definite Mormon themes to the book though - the waiting for your one true love for centuries if necessary, the abstinence, etc.

[Anonymous]

What bothers me the most is that the protagonist, Bella, has no real interests or passions besides Edward...everything revolves around him. And all she ever talks about is the way he looks, again and again and again. I realize that teen love can be this way, but it just seemed empty and her character annoyed the heck out of me.