Not too long ago, I read one of the most sexist books ever written. But despite my annoyance, I could not stop reading. This plot-driven novel contains multiple cases of evident sexism, and questionable abuse. At first, I truly enjoyed reading this romance, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, but after further examination, I realized just how terrible it really is.

Now why do I call this story sexist? First of all, Bella Swan, the protagonist of the novel, does five things: cooks for her dad, spends time with her boyfriend, does her homework, completes all other household chores, and gets herself into trouble, all while her father watches television and her boyfriend protects her. This leaves her character to be tossed around like a doll - something you can own that does all your work for you, and something to shield.

Secondly, the dichotomy between Bella and her boyfriend, Edward Cullen, is glaringly apparent. Edward is a dazzlingly exquisite, glistening, male; while Bella is the imperfect being - flawed, and female. She says, “I’m absolutely ordinary- well, except for bad things like all the near-death experiences and being so clumsy that I‘m almost disabled. And look at you.’ I waved my hand toward him and all his bewildering perfection” (Meyer 184). Here we see that the author has decided to make the male figure confident, and  beautiful while the woman suffers from low self-esteem. This is sexist because since the protagonist thinks of herself as clumsy, and ordinary while her boyfriend is unflawed, and perfect this leads the reader into thinking the same, simply because the central character believes so.

Another way this book hits the sexist target is because of another character. This is Edward’s mother, Esme. The only role she has in this story line is to prove that her husband, Carlisle, is heterosexual. Other than that, the only thing she does is sit in the background, smile, and let the men take care of everything. What a perfect wife, right?

If you remember, I also mentioned abuse in the first paragraph. It’s true. This book is crawling with it. Why do I say this? Maybe because of the way Edward watches Bella sleep? Or possibly because of how he follows her around? Now, you might say that, “he’s just protecting her” but, according to The National Domestic Violence Hotline, monitoring where a person goes is one sign of abuse. “I followed you to Port Angeles,...I've never tried to keep a specific person alive before, and it's much more troublesome than I would have believed. But that's probably just because it's you” (174). In those three sentences Edward admits to and commits abuse. Telling Bella that he was following her, and then saying that it’s her fault that catastrophes happen to her are two forms of emotional abuse. Think that’s bad? Well, not only does Edward emotionally abuse Bella, but he also physically abuses her. One example is shown on page 103. “Do you think I’m going to let you drive in your condition?’... He was towing me toward his car now, pulling me by my jacket… He’d probably just drag me along...  ‘Let go!’ I insisted. He ignored me” (103). Funny thing is, Bella wasn’t in any condition. She wasn’t drunk, sick, or hurt. Okay, well she did pass out, but a doctor said she was fine. Edward had no right to ignore her, or force her to go along with him. I hope Bella finds help before this goes too far.

Another thing that truly bothered me about this romance is the fact that it’s a New York Times Bestseller. You may be wondering, “Of all things, why that?” Well, think about this. Young adult readers all around