Wednesday, August 27, 2008

As a reader of both The Post and of "The Twilight Saga" book series, I found Leonard Sax's Aug. 17 op-ed, " 'Twilight' Sinks Its Teeth Into Feminism," not only ridiculous but insulting to the girls who read it.

Mr. Sax pointed out that Bella, the books' main character, gets rescued frequently, but he omitted the fact that she ends up getting rescued because she uses herself as bait to draw fire away from her loved ones. Is she still a damsel in distress? Bella is, in fact, the most practical person in the series, and she goes out of her way to avoid drama. I'm still not seeing the anti-feminism.

The reader must also realize that everything Bella does, she does after weighing her options and making a conscious choice. Isn't the point of feminism to give women the power to choose what to do with their lives?

As for the suggestion that girls of this generation rebel against the idea of not needing men because our parents pushed it too hard: Don't be ridiculous. Simply because a girl reads a good romance-fantasy series doesn't mean she wants to give up her dreams and live her life in a kitchen. I'm 17; I and many of my friends who read these books have high career goals, including in rocket science, archaeology and art and to become authors in our own right. None of us uses Bella as a role model; she's just a fun character.

Mr. Sax appears to have missed the greater messages of Stephanie Meyer's series: That you don't have to stick to stereotypes and that acceptance between people is important and should be sought after.

Hey, that's just what I see. But what do I know? I'm just the target audience of the books.

CINDY HOLDEN

Springfield