Introduction
Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" realized extensive success when Meyer released it in 2005. In the novel, Meyer has created a romantic fairytale which is appealing to the female audience – but presents romance using an unrealistic approach that promotes gender violence and discourages female independence. The leading female character, Bella, is at the center of an alluring romance where she is the epitome of desire. However, she appears as a helpless, weak and naïve lady who is not good enough to receive affection. Such illustration contrasts with the feminine ideals and has negative impacts on the feminist concept. For instance, it introduces its readers to a patriarchal society using an elusive and pleasant way that distorts their perspectives about the 21 st -century woman. Secondly, it targets the unconscious needs for serene, non-existent and mythical romance among adult women.
Christine Jarvis examines how Meyer’s conceptualization of the female character by Stephenie Mayer influence’s society’s beliefs of what an ideal female should be. Jarvis (2014) argues that Twilight redefines the female identity by focusing on the standards of female beauty and self-harm as part of growth. Twilight provides its female audience with fiction solutions to some of the physical and emotional conflicts they encounter while growing up. Twilight reveals to its audience that women can only be supportive if their success is associated with men chivalrous, domination and are still loveable despite obvious signs of danger. In addition to this, the female audience is encouraged to emulate Bella and act as the damsel in distress. The perception of the female character as presented in the Twilight does not support female independence and consistently reinforces the idea that women are helpless people. This notion contradicts the role of the modern woman who is expected to function independently.
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The concept of feminism associates itself with the independence of the modern day woman. Feminism in the 21 st century concentrates on abolishing the social, political and economic constructs that promote gender inequality. However, Twilight alienates itself from feminism as it enlightens the idea of sexism. Although feminism focuses on addressing issues about gender responsibilities, enlightened sexism main objective is to respond to the perceived risks of the new gender belief system. Enlightened sexism maintains that women have progressed due to feminism – thus, assuming that women have reached the brink of equality and it is okay to resurrect the sexist labels of girls and women. Therefore, the main difference between feminism and enlightened sexism is that feminism addresses the gap in traditional gender responsibilities and societal values; whereas enlightened sexism is defined by the façade of the societal accomplishments by women.
Twilight features various beliefs that are associated with the mid and late-mid section of the 19 th century which depicted women as powerless individuals that harbored the desires for revenge. Hence, it supports the notion of enlightened sexism by alluding that women must choose between attaining the level of perfectionism as defined by the societal standards and being autonomous and equal to their male counterparts. By depicting women in this light demonstrates how media defines women as vain, superficial and frivolous people that are always yearning for the male attention. Moreover, this media illustration is witnessed throughout the Twilight by portraying women as unproductive and incompetent individuals. The romantic relationship between Edward and Bella reveals the power imbalance that is witnessed among heroes and heroines in the earlier romances. During the early times, the romance was characterized by older heroes that were rich – and possessed the power to rule over heroines and critic their behaviors. The Twilight is a reflection of this as it shows the abusive relationship between Edward and Bella. It constructs a negative standard for the audience and persistently degrades the achievements of feminism.
There are assumptions that gender inequalities have successfully been dealt with in the 21 st century. However, the experiences of girls and women in the society contradict the belief that feminine success and empowerment have been attained. This is because young girls continue to obsess over ideals presented by fantasies such as Twilight. For instance, career choices in most socio-economic demographics are still gender biased. Female freedoms such as employment, earning and managing their fertility, are considered as gifts that come at a price. They are founded on the reinstatement of vengeful female acts against the patriarchal norms at the cost of feminism. As a result, women are forced to adjust to the patriarchal expectations that are designed by heterosexuality and romantic relationships.
Edward’s manipulative character in the Twilight is overlooked ass Bella is forced to conform to a patriarchal society that denies her self-independence. On the other hand, Bella conforms to the feminine standards when in the presence of male characters. As a result, Bella refutes the idea of female independence that feminists advocate for. This shows the pressures that women face to conform to cultural and female norms to fulfill the patriarchal rules and save their romantic relationships.
