Twilight is not like Lady Gaga.

April 13, 2011

whatfreshhellisthis:

anlamasanda replied to your post: Charlieeee

It is bad writing! But that…. still is no call to put down everyone that likes it. I admit I had difficulty with that back in Eragon era, but in principle, it’s just not on.

I am not hating on Twilight just because it’s a popular book series that is badly written and is all about sparkly vampires.

I am hating on it because it is dangerous.

It is consistently racist, heterosexist, ableist, cissexist, and above all sexist. It normalises those attitudes. It glorifies them. These ideas are presented as ideals we should aspire to, because we are supposed to agree with them and admire the awful people who commit these acts.

TRIGGER WARNING ON ALL OF THESE LINKS. CERTAIN ONES HAVE EXTRA WARNINGS BECAUSE HOLY FUCK.

SEXISM

SEXISM

BELLA IS AN AWFUL HUMAN BEING

VICTIM BLAMING AND EMOTIONAL ABUSE YEY

MORE SEXISM AND ABUSE

ABUSE

MORMON PROPAGANDA AND OTHER FUCKERY [TRIGGER WARNING]

SEXISM, RIGED GENDER ROLES AND RELATED CISSEXIST, CISUPREMISIST GENDER ESSENTIALLIST FUCKERY

CONSENT LOL WHAT IS THAT WHO EVEN CARES LOL WOMEN AREN’T PEOPLE

RAPE AS A PLOT DEVICE/ WHITE PRIVILEGE/ RICH PRIVILEGE WANKERY [TRIGGER WARNING]

RACISM RACISM RACISM RACISM RAC ISM [TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING TRIGGER WARNING]

JACOB IS AWESOME; EDWARD IS A CREEPY ABUSIVE STALKER. OBVIOUSLY WE’RE SUPPOSED TO LOVE EDWARD.

SEXUAL ASSAULT [TRIGGER WARNING. FUCK THAT DESCRIPTION]

MORE MANIPULATIVE ABUSE AND MYSOGENY MYSOGENY MYSOGNEY

EDWARD PHYSICALLY RESTRAINS BELLA BECAUSE SHE’S TALKING ABOUT SEX AND MANIPULATES HER SOME MORE

THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS SO ABUSIVE HOLY FUCK [TRIGGER WARNING]

THIS ENTIRE CHAPTER OH MY GOD FUCK THIS CHAPTER

GOD YOU ARE NOT PREPARED FOR THIS FUCKERY. A CHAPTER WHERE JACOB AND EDWARD DISCUSS FORCIBLY ABORTING BELLA’S FOETUS WITHOUT HER CONSENT [TRIGGER WARNING]

CISSEXISM CISSEXISM CISSEXISM CISSEXISM CISSEXISM CISSEXISM CISSEXISM OH MY GOD [TRIGGER WARNING]

CLASSISM CLASSISM UGH UGH

MEYER IS A DIRTY RACIST AND EVERYTHING IS AWFUL

RACISM OH MY GOD

That isn’t even half of the fuckery in these books.

So honestly? If you genuinely love these books, then I probably will not like you. I certainly won’t understand you. The likelihood of us being friends or compatible as a couple is pretty much nil. Because either you acknowledge all this fuckery and love them anyway OR you can’t see that it’s fucked in the first place. This is not like liking Gaga despite her occasional problematic elements; this is like liking the Futurist Manifesto in spite of its.

This crap is dangerous precisely because people either do not notice or do not care how repugnant it is. It reinforces all of the traditional, awful power structures of privilege. It holds up Edward Cullen, the most privileged douche in existence as a perfect being; it presents his abuse as romantic, desirable- the inequalities and sexism rampant in Edward and Bella’s romance as perfect. And the sad part is that because they’re so atrociously written there’s barely any plot there beyond watching these awful, awful people abuse each other and everyone around them. And it’s supposed to be what the reader aspires to.

Oh, Mark, my darling, you have fans! <3