A raging fad has swept America. The lure of immortal, bloodsucking teenagers with chiseled torsos and the temptation of the forbidden love between girl and vampire has made Stephanie Meyers’ Twilight saga an icon of pop culture. But an editorialist known as Catcat believes that the main character and narrator of the books, Bella Swan, is depicted as inferior to her male counterparts who are both mystical beings with supernatural powers. In the article, “Twilight on Equality” from Teen Ink, Catcat states that “Bella is depicted as an evil temptress trying to persuade a morally honorable man into evil, while he attempts to keep their virtues intact.” Yes, some hormone induced teenagers may be slightly obsessed with Stephanie Meyers’ books, but Twilight’s “sexist manifesto” is most likely not going to affect “the future of gender equality.”

To quickly summarize, the Twilight saga is about a seventeen year old girl, Bella Swan, who goes to live with her father in Washington state. At her high school, she attracts the attention of Edward Cullen, a vampire posing as a teenager who is protected from the sun by the constant cloud cover of the area. Bella also strikes the fancy of Jacob Black, a member of a Native American, vampire-slaying werewolf tribe. Bella and Edward fall madly in love while a jealous Jacob stands by forever trying to win Bella’s heart. Several other vampires end up wanting Bella dead for various reasons. The saga encompasses Bella and Edward’s escapades avoiding these vendetta crazed, bloodthirsty vampires.

Catcat points out, “Every time Bella is faced with a conflict and has to make a choice, Edward swoops in to save her because apparently she can’t possibly decide on her own.” This is sometimes true, but Bella does make some very difficult decisions on her own without the influence of Edward. In the first book, Bella’s mother has been taken captive by a vengeful vampire. Bella is faced with a choice of either helping her mother, or waiting until Edward arrives and let him sort things out. This was a very difficult decision to make. Bella decided to face an evil vampire on her own in order to save a loved one. Later, Bella also makes the difficult decision to become a vampire. By doing so, Bella misses out on some life experiences that one could only experience as a human. She sacrifices these experiences so that she can spend an eternity with Edward. These decisions demonstrate that Bella is depicted as a character with the ability to make her own decisions, not just a whimsical damsel in distress in need of a hero.

Catcat also argues that Bella is “depicted as an evil temptress trying to persuade a morally honorable man into evil.” This is only true in one instance throughout the entire Twilight saga, and it is based on an outdated value. Catcat believes, “Edward and Bella are a modern Adam and Eve,” insinuating that Bella is enticing Edward towards sin. She does this once when she wishes to have sex with Edward before she becomes a vampire and before they are married. She may tempt him gently here but there are also other instances where Bella prevents Edward from doing evil. An ancient feud between vampires and werewolves is brewing within the story and Edward has a constant inner urge to cause bodily harm to the werewolves some of which are Bella’s friends. Here she is the savior, not the advocate of evil.

Catcat’s belief that Twilight is sexist is offered without convincing evidence and is incorrect. This editorialist has obviously not read Stephanie Myers’ novels close enough to fully understand her argument. Maybe Stephanie Meyers is not the one who is sexist.