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SEED WORK: Twilight, Catherine Hardwick, 2008, Vampires evolved to reflect…
SEED WORK: Twilight, Catherine Hardwick, 2008
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Revised Question: How does Twilight's depiction of vampires reflect contemporary cultural anxieties about romance and gender roles?
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other Question: How do visual depictions of vampires in American films (from earlier woks like Dracula to Twilight) change overtime, and what do these changes suggest about shifting cultural attitudes toward romance and intimacy?
Twilight reflects modern anxiety about relationships and identity:
- modern romance is uncertain because gender roles are changing
- women are expected to balance independence, career success, sexuality, and romance all at once
- Twilight becomes comforting because Edward offers emotional certainty and devotion.
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Keywords:
- Postfeminism
- Romance
- Architype
- fascination
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Scholarly Source 2:
Mukherjea, Ananya. “My Vampire Boyfriend: Postfeminism, ‘Perfect’ Masculinity, and the Contemporary Appeal of Paranormal Romance.” Studies in Popular Culture 33, no. 2 (2011): 1–20. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23416381.The article explains why fantasy romance stories like Twilight became so appealing to contemporary audiences, especially teenage girls and young women. Amanya Mukherjea argues that the saga reflects postfeminist ideals by portraying Edward Cullen as a version of "perfect" masculinity, where he is protective, emotionally sensitive, self-controlled, dominant, and deeply devoted to Bella. The article examines how the romance mixes traditional gender roles with modern ideas of female choice and empowerment, creating a relationship dynamic that feels both progressive and old-fashioned. Mukherje also analyzes how danger, supernatural elements, and emotional intensity contribute to teh popularity of paranormal romance narratives. Ultimately, the article argues that Twilight's popularity reveals contemporary cultural anxieties and desires surrounding gender roles, emotional security, and identity in a post-feminist world.
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Key Words:
- Vampire Boyfriend
- Masculinity
- Empowerment
- Anti- feminist
Edward's hatred of his own vampireness might be a representation of the dissatisfaction many women want their male partners to feel about their unfair gender dominance and how they benefit from our sexist society.
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Dracula loves his immortality, using it to its fullest.
This contrast shows that women did not have the same dissatisfaction toward their male partners and their unfair advantage as men-- or at least they weren't able to feel freely about it.
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Emergent questions:
- Does Edward represent progress in masculinity, or just a more emotionally acceptable version of traditional male dominance?
- Why does emotional dependence remain appealing in a postfeminist society?
- Why do audiences yearn for old-fashioned romance in modern society?
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While Dracula was more human, he still was dangerous and not a romantic interest. Women ran from him, not to him.
New contextual sourceJarvis, Christine. 2013. “The Twilight of Feminism? Stephenie Meyer’s Saga and the Contradictions of Contemporary Girlhood.” Children’s Literature in Education 45 (2): 101–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10583-013-9212-9.The source explains postfeminism and the new expectations women are meant to uphold in contemporary society. The article also explains how the Twilight saga simultaniously upholds postfeminist ideals, while also giving them the atisfaction of abiding by patrairchical normas and the advantages that come with it. Specificlly, the article analyzes how modern romance stories present women as both empowered and contrined by culturl expectations. It talks about how girls are expected to be independent, successful, anf career oriented while also maintaining strict beauty standards and performing roles of trditional feminity. The author then explans that this tension in the female identity causes female achievement to be seen s conflicting with feminity.
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"Romance is not a static form, but one which adapts to changing social conditions"
Traditonal relationships used to be centered around the men, who were often richer, older, protective, and dominant
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Level 1 Question: Why is Edward Cullen portrayed the way he is, while older vampires are monterous?
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Level 2 Question: How does Edward Cullen's portrayal reflect contemporary anxieties about gender roles, romance, and emotional security?
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Initial key words:
- vampire
- fantasy
- Edward Cullen
- Gender Roles
- Twilight
- America
- American Film
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Starting Scholarly Source
Pyrhönen, Heta. “Love under Threat: The Emotional Valences of the Twilight Saga.” In Writing Emotions: Theoretical Concepts and Selected Case Studies in Literature, edited by Ingeborg Jandl, Susanne Knaller, Sabine Schönfellner, and Gudrun Tockner. Transcript Verlag, 2017. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1wxt3t.22.In this excerpt, Heta Pyrhönen explains the elements to the classic romance structure. She then contrast this with the Twilight plot structure, revealing that the saga strays from an optimistic ending by showing that bella could only live a good life by turning into a vampire. This ending suggests that Bella needs supernatural intervention to solve her problems becuase being human is not enough to resolve her issues. Additionally, Pyrhönen examines how the saga uses fascination – a mixture of repulsion and attraction – to invoke while also soothing contemporary female anxieties. Pyrhönen then examines the interplay between changing gender roles, anxiety, and the cultural reaction to Twilight. She ends by explaining how the Twilight films contributed to modern feminism by proving a saga can have success with a female lead, creating space for other series like the Hunger Games. Ultimately, this article helps to explain why the audience of Twilight is mostly female, how it exploits contemporary female anxieties and insecurities, and why Edward Cullen is the perfect suitor for modern society.
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Nosferatu (1931)
Count Orlok is:
- Ugly
- animalistic
- disease-spreading
- similar to a rat
- corpse-like
He represents contamination and danger, not romance
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He stalks women and represents predatory male power. but Edward restrains himself, showing how modern audiences expect men to control their power emotionally.
- Bella feels both fear and attraction toward Edward, which is like modern romance: exciting but dangerous and emotionally uncertain
- vampire aspect allows audience to experience intense emotions safely.
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Edward is modernized version of masculinity -- dangerous but also emotionally communicative and self controlled
- Dracula = domination and mystery , while Edward = emotional communication and protective masculinity
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Twilight romanticizes old- fashioned love in a modern world
- Audiences long for permanence and certainty
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Twilight reflects confusion about feminism and female identity
women are told to be free/independent, but still judged by patriarchical standards
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Female Audiences might crave releif from constant independence
- Bella becomes dependent on Edward, but despite feminism, the fantasy is still very appealing to modern audiences
- Not because women don't want to have freedoms, but because modern life creates pressure and instability
- the fantasy of surrendering control becomes emotionally comforting.
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Edward becomes the fantasy solution to modern pressure
women are meant to be youthful, attractive, nurturing, independent, successful, and no human man can achieve this so Edward fulfills the same impossible ideals in reverse.
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Emergent Questions :
- What is postfeminism?
- What are the new 21st century expectations for femininity? and have they changed?
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women are expected to be desireable, feminine, and beautiful, while also taking adantage of thier new professional opportunities. Bella embodies these contradicitons.
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Bella satisfies both feminist and traditional fantasies.
She resists beauty culture and dependence, but she ultimately gains wealth, protection, status, and marriage- all through Edward.
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