I've slowly been making my way though the last book of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn . Slowly because about every ten pages something happens or is said in the book that makes me so angry and upset; these books have quite the following, and I'm just sickened at the way the main female character, Bella, excuses and downplays the fact that she's been physically hurt by her vampire boyfriend --well, it really isn't that bad, I'm really fine, it's nothing.
So, I'm reading this, and I start to get really uncomfortable:
"There was stiffness, and a lot of soreness, too, it was true, but mostly there was the odd sensation that my bones all had become unhinged at the joints, and I had changed into the consistency of a jellyfish" (88).
". . . large purplish bruises were beginning to blossom across the pale skin of my arm. My eyes followed the trail they made up to my shoulder, and then down across my ribs. I pulled my hand free to poke at the discoloration on my left forearm, watching it fade where I touched it then reappear. It throbbed a little" (89).
"I threw up my hands in frustration, feeling an ache in my shoulder that I ignored." (91).
Then, I start to get sick:
"I took a deep breath. I was feeling more of the soreness now, but it wasn't that bad. Sort of like the day after lifting weights. This was not as painful as that had been by half" (91).
"And this is really nothing.' I brushed my fingers along my arm" (91).
"I slid carefully off the high bed and stretched again, more aware, now, of the aches and sore spots . . . I'd definitely had worse. There was a faint shadow across one of my cheekbones, and my lips were a little swollen, but other than that, my face was fine. The rest of me was decorated with patches of blue and purple. I concentrated on the bruises that would be harder to hide--my arms and my shoulders. They weren't so bad. My skin marked up easily" (95).
What really bothers me about these descriptions and the downplay or dismissal of her extensive bruising and the feeling that her "bones all had become unhinged at the joints" is that it's not presented in the book as a downplay. Bella is voice of 'truth' in the novel, and to hear her emphatically dismiss this as "really nothing" makes me want to throw up. And, I'm only on page 98.
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Maybe I'm just being really naive, but I didn't really get why you were so upset.
Bella LOOKS terrible, but she really doesn't feel that bad. Yes, bruises hurt a little, and she's sore, but she says it's no worse than when her mom made her exercise one day.
Bella feels good because she's in love and she just had the most wonderful night of her life. Granted, it was with a vampire, who unintentionally bruised her, but they love each other and just had amzing sex--that's why she feels like a jellyfish.
Even if she is downplaying--Edward is not her attacker, and he never wanted to have sex for fear of hurting her. He is adamant about protecting her.
So why is this making you sick?
I haven't read the books past the first one -- which was awful, and Edward was so creepy it put me off the rest -- but a lot of my friends are obsessed and I've heard a lot about them. There are a bunch of instances of ridiculous sexism, and Edward is frequently abusive.
If TappingMommy is right about the context, this isn't one of the bad ones.
You're right about Edward being a douchebag, but couldn't you find a better example? There are zillions to choose from.
(disclaimer: I have not read the books, I learn from recaps)
Cleolinda covered it pretty well: "I bet half the problem would have been solved here if they hadn’t been in the missionary position. No, this is not actually stated. Whatever, you know they were."
What's creepier is the whole imprinting thing. Especially since it's always a guy doing it.
I am no longer a fan of the Twilight books because of Breaking Dawn. Not only was it unbelievably misogynist, but it was really poorly written. Almost all of the reviewers on Amazon.com agree that it was anti-feminist, and I'm pretty sure that not many of those women even identify themselves with feminism.
Never read the books. But I'm interested to hear why indeed Edward--the male lead?--is characterized negatively but is still (apparently) idolized by young girls. (That's if media reports are to be believed, mind you).
Yes, I could have chosen lots of other places where Edward is not so great, but my emphasis here is on Bella and how she reacts to this situation.
I guess I'm really uncomfortable with the description of her body and her insistence that he hasn't hurt her. There's this strange tension here between her admitting, with hedging, that she's hurt and her insistence that she's fine. The bruises hurt a little, but they're nothing. I don't know, to me, bones becoming unhinged at the joints isn't exactly how I would describe great sex. But, to each their own.
The injuries themselves are hardly surprising. I mean, the guy's a vampire. Get in a relationship with a bear, and you're going to get mauled occasionally.
But it always disturbs me when people try to minimise or explain away the injuries their loved ones hurt them. If you can't accept the truth of it, then get the fuck out of there. But, of course, if you can't accept the truth of it, you're not going to take that advice, are you?
Well, it's not just that he is a vampire, he is made out of like diamonds or something (I have a major problem logistically with her descriptions of the vampires being hard as rock and sparkling. Jesus, way to unravel like every commonly accepted vampire myth and make it impossible for these things to "pass" and then say that they do anyway.). So I guess having sex with that would hurt. But I still find this excerpt to be disturbing. I read the previous 3 books, but will not be reading any more from this woman. This post has clinched it.
She is a Mormon who is pushing a weird conservative agenda on millions of girls and women, AND she can't write for shit. She has FOUR editors, AND she has her fans proof-read her work claiming they know the characters better than she does. Then the books come out with ridiculous typos and homonym mistakes and comma splices. I just can't deal with it. And don't get be started on the obvious "Mary Sue" of The Host. ugh ugh ugh
Brooklynn wrote:
"I guess I'm really uncomfortable with the description of her body and her insistence that he hasn't hurt her. There's this strange tension here between her admitting, with hedging, that she's hurt and her insistence that she's fine."
Okay, I don't mean to sound sarcastic or patronizing--I am genuinely asking the question:
Why does that bother you so much?
I am asking because I am new to this site (and still learning about feminist issues), and I'm wondering what I'm missing. Of course, part of the problem may be that I did not interpret the scene the same way. I don't think she's reluctant to admit her pain--I think it just takes her awhile to see what's happened to her, and even when she does, she is so happy that it really doesn't bother her that much.
I could see the issue if Edward abused her or intentionally hurt her, but that's not the case. Edward is not abusing her. He is annoyingly OVERprotective at times, and he has no intention of hurting her. He does not want to have sex because he is terrified of hurting her, and when he sees her body the next day, he is horrified and angry.
What's not downplayed is the way that Bella LOOKS, and the mortified reaction that Edward has to her appearance. However, Bella doesn't know she's hurt right away. She is so "blissed out" (91) from their sexual encounter that she doesn't notice her body until she sees Edward's painful expression. And when she looks in the mirror, she doesn't even see the bruises at first, but the FEATHERS in her hair.
She says: "I tried to remember this--to remember pain--but I couldn't. I couldn't recall a moment when his hold had been too tight, his hands too hard against me. I only remember wanting him to hold me tighter..." (89) She goes on to say that his misery was "so contrary to what I felt that it was difficult to process." (90)
When Edward questions whether she is hiding her pain just to make him feel better, she says: "I am not pretending anything for your sake, okay? I didn't even know there was a reason to make you feel better until you started being all miserable. I've never been so happy in my life..." (94)
Yes, she does have some minor aches and pains, but it seemed to me that they really weren't that big of a deal, at least not to her. She even gets pissed at Edward for killing her buzz:
Edward: "I don't think anything could make me feel better now."
Bella: "That right there is why I'm angry. You are killing my buzz Edward." (91)
So despite, looking awful (which is disturbing--who wants to be all beat-up looking after sex?) I really didn't get the impression that she was in that much pain. In fact, just the opposite.
As for her bones coming unhinged I still beg to differ that this was a pleasurable feeling for her. You left out a very important sentence:
"...there was the odd sensation that my bones all had become unhinged at the joints, and I had changed half-way into the consistency of a jellyfish. It was not an unpleasant feeling." (88)
I don't know why I'm defending this so bad. As a whole I thought the book was really diappointing. I guess I just don't get the problem with this scene. So, please, enlighten me (no sarcasm intended) and give me one more reason to hate it :-)
The rough sex in Breaking Dawn wasn't really what bothered me. As an avid reader of Dan Savage, I understand that this is an attempt at narrating BDSM from someone who knows nothing about it. Also, writers like Chuck Palahniuk (Fight Club) have helped illustrate the eroticism of bruises, so in a way, I think I understand what Meyers was shooting for.
Actually Edward pre-nuptials drives me nuts. He's emotionally abusive and very controlling. It never made sense to me that Bella didn't kick him to the curb when he starts the whole "we can't have sex, I'll break you" thing. Even if it sort of makes sense in the world of the book, the implications of that conversation and the glamorization of the waiting for marriage just reeked of abstinence education propaganda. (Not to mention the surprise pregnancy.)
Forget Team Edward or Team Jacob, go Team Buffy! Stake 'em all, girl!