So long as I'm daring the gods of wank to smite me... the kids are alright

[seriousfic]

Yes, Twilight sucks. But feminists? Is your main complaint that it's sexist or that it's sexist and young girls are reading it? Let me exercise my psychic power... you played with Barbie and turned out just fine? Or some other terribly prejudiced thing? I highly doubt you were raised liking everyone racially sensitive, sexually unproblematic, and gay-friendly.

Seriously, now, "Won't someone please think of the children"? You know who you sound like, right?

Here's how it's going to happen. Twilight will be popular for another few years, then people will forget all about it. All those die-hard fans now? They'll wonder why they ever liked it. They'll deny all those badfics they wrote about kissing Edward Cullen and you know what? They'll turn out just fine.

Because, let's face it... as bad as Twilight is, is it any worse than Flowers In The Attic or a thousand other trashy novels that young girls have been reading since the beginning of time? Twilight will implode all on its own, and twenty years from now it will just be a Yuletide request to write a feminist spin on "my childhood shame."

And yes, I know Twilight is no Harry Potter, but was Harry Potter really all that great? Be honest now.

(Okay, honestly, HP is still awesome and Twilight can't lick its boots, but still, not that awesome.)

Comments

[galamb-borong.livejournal.com]

You know, I have a secret desire to write a novel that starts out with the appearance of going down the human-female vampire-male romance road, then takes a sudden turn around chapter two or three and becomes a totally un-romantic and somewhat dry political thriller where our heroine realizes that having mind-controlling blood suckers around the place might not be a good idea, and tries to get the government to do something about it.

No romance. None. She thinks Mr. Vampire is a douche by the first third, at least.

The sole purpose of this novel would be to disappoint teenage girls. Is that sexist?

[sabinetzin]

I don't think the argument about Twilight is that it's sexist, so much. It's mostly that it's BATSHIT CRAZY INSANE. Shit, I thought the first one was a horror novel until the end.

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

My problem is that it sucks and people are reading it instead of the muchmuchmuch better books out there.

I think people are influenced by what they read and the messages fiction sends, but not to the point where something like Twilight will warp them forever. From a feminist standpoint, it's just a cog in the never ending "girl exists for male and to display male angst" machine. No worse than a lot of what's out there.

But if people are going to read something like that, couldn't it be something good?

[mylenn.livejournal.com]

I don't quite get the whole thing over Twilight. Having read a bit online, I cansee why people might be a bit miffed over them, but they need to get over it. It's just a book. It will not overly-traumatize anyone. ;)

[fembuck.livejournal.com]

OMG! Trufax. I totally agree. We just had this discussion in the English office two days ago, and made the same points down to the V.C. Andrews/Flowers in the Attic argument. All teen girls read crappy romance fiction, and most turn out just fine. And really, with those that don't turn out fine it really shouldn't be blamed on a crappy book they read years and years ago.

The reason I hate Twilight is because I wasted my time reading it, and now it has some crazy cocaine like effect on me, where I crave it even though I know it's bad for me. I'll join in the anti-fandom lulz, but I can't take real criticism of the books seriously. I mean it sucks, but it's not like it's the worse thing to ever happen to the world, or feminism.

[http://users.livejournal.com/radon_/]

I always thought people hated Twilight because it was more RLY BAD STORYTELLING than OMGZSEXIST! (at least, that's my main view regarding the series). My key contention is that everyone's insanely perfect.

What scares me is the idea that some tweens reading the book may get overromanticized notions of love and the Edward Cullen does it so it's okay idea. Actually Twi-mums are pretty freaky too.