I wrote this up and posted it as a comment on the Bitch magazine site in response to an article about the Twilight books. The article covers a lot of the more basic arguments but the comments both pro and con are a hoot and very insightful at times.

http://www.bitchmagazine.org/article/bite-me-or-dont

I enjoyed reading the various comments posted. I was only ten pages in to the first one before I strained my eyes from rolling them so much, then somewhere along the way, despite my best efforts, I got sucked in.

I have enjoyed several lively discussions with my friends about these books. The most fun ones are where they have read them and can ript them apart with as much gusto as I can. The reason I read them was so I could do so with an informed opinion. I was tired of feeling like a phony participating in the discussions without having read even the first one.

More uncomfortable discussions come up when I try to bash with one of my friends who become offended as they loved them and can't bring themselves to say an unkind word.  When I then say, "They're just like candy," they say, "Yeah, yeah," and that seems to smooth things out.

If these books are soooo very bad, why are they still so popular? After I read them I wanted to know how she did it. What elements had she hit that got even forty year old moms all in a tizzy, making mommy play dates to hit the movies the night they came out.

I too have a problem with young girls learning that it is still considered sexy to be so powerless and give ones body and soul over to a man who may or may not have our best interests at heart.

For adult women who want to remember what sexual tension feels like, and want to get lost in what it was like to obsess, as most sixteen year olds do at one time or other, over some guy-great. Abstinence porn, or whatever, if it makes mama happy and once again ready to give daddy his due then wonderful. This is confirmed by the way. (I know of at least two mommies who were inspired to sleep with their husbands after reading these books.)  Adult women have experience and perspective that teenage girls do not.

For the teenage girls this almost read like a manual on how to prepare for an abusive relationship. That worries me, but then I was reading Stephen King and Clive Barker as a teenager. I know my mother worried that it would have a negative impact on me. Since I haven't morphed in to a monster or serial killer after twenty years, I would say her worries were unfounded, as may be ours surrounding what these young girls are filling their minds with. Would this be better than a 50 Cent video? If it takes you more than ten seconds to answer that I don’t know what to say.

Here's another thing. Readers of YA today will be readers of adult novels in 5-10 years so this is something we should all thank Ms. Meyer for. Really. Our future book sales may well depend on how many kids have picked up the reading habit now and will continue to do so because they found it a rewarding experience in their formative years.

Has anyone read Ms. Meyer's dedication pages? (If you’re an aspiring writer who hopes one day to publish, this is an important habit to get in to.)  In one of the books she thanked her husband and sons for giving her the time to write. As a mother/writer myself, I know how that time can be almost impossible to get, especially if one does not have a progressive and understanding hubby willing to lower his expectations around the house and watch the kids. So for all the flack the author has taken about what she is teaching young girls about relationships, her example (missed by most, but still) is empowering.

However she did it, she convinced the husband, at the time of the first book's writing when I suspect she had nothing to show for her hours in front of the computer except piles of laundry and dirty dishes, that her "hobby" was a worthwhile use of her time. Dare I imagine she was smart enough to marry a loving caring man and still be able to dream up someone like Edward who in one of the books I read growing up, would have started slapping her around and telling young Bella if she truly loved him she would prove it by sleeping with his friends.

I still love to bash these books and what they stand for, but I think it is important to address the positive, because these things while being missed by most commentators I’ve read are significant.