Twilight draws attention to the societal ideals that put pressure on girls to attain certain levels of beauty. Consequently, such pressures influence the behaviors and performance of females. Jarvis (2014) asserts that in the 21 st century academic, career or economic successes do not replace the desire that women have to attain the societal level of beauty and be an appealing visual object. Therefore, society has normalized the idea that women should conform to the highly structured ideas and beliefs of feminine beauty. For instance, the media and beauty industry encourages females to follow a new paradigm of self-perfectionism which may result in self-harm. The popularity of the unattainable beauty standards in the society has contributed to the growth of self-harm as a form of expression to meet the demands of a successful female in the 21 st century.
The book “The Belles” by Dhonielle Clayton illustrates the obsession with beauty that women have in the 21 st century. Clayton (2018) describes The Belles as female characters that possess magnificent features. The author’s focus on gorgeous people reflects the superficial world that glorifies physical beauty, wealth and popularity as the main factors that define feminism. For instance, in the 21 st century, some young girls feel the need to down-play their academic or social achievements – since they are conditioned to believe that such accomplishments will undermine their heterosexual femininity. Although the characters in The Belles, condemn racisms and promote beauty as a diverse concept of what is considered as "beautiful," they still show prejudice against fat people.
When comparing The Belle and Twilight one depicts the struggles that the contemporary girls face while the other provides a fantasy that is unrealistic in the 21 st century. The Belle promotes the diverse nature of beauty suggesting that the definition of “beautiful” is based on different cultural elements and beliefs. On the other hand, Twilight shows Bella as a young woman who embraces the ideas of autonomy and independence but discards the ideals of the fashion and beauty industry – by refusing to compete with other girls for the attention of men. However, Bella’s experiences create a fantasy through which the audience obtains all the fulfillment of complying with the patriarchal constraints that are related to the feminine standards of beauty and objectification (Jarvis, 2014). Bella provides her female audience with the power to resist the societal stereotypes of femininity – which are identified as oppressive and restrictive by feminists. However, she fails to address the criticism that girls who fail to conform to the ideas designed by the beauty and fashion industry face in the real world. While "The Belle" addresses the consequences of a superficial world, Twilight conforms to the tropes of romantic fiction. Twilight beautifies the heroine and presents them using an approach that the audience is content with Bella’s opposition against beautification while at the same time rewarding her for exuding extraordinary beauty.
Twilight defies the concept of feminism by presenting the female character as a vengeful individual as portrayed in traditional romance novels. Bella is a powerless heroine who executes different forms of disappearing acts to gain the attention of Edward. In the real world, Bella's self-harm acts would be considered as deliberate acts of manipulation that women use to gain male attention and sympathy. Therefore, her actions contradict the notion that women can be self-sufficient without necessarily relying on the emotional and physical assistance of their male counterparts. For example, Bella opts to be reckless and careless as she believes that Edward does not love her; thus, she is worthless and can harm herself. She uses her reckless behavior as a vengeful act to break the promise he made to Edward to be safe and not harm herself as a well as attract his intervention in her life. Such acts by Bella influence Twilight's female audience to think that by using their vulnerability they can manipulate men to their rescue.
Bella’s distressful acts support the traditional perception about heroines and are a personification of the patriarchal woman. Additionally, her idealization as depicted in the novel together with the media influence has negative impacts on the beliefs of female self-independence. Thus, Twilight endorses self-harm and that of others – when one evaluates it from the male perspective when a woman seeks to secure their future.
Conclusion
Twilight can be categorized as a “postfeminist fantasy” that Twilight glamorizes the reverting beliefs of romance and sexuality – that female heterosexuality and relationships are only ideal when men have all control and women desire to be wanted by them. It undermines the beliefs of feminism by projecting a fantasy world for its audience. The interactions between the female and male characters in the novel depict the societal values that women are subjected to because of patriarchal norms. The pressures that women face in the modern society are used to define their beauty and personality – as they continue to fight for equality. In addition to this, the novel fails to confront the real struggles that women in the modern society face.
References
Clayton, D. (2018). The Belle . Freeform
Jarvis, C. (2014). "The Twilight Of Feminism? Stephenie Meyer's Saga And The Contradictions Of Contemporary Girlhood." Children's Literature In Education 45.2: 101-115.
