Fairy tales and feminism: Why it is okay to like Stephenie Meyer’s twilight

While Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight Saga has many problematic elements, it is not an anti-feminist text. Instead of being poisonous to young female readers, as many feminist critics suggest, the series is a space of nuanced exploration for young adults and readers of Young Adult literature. The series and characters are better examined through addressing the origins and strong literary connections the series has to the fairy tale tradition. Fairy tales, Romance literature and Children’s literature all shed light on the textual awareness that the reader brings to Twilight and how it is utilised as an exploratory space. Twilight is not dangerous, as the feminist or anti-feminist slant is primarily based upon the reader. Through this paper I aim to show that feminism and the Twilight saga are not mutually exclusive. I will address current feminist criticism of the series, particularly in regards to the potential consequences of the series’ widespread popularity. I will offer an alternative theory to the current assumptions regarding reader-response in relation to Young Adult literature by using literary criticism from related literatures, such as fairy tales and romance. Then I will offer two alternate interpretations of the lead causes of criticism: Bella, Edward and their relationship.