“Over the last five years, the Twilight franchise has sold one hundred million books, generated nearly $1.8 billion in ticket sales, and engrossed millions of readers" (Petersen 51). For those unfamiliar, Twilight is a fantastical series integrating the realities between mortals and immortals. The protagonist of the series, Bella Swan, falls in love with a vampire at her high school and is the only one who knows his secret. The series continues to test their relationship and love, while Bella struggles to choose between her life as a human, or eternity with her love interest, Edward, as a vampire. The Twilight series has captured the attention of people of many different age ranges. Amongst the more sensible adults, were critical thinking authors,
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There is a stigma attached to the female in a heterosexual relationship that she must be feminine and she will only appeal to the boy of her interest by further expressing her femininity. As Christine Jarvis states in her article, “The Twilight of Feminism? Stephenie Meyer’s Saga and the Contradictions of Contemporary Girlhood”, “I believe that part of the appeal of Twilight is that Bella embodies this masquerade of autonomy and independence very effectively” (Jarvis 105). She supports this statement by examining Bella’s individual qualities and concluding that she does not conform to what a female stereotype would look like. She is not consumed by brands or materialistic ideals and instead, is a bookworm and doesn’t wear makeup. She is also disinterested in helping her friends find dresses for the school dance and cozies up in a bookstore instead. Another example of Bella defying female stereotypes occurs when she rejects Edwards marriage proposal. Bella refuses to marry Edward at such a young age, showing her independence. Bella may defy female gender stereotypes, but other characters do not. The character Rosalie perfectly fits into societies mold of the ideal woman. She is described many times by Bella as flawless, elegant and beautiful. She is also well-mannered and undeniably shallow. She drools over her boyfriend Emmett, who is described as looking nothing short of a sculpted bodybuilder. Rosalie is the stereotypical blonde-haired blue-eyed, boy crazed young adult that society wishes they had more
There is a stigma attached to the female in a heterosexual relationship that she must be feminine and she will only appeal to the boy of her interest by further expressing her femininity. As Christine Jarvis states in her article, “The Twilight of Feminism? Stephenie Meyer’s Saga and the Contradictions of Contemporary Girlhood”, “I believe that part of the appeal of Twilight is that Bella embodies this masquerade of autonomy and independence very effectively” (Jarvis 105). She supports this statement by examining Bella’s individual qualities and concluding that she does not conform to what a female stereotype would look like. She is not consumed by brands or materialistic ideals and instead, is a bookworm and doesn’t wear makeup. She is also disinterested in helping her friends find dresses for the school dance and cozies up in a bookstore instead. Another example of Bella defying female stereotypes occurs when she rejects Edwards marriage proposal. Bella refuses to marry Edward at such a young age, showing her independence. Bella may defy female gender stereotypes, but other characters do not. The character Rosalie perfectly fits into societies mold of the ideal woman. She is described many times by Bella as flawless, elegant and beautiful. She is also well-mannered and undeniably shallow. She drools over her boyfriend Emmett, who is described as looking nothing short of a sculpted bodybuilder. Rosalie is the stereotypical blonde-haired blue-eyed, boy crazed young adult that society wishes they had more