Volu m e II - Purdue University Calumet

men and women at worst. Despite its reputation as abstinence-only propaganda, the Twilight series is filled
with clandestine references to sex and sensuality which has garnered it the nickname “abstinence-porn.” The
series does not do anything different than the larger culture it was spawned from but because of its
popularity it has drawn the most attention with its glaringly obvious faults.
Feminist writers like Christine Siefert on bitchmagazine.org suggest that reader disappointment in
Bella and Edward‟s consummation of their marriage in book for “suggests something about the desire
readers have for abstinence messages.” This is a miswriting on her part: it is not that readers have a desire
for the abstinence messages but rather that readers have been indoctrinated to believe that abstinence ─ and
the self-denial, nay sacrifice, that goes along with it ─ is sexy. The suspense of abstinence-until-marriage is
eroticized to the point that it becomes the epitome of sexual excitement, while the act itself is left
undescribed, ill-defined, and, once fulfilled, particularly disappointing.
Most talk about sex, especially involving teens, is limited to aphorisms and vagary leaving teenagers
with the „facts‟ (in the best of cases) and the idea that sex is a purely biological act between a man and a
woman that somehow leads to some kind of transformation on a personal and relational level. In this
definition, sex becomes conflated with intimacy and it is presented as the only example of the magical and
mysterious bonds matrimony is supposed to convey upon the happy couple. Perhaps this is the message that
readers are actually seeking: an example of what intimacy is supposed to look like before and after the
ceremony. Twilight and its series-sisters, the movies, and even the leaked Midnight Sun (which is Twilight
from Edward‟s perspective) is a seriously perverted example of intimacy that relies on simplifications and
classifications of human behavior (man is aggressive and woman is frail) to justify marriage as the only
acceptable answer to sexuality and intimacy.
In this way, it is not the series itself that is bad for girls but the assumptions the series uses to exemplify sex,
love, and intimacy. What need does this series fulfill for women, and what lessons are adolescents gleaning
170