On Twilight

I'd like to post a few links hereto blog-conversations and articles about Twilight.

Here is a Feminist response to Twilight, published in Ms. Magazine, dealing especially with female sexuality. On that note, check out this seminal (pun intended) article by Anne Koedt. She suggests that the vaginal orgasm is a myth and gives a list of reasons why men would be interested in maintaining this myth (check out that part at least). What do you think about female sexuality?

Here is a great blog post on the F-Word, "Feminism and the Vampire Novel". In this blog, Caitlin Brown asserts that "At the crux of sexism within the vampire novel is the paradigm of male vamp/female human, a framework which an overwhelming majority of vampire novels are based around." What is the problem with this construct?

We should continue to think about this blog post in relation to other novels we read as well (especially Fledgling).

Here is an interesting article dealing with privilege in the saga. What place does race play in the novel? Does it? What privileges go unnoticed? Here is the article referenced in the above short article: Peggy McIntosh's "White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack." Take a look at the list, at least. Think through what might be in your invisible knapsack? In a vampire's?

Another feminist consideration for us in this novel is the role of the "gaze." Some people in class mentioned that Bella is hard to visualize and cite this as a defect in the novel, or a trap so that any women can insert themselves. Additionally, people mentioned that there was not quite enough physical information about Edward, or the same visuals were used over and over (and smells, of course). Laura Mulvey, in film theory, coined the term "male gaze" (this link gives a quick overview of concept and some examples)for when films assume a male point of view, usually "gazing" at women in objectifying ways. Fiction can so this too, of course. Does Stephanie Meyer reverse the gaze?

Here is a good youtube video on the Male Gaze in advertising:



Here is an interesting film about how the male gaze affects women:


What kind of gaze are we encountering in Twilight? How well done is it?