Bring On More of Edward Cullen
Video Courtesy of Women’s Aid
Yes, questions have been raised about the unrealistic expectations that are created for young girls with the Edward Cullen character from the bestselling series of The Twilight Saga.
Yet, imagine this scenario. A young Twilghter is in her first romantic relationship. Unknown to her, her boyfriend has a penchant for hitting and other unacceptable forms of behavior.
At some point, this young girl may recall her beloved Edward Cullen and ask herself, “Would Edward do this to Bella?”
And, the answer, of course, will be no, which may move the young girl to extricate herself from the dangerous situation.
According to the Web site for Women’s Aid, “two women are killed by a current or former partner in the United Kingdom in an average week,” a fact that may be mirrored in other parts of the world.
Therefore, if Edward Cullen has raised expectations or reminded females on how they should be treated in certain ways, then I say,
Bring on more of Edward Cullen!
Lorna Lopez aka ATwilightKiss Notes
CNN gives the details of the Keira Knightley commercial.
The commercial, [highlighting the problem of domestic violence in the UK was] made for the charity Women’s Aid, [and was recently] launched online. It will be shown on television and in movie theaters, the group said.
The film, called “CUT,” was directed by Joe Wright, who directed [Keira] Knightley in “Atonement.”
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April 8th, 2009 at 4:56 pm
Hello Lorna!
An issue that affects me particularly.
Love the clip with Keira Knightley.
It’s a tragic issue, and as a feminist I do not often laugh about this!
But I sometimes said to myself that Edward was a model, a perfect exemplary of respect and kindness. Maybe that’s why so many men don’t like Edward and Twilight! It reminds them they are not up to our equality expectations!
Male chauvinism is still here, creeping and we must keep fighting for our dignity… It’s still ongoing.
Go Edward!
April 8th, 2009 at 10:01 pm
What a sad video but so real. Edward Cullen’s character is so gentlemanly, he will not fall for this type of behavior. Imagine how much he protected Bella, even from himself.
April 9th, 2009 at 9:13 am
Crap, that made me cry.
When you put it this way, yes. There isn’t anything wrong with mentioning Edward Cullen as a character for a young girl to keep in mind if she’s in a relationship with a guy who is not treating her as she deserves to be treated.
Full steam ahead, I say.
May 7th, 2009 at 12:53 am
edwerd u r so cute/hot ilove u and your cariter love your bigest fann kailey me and u are friends
u smile i smile
u hurt i hurt
u cry i cry
u jump off a brige i will love u still
August 15th, 2009 at 7:42 pm
I have to say, not just as a male myself, that I think your article was a little strange.
I completely agree that if a girl’s boyfriend is beating her then Edward Cullen would have a positive effect on relationships and expectations – that he reminds her that she should be respected, but how can you assume that a girl’s expectations only apply to domestic abuse?
The truth of the matter is that comparing real men to Edward goes far beyond violence. What happens when a girl is in her first romantic relationship and her boyfriend tells her that he wants to spend some time without her? Girls may compare this with Edward’s complete devotedness and subsequently the relationship may fail. How, then, is Edward a positive influence in this regard?
Domestic violence is a single aspect, and a rare one. Realistic men, as like women, can have many flaws – habits, bad speech or gait, be shy or introverted, be not very good looking. All of these traits could potentially be compared to Edward, who has none of these. If a relationship should suffer because of this, then I believe that Edward Cullen is a negative model for the expectations of women.
What if the boyfriend was controlling, sneaked into her house to watch her sleep, told her that he was trying his best not to kill her and stalked her? A girl asking herself the same question as in your article would stay in this clearly negative relationship.
I am a feminist, and I want equality for women as much as is possible, but I was taken aback by Perrine’s comment that Edward simply reminds men that they don’t live up to womens’ ‘equality expectations.’ If you consider a perfect man to be a symbol of equality, then you are no doubt encouraging us men to expect all women to be perfect as well. By your admission I should only be interested in obedient supermodels, and I know that’s unfair to everyone. Expecting Edward Cullen in any man is not showing equality at all, quite the opposite.
But insofar as reminding young girls that they should always be treated with respect, then that’s definitely good, but I think it’s far more complicated than just having Edward remind them of that.