Twilight's Bella Swan Is A Badass And It's Time We Stopped Hating On Her:
*Plays Paramore Decode and sobs*
Like a lot of people, when I read that Stephenie Meyer had announced a new Twilight book earlier this month (in the form of Midnight Sun a previous endeavour which leaked online and was put on hold indefinitely), I nearly passed out. I was instantly transported back to 2008. Ah, 2008. You remember it; Obama was elected president of the United States, ironic nerd glasses were a thing and if you were anything like me you were counting down the days until the first movie of The Twilight Saga dropped in theatres. It was a simpler time. I could read my favourite book series without harsh criticism while I doodled Edward Cullen’s name all over my school books. The only question demanded of me back then was wether I was on Team Edward or Team Jacob.
However, as the films began to premier there was a noticeable shift. Suddenly, the cool thing wasn’t to read Twilight and enjoy the series for what it was, it was cool to hate it. The same girls who wanted to be Bella Swan the year previous, now called her ‘weak’ or ‘passive’ and she was labeled by the world as a ‘damsel in distress’. In rereading Twilight now as an adult I can’t help but see how harmful that culture was to young readers, and how wrong these assumptions about the series protagonist are. This is a culture which still remains today and I think it’s time we end the cycle. Let’s explore the presence of feminism in Twilight and finally leave this toxic hate culture in the past once and for all.
How Twilight Changed the YA Landscape:
The first book in the series, Twilight, was published in 2005 and debut at number five on the New York Times Best Seller’s List. It would remain in the list for forty nine weeks peaking at the number one spot. The books were an immediate hit with young teen readers, and more notably; young female readers. This is really significant. At this time only the Percy Jackson series or the Harry Potter franchise could really compare in scale to the sales figures. However, these other series took on a male perspective and never marketed themselves as ‘girl books’. To quote Melissa Silverstein of Women and Hollywood, “The general consensus in Hollywood is that films and books made for men and boys are seen as ‘universal’, and things that are made for women and girls are somehow seen as ‘other’”. A clear example of the drive to tell these “universal” stories and avoid the “other” is clearly highlighted by J.K. Rowling infamously being instructed to use her initials as the idea of a female writer might alienate male readers. So while characters like Hermione existed, they aren’t the vehicle that the reader experiences the story through. We don’t hear their thoughts and aren’t privy to their insecurities or fears. So despite being popular amongst both boys and girls, the novels really seek to service a male audience. Twilight on the other hand was a novel written very clearly by a women, for women, about a woman and her experiences as a late teen. This series gave a voice to what it’s like to be a teenage girl and the curiosity and craving for romance and intrigue that comes with that. Meyer delivers this to the reader though female protagonist Bella Swan.
Bella is an Attainable Lead:
Bella begins the novel with seemingly little to no agency. Like most teenage girls she is living under her parents roof, expected to attend school every day and generally lives a pretty unexceptional life. However, as she falls in love and becomes conscious of the supernaturals who clutter her life, she becomes a protagonist who uses every bit of agency she has to negotiate, compromise and flight for power over her own life. This is a much looked over theme throughout the series that needs to be addressed.
With the rise of this series came the narrative that Bella is a character in constant need of ‘protection’ or ‘saving’ in a way that other comparable leads such as Hermione don’t. However, when rereading this series it was very clear to me that while a lot of the men in Bella’s life certainly try to perpetuate this narrative, Bella actively fights against it at every point she can. In fact, for all the moments Bella is ‘saved’ by her male counterparts, she is the one acting as a protector twice as often. Bella sacrifices her life at the end of Twilight in a bid to save her mother and the Cullen’s from death. In New Moon, she knowingly risks her life to save Edward, despite being under the impression he wanted nothing to do with her, because she loved him and didn’t want him to suffer. In Eclipse, she stabs her own arm so the blood can act as a distraction to allow her supernatural ‘protectors’ to get the upper hand. The list is endless. Bella shows the reader that you don’t have to be the physically strongest person in the room to be heroic and act to protect those you love.
Moreover, the label of Bella being a ‘weak’ protagonist isn’t altogether incorrect. She is weak; she is a human in a world filled with the virtually indestructible. I would argue that often this need that the male characters feel to ‘protect’ Bella stems from this human fragility as opposed to gender politics. Humans are breakable. In this way Bella is again separated from the likes of Hermione because she has no supernatural abilities for most of the series. Therefore, comparing their heroic ability seems strange to me. In fact, I found it easier to see myself in Bella because she was so human. Human, but never weak. The books are also filled with human examples of Bella’s heroism or protective instincts. When we meet Bella she is moving to Forks to give her mother a happier life, she cooks for her father and acts as a provider for him in may ways. When she’s asked to Prom by Mike Newton, whom she has no feelings for, she lets him down gently and sets him up with Jessica who she knows likes him. It is in these small seemingly insignificant moments as a teenage girl reading these books I was affected. Bella’s natural urge to protect and provide for those she loves is heroic. Just because she isn’t the one with the super powers and she is the weakest character physically, doesn’t make her weak. The books are filled with examples of Bella utilising her agency every day. She never stands for being mistreated. Whether it’s when she negotiates with Edward over her humanity and puts her mortality to a vote, or when she punches Jacob in the face for kissing her when she had clearly told him she didn’t reciprocate his feelings. She fights for her desires and speaks up when she feels she is being mistreated. Is this not exactly what we should encourage teenage girls to learn as they grow into adults?
Bella is a Badass:
The final book shows Bella finally becoming a vampire and while this may seem like an obvious and predictable plot point, what Meyer’s does with this character's transformation is really important. When Bella finally becomes a vampire Meyer’s makes a point to highlight that she is stronger and faster than any other character, supernatural or otherwise. She adapts to the lifestyle with an ease and grace that leaves everyone baffled. What I found most indicative of who Bella is however is the ‘special’ ability vampirism gives her. The novels tell us early on that some vampires bring with them a special gift into immorality, something that was heightened even in their human life. Bella becomes a shield and becomes the only one able to protect her family not only physically, but mentally from danger. Her undying need to protect those she loved as a fragile human translates into the best gift of all and makes her one of the most unique and powerful vampires in the series. As I reread a passage from Breaking Dawn when Bella realises that she had found her call in life and the space where she could excel, I remembered how I felt reading that for the first time. I was filled with the hope that the most ordinary and seemingly unremarkable of people can find their place they fit. Bella becoming the strongest vampire serves so much more purpose than just making her the protector of the men who once fought to 'save' her, it signifies that we all have something inside of us that we excel at, we just have to find it. As an awkward tween girl I cannot describe the comfort that idea held for me and even as an adult rereading it the comfort I could still find in these words
Bella is the Reader:
Something really interesting to consider when assessing the hate culture that surrounds the character of Bella is how Stephenie Meyer writes the character. To quote the author herself; “I left out a detailed description of Bella in the book so that the reader could more easily step into her shoes”. Bella is a character that the reader is supposed to project themselves onto and I found that it’s nearly impossible not to do so when reading the novels. As a tween reading these books for the first time I remember laughing and crying with Bella in tandem, and finding there were few moments I couldn’t empathise or understand how Bella was acting or feeling. The difference is now, as an adult rediscovering these characters, I can see how much I also took from Bella. I remember feeling so seen by how awkward and invisible Bella felt. I could understand feeling so unremarkable because that was not only the lens I saw Bella under, but myself. However, in going through the journey of the novels and realising how bad ass Bella was, I came to see a lot of myself reflected in her once again. I realised that the way I now fight for agency in my own life, or the ease at which I can step outside of the social norms are a partial reflection of what I learned at twelve years old reading The Twilight Saga.
In truth, Bella becomes a physical bad ass in the books final chapters, but she was really that strong the whole time. Getting to revisit this series reminded me how much of a safe haven these books were for me right through my teens. It was not only my escape but my reminder that you don’t have to be the smartest, strongest or prettiest girl to be a hero in your story. I am so proud of all I learned reading these books, no matter how tormented I was for my love of the series. I don’t know when it became ‘cool’ to hate Twilight or berate its fans, but that culture needs to end. Here in the age of the #MeToo movement, where we are actively encouraging people to find their inner feminist, why do we continue to point and laugh at a book series which revolutionised the idea of female led stories? What good does it do us to perpetuate this hateful narrative over a story which gave so many girls the confidence to own their insecurities and strive to find their place in the world? I personally can’t wait for Midnight Sun to drop in August, and to be given the opportunity to explore this story (semi for the first time), again. I also hope that in the years to come as we see other female led series follow the path Stephenie Meyer carved for them, we can learn to encourage teens to find themselves in female led narratives instead of criticising them into shame.
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