Jesse’s always blogging about the weird tendency of conservatives to read the tea leaves of popular culture to prove that creeping conservative sentiment is breaking through. And it’s invariably funny. Add to the pile this bit of wishful thinking from anti-feminist Leonard Sax, (hat tip) where he romanticizes—-as creepy middle-aged misogynists are wont to do—-teenage girls of supple limbs and tender minds. Teenage girls are real women, you know, well, at least the teenage girls of the 12-15 range, when they’re so
in touch with true womanhood, as expressed, I’m not kidding, by vampire novels. Specifically, the popular “Twilight” series of books, about a love triangle between human girl, vampire, and werewolf.
Despite all the modern accouterments in the “Twilight” saga, the girls are still girls, and the boys are traditional men. More specifically: The lead male characters, Edward Cullen and Jacob Black, are muscular and unwaveringly brave, while Bella and the other girls bake cookies, make supper for the men and hold all-female slumber parties. It gets worse for feminists: Bella is regularly threatened with violence in the first three books, and in every instance she is rescued by Edward or Jacob. In the third book she describes herself as “helpless and delicious.” (Warning: Fans who haven’t read the fourth book should skip to the next paragraph.) Bella spends the first half of the final installment in the most helpless condition of all—pregnant and confined to bed rest. She is unable to leave the house and becomes capable of defending herself only after she becomes a vampire….
Yet on some level, it seems that children may know human nature better than grown-ups do. Consider: The fascination that romance holds for many girls is not a mere social construct; it derives from something deeper. In my research on youth and gender issues, I have found that despite all the indoctrination they’ve received to the contrary, most of the hundreds of teenage girls I have interviewed in the United States, Australia and New Zealand nevertheless believe that human nature is gendered to the core. They are hungry for books that reflect that sensibility. Three decades of adults pretending that gender doesn’t matter haven’t created a generation of feminists who don’t need men; they have instead created a horde of girls who adore the traditional male and female roles and relationships in the “Twilight” saga.