The Failure Of Feminist Manifesto In Meyer’s Twilight Saga

Introduction

Twilight saga is an American novel, by American author Stehenie Meyer. It is a series of vampire-themed for teenagers. The author uses many Genre(s): Young adult, Fantasy, Romance. It includes four titles: Twilight (2005; film 2008), New Moon (2006; film 2009), Eclipse (2007; film 2010), and Breaking Dawn (2008; film part 1, 2011, part 2, 2012). This series tells the story – tricky risk, thrill and emotional enthusiasm, about two teenagers- Bella Swan and her vampire boyfriend Edward Cullen. It was originally published in Publisher Little, Brown and Company and Release on October 5, 2005. The series revolves around the dangers and restricted love between seventeen-year- old Bella Swan and President Edward Cullen, who studies in her high school. She grew up in the real city of Forks in Washington, a shuttle novel between the interest of teenage Bella and the magical world of vampires and werewolves. Although it is often similar to the fantasy of Harry Potteries, Twilight Books target an older and exclusively female audience. Despite this smaller demographic, Twilight has established itself as a national phenomenon. Many critics attribute the popularity of books to the online societies created by Meyer et al. As publishers struggle to gain footprints in an increasingly diversified entertainment market, web presence novels have created viral marketing opportunities that have allowed readers to expand and enrich their experiences embody what Henry Jenkins (2006) has called” converging culture”, or “cultural transformation in which consumers are encouraged to seek new information and make connections between dispersed media content”. Jenkins emphasized not only the role of technology and media producers in this culture but also the role of” individual consumers” and their” social interactions between consumers and producers through technologies lead to” story telling through the media” in which consumers necessarily become active participants in creating a world for a particular media phenomenon”. For Jenkins, collaborative intellectual work and discovery enrich the textbook experience for all participants”. The aim of this essay is to argue how despite Meyer’s claim of feminism, her work is only in support of the movement in question. It will use Meyer’s Twilight guide on how her manifesto failed to be reflected in her work and how she despite her vocal stance is anti-feminist. 

Firstly, the poster resisted logic, which began the topic of discussion” the Anti-Feminist Twilight” on February 19, 2009 publicly interpreted it as an anti-feminist message from the Twilight series. Her initial post presented the” top five” reasons behind her claim, including a lack of strong female characters, stereotypical portrayal of women’s roles, the unequal relationship between Bella and Edward, the specific features that were deprived of female wolves, and the characterization of Bella. Textual example were used such as Bella’s lack of interest in “anything other than Edward, giving up any ambitions at every moment he met “ and the fact that Victoria, a Vampire from a rival clan identified by logic as the most powerful female figure in novels,” was killed, ripped to pieces, burned”. As for logic, it is clear that speaking in public is the type of” political action” that Takayoshi described. She describes the previous definition as a Twilight before she” realized” the anti-feminist content in the book and decided to publish “what I think was right”. In addition, when other posters questioned her motivation to participate in the discussion board as a counter attack, she constantly posted a picture of Locates from a cat clinging to a rug reading” Civil disobedience Never”. The frequent use of this image indicates that logic sees its participation on this discussion board as a political project to challenge cultural messages against feminism, and approximately 500 posts follow the claim of logic from this political project and try to negotiate the relationship between feminism and narratives through the use of different strategies including Textual analysis definition, and analysing of the relationship between the writer and its text. The first duplicate wrote that she agreed 99.99% with logic but asked logic to defend her assertion that Alice, Edward’s vampire sister, is not a strong female character. Logic was initially answered by saying that Alice is a typical female and provide an example from the text “Although she does fight, it is described as like dancing”. 

Secondly, several posters responded by providing alternative examples from the text, referring to Alice’s specialized skills and moment of firmness, to counter the claim of logic. One poster, for example, noticed that although Alice loves shopping, it is more than just a typical” girly” behavior:” when I saw how much Alice likes shopping, I thought it was because she liked designing things, fashion is her passion. The discussion allows users to provide different interpretations of the text, like this one that links her stereotypical female hobby of Alice to a specific and creative professional interest, which not only challenged other posters butt also the meaning of texts. Journet (2009) saw similar patterns of accurate reading in lost communities and argued that” the media convergence with collaborative participation in the forum depended the accurate reading actions in which fans participate”. A similar improvement occurs to individual reading at http://www.thetwilightsaga.com where posters require textual examples to support claims, thus encouraging each other to build competing interpretations of texts that support their own arguments about feminism. However, a deep, intimate reading inspired by interest in the novel itself gives way to a deeper understanding of the social implications of the novels. To develop their arguments, the posters extend their conversations about narration to include negotiation feminism definition. Within the discussion board topic, they published stories on topics ranging from their love for shopping to their views on pre-marital sex and their high school struggles. One of the posters even revealed her insecurity, writing that Bella” may be unsafe but tell me frankly is there any girl who think {you know} who you know?”. When the discussion turned into examples of abortions in the novels, she wrote. Some posters are about mother or friends who aborted and expressed sympathy based on their shared experiences”. 

Third, one of the ways posters defined and redefined feminism is through discussion about Bella’s stereotypical roles in her relationship with her divorced father and Edward. The original publication, for example, used the fact that Bella cooked and cleaned her father as an example of anti-feminist messages in book”. Several posters supported logic’s claim by arguing that Bella’s book confine these gender roles and give her little opportunity to assert herself. However, others reinterpreted this moment by suggesting that they develop Bella’s personality as responsible or affirm the promise of choice that they see as an integral part of the definition of feminism. Many argue that the desire to cook can be an option that allows feminism to do its work. As one of the posters wrote, “Being a feminist” does not mean that you do not marry, do not cook, or do not bow to pressure”. So, the discussion board allows girls and women to place definition of feminism within the context of their own experience so that they, for example, can enjoy cooking or shopping while considering themselves strong and independent. Although most posters endorsed the definition of feminism as dependent on a women’s ability to choose freely many have used this definition to reinforce the argument that Meyer’s books are anti-feminism because whenever women make choices that make them out of traditional roles, they “injure, kill, or not” can have children”. Many cite the example of Bella’s adventure in the city alone, only to be surrounded by three men who try to rape her before Edward saves her. These posters recognized the line between the definition of feminism developed on the discussion board and the representations of women in novels, and possibly in real life. By dealing with the definition of feminism within novels, posters simultaneously face the consequences of these definitions in their lives. The discussion board also allows participants to collaborate in defining what it means to be a feminist. Many posters initially avoided the term feminism, noting that they are not feminists but they are still upset with Bella’s weakness”. 

Conclusion

The fact that Twilight publishers have succeeded in developing a vibrant online environment, whose experience the novels provide extends not only to the power of Transmedia novels, but also to the changing role of girls and women in creating and sustaining these novels. The Twilight series may have drawn attention to visitors to sites like http://thetwilightsaga.com but the agency that Trans media’s novels encouraged turned them into participants. Participation in both text negotiation and cyber negotiation itself provides evidence of the collaborative intellectual work that characterizes these narratives. A close reading of the posts in “Twilight is so anti-feminist that I want to cry” reveals the way in which a culture of rapprochement provides a link between private reading experiences and social and political project, such as the need for an e-feminist spaces. Evidence of this association has been found in the way Trans media’s novels allow literacy practices to extend to the public and social sphere. In a more common example, Twilight tried to silence logic because it is hostile. Immediately many other posters jumped to defined the logic. Someone wrote, “you (logic) do not harm anyone or commit a crime, you only include your opinions. Good go you”. Comment like this silence prompted the writing of a second response: “I am not trying to stop you… I was in a bad mood and kind of see some of your points…many of them are logical but I still love books” by rewarding open dialogue and encouraging competing interpretations. 

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