I'm inclined to agree with Bob. Everyone and their mother has commented on how backward Twilight is as a moral vehicle and how clumsy it is as a piece of fiction, but Meyer can't possibly be some sort of one-woman conduit for regressive attitudes and odd sado-masochist tendencies. Take a look at Twilight, at the Host, at Fifty Shades of Grey - and you realize that there's a certain subset of the female gender that's beginning to speak out.
I think Meyer's more the result of a kind of reactionary bent at how, among other things, Disney has been trying to twist its "Princess" line-up into a strong, positive set of role models. They'll never retcon Cinderella into a career woman or Sleeping Beauty into an overworked female tycoon, but you definitely get the sense, starting with Ariel and going up to Tiana, that Disney has been trying to leave the whole "submissive woman waiting for her prince" angle behind for a more can-do approach to things. It makes sense, as this is what women have turned out to want and need. Nobody wants to grow up to be some sort of June Cleaver mom-slash-Homemaker of the Year. At least, not anymore.
And, well, Meyer and her ilk feel like a sort of reaction to this; like there's a group of women going "You know what? We actually do miss the romantic and slightly dangerous aspects of being submissive and meek or unable to sort ourselves out without a man! Isn't there some kind of mystique behind the thought of finding your very own troubled Prince Charming and fixing him with your gentle love?"
I don't agree, of course, but I think it makes sense, culturally. For every big change in every society, there's going to be people nostalgically looking the other way. While we're moving ahead with our stronger female characters on the whole, there's an entire social strata that needs and wants something that feels like an excessively serious take on "The Story of O".
Plus, don't forget that very sane women who wouldn't want to be abused or treated like dirt sometimes end up wanting to read stories where this happens to female protagonists. This is more or less what structures the entire romance novel industry, and it's a pretty basic part of escapism.
I'm intentionally simplifying, of course - but boys like to escape to power fantasies and *some* normally very contented and capable women like to escape to fantasies of emotional needs not being fulfilled, and to see that fictitious demand addressed in a dangerous manner. Something along the lines of the Cullen-Swan couple is obviously going to feel a lot more exciting and dangerous than your average Happy Joe and Jane Normal couple, no matter how scummy it might feel.
I think Meyer's more the result of a kind of reactionary bent at how, among other things, Disney has been trying to twist its "Princess" line-up into a strong, positive set of role models. They'll never retcon Cinderella into a career woman or Sleeping Beauty into an overworked female tycoon, but you definitely get the sense, starting with Ariel and going up to Tiana, that Disney has been trying to leave the whole "submissive woman waiting for her prince" angle behind for a more can-do approach to things. It makes sense, as this is what women have turned out to want and need. Nobody wants to grow up to be some sort of June Cleaver mom-slash-Homemaker of the Year. At least, not anymore.
And, well, Meyer and her ilk feel like a sort of reaction to this; like there's a group of women going "You know what? We actually do miss the romantic and slightly dangerous aspects of being submissive and meek or unable to sort ourselves out without a man! Isn't there some kind of mystique behind the thought of finding your very own troubled Prince Charming and fixing him with your gentle love?"
I don't agree, of course, but I think it makes sense, culturally. For every big change in every society, there's going to be people nostalgically looking the other way. While we're moving ahead with our stronger female characters on the whole, there's an entire social strata that needs and wants something that feels like an excessively serious take on "The Story of O".
Plus, don't forget that very sane women who wouldn't want to be abused or treated like dirt sometimes end up wanting to read stories where this happens to female protagonists. This is more or less what structures the entire romance novel industry, and it's a pretty basic part of escapism.
I'm intentionally simplifying, of course - but boys like to escape to power fantasies and *some* normally very contented and capable women like to escape to fantasies of emotional needs not being fulfilled, and to see that fictitious demand addressed in a dangerous manner. Something along the lines of the Cullen-Swan couple is obviously going to feel a lot more exciting and dangerous than your average Happy Joe and Jane Normal couple, no matter how scummy it might feel.
