TwiBashing and TwiHarding? Oh dear god...

Okay, people.
It's time for me, Brianne, to tackle probably the most buzzingest novel series in the world right now, my chickies.

Twilight.

OH NO. I SAID THE T-WORD.
What shall I do? Rant about it aimlessly?
No! Because that would be insulting the opinions of those who think that the series has something to it.

Shall I defend it without backup?
No! Because that would be just plain wrong, and I'd still be not making a point.

I will, in fact, try to list the good, bad, and ugly about this series.
And if I have time, the people who TwiBash or TwiHard it.
Now on to the list!

I'm going to start by saying that the purpose of a book isn't always necessarily to educate the reader and be completely innovative. This is an argument on the the book is shit and Stephanie does not know how to write if her life depended on it point. Obviously this book is poorly written. And it also has a story line that so many people despise greatly. But the last time I checked, waving the red flag in front of the bull makes it angrier. Honestly, if I didn't like a book (unless it was content that was blatantly offensive and was worth a great protest) I would just put it down because I don't like reading things that I don't like.

Then there's the whole zOMG Bella has no life! Look at her! She's given up everything for just one guy and that's totally abuse. Yep. It's abuse if he's hurting her physically and mentally or brainwashing her into doing things. But we must remember that no matter what, this is still a book and it's impossible to twist the words of a book once they're "immortalized" (for lack of a better word). Edward, honestly, is not the kind of guy I'd like. He's controlling. You can actually see that quite a bit in him that he wants to have Bella on a leash so he doesn't lose her. But Bella actually makes the choice to stay in the vampire world, and that's something she did, not him.

Now I come to the wonderful part of my post where I say: Jesus Christ! I don't like the way Stephanie Meyer writes. Because it's true. She takes way too long to make a point and a lot of her writing is really drawn out, making the series WAY too big for me to fit in my backpack--something I find of convenience, with me being a high school student and all.

Space issues and all other issues aside, this is a book. And no, I'm not saying this because I'm hetero or because I'm a fangirl (because I'm not one at all) or even because I'm a teenage girl. Because saying that all of those characteristics make me unsuitable for the job of writing about Twilight would be desrciminating against my sexual orientation, sexist, and ageist rolled into one. Books, as I said, are not always for the purpose of enlightenment or even for being completely revolutionary. Just remember; if you're looking for an absolutely spectacular book just don't read the Twilight series.

Double Standards?

I haven't done a post in a loooooong while...
I've been doing a lot of thinking.

About the whole thing about being too skinny and thin being in and how real women should be more embraced in society today is bothering me. While it's wonderful that people are cluing in to the fact that not everyone is the same, we're seeing lots of people not putting pity on larger women, but the smaller ones.

Not everyone in the world is the same, as previously stated, and that means that there are going to be some people that are just naturally skinny. Real women look skinny, they look fat, they look tall or short, and everything in between. So next time there's a skinny girl in an ad, it's not right to just assume that the girl is at fault, it's the advertiser. The issue, as shown here, is not the body type of the person featured, but why they were featured and what the advertiser wants to do.

On another note...
I've been thinking about feminism and how there are also standards there. As a young feminist I feel that not only am I prone to a bit more sexism for being open about it (I once talked about it in a gifted class and later that evening a classmate sent me a facebook invitation to a group called "Feminism belongs in the kitchen") but also ageism. I haven't really done research on feminist icons and when I start a discussion on a forum in places like Gaia Online I'm told that I'm not a real feminist and that I'm just looking for somewhere to belong. That's a nice example of ageism, I believe and I'm not liking it.

Another standard that I believe is lingering a bit (but usually stems from the outside world's misconceptions) is that a feminist must be queer/straight and single-not-looking and not Christian. I'm the opposite of those things. I have a boyfriend who I love very much, and I consider myself to be Catholic--just not terribly religious. And yet, I feel as if people are staring me down for being something common, something that "can't understand" and something that knows nothing about what they're saying. Last time I checked, feminism was supposed to be about making choices, right? So if one chooses to take their husband's last name, should they get married, it's their choice, right?

/rant. :)