Spieler, Sophie (2012):
"Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Series and the ‘Post(-)ing’ of Feminism." Eds. Bast, Florian; Hähnert, Alexandra; Horváth, Máté Vince; Labisch, Diana; Pan, Sevara. aspeers 5: 119-144.
Journal Article
Abstract

Immensely popular with a largely female readership, Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series and its male hero Edward Cullen have become literary and cultural phenomena to be reckoned with. However, critical readers—especially in the blogosphere—have observed that in terms of gender and sexuality, all is not well in Forks, Washington. This essay seeks to find out if the series indeed “[s]inks [i]ts [t]eeth into [f]eminism,” as one commentator put it (Sax). In recent years, the death of feminism has been proclaimed repeatedly in academia as well as in popular culture. The reasons for the demise of the ‘f-word’ vary according to the standpoint of the obituary’s author: The feminist experiment was either successful enough to render itself obsolete or, by choosing ‘unnatural’ and subversive goals, stripped itself of its right to exist. Regardless of the particulars of feminism’s passing—was it murder, suicide, or death of old age?—critics and commentators seem to agree that we now live in a ‘postfeminist’ age. Against the backdrop of Meyer’s novels, I discuss the contested process of ‘post(-)ing’ feminism and its various theoretical and cultural implications. Focusing on the construction of masculinities and femininities, I relate the novels to issues in contemporary feminism such as alterity, agency, and domesticity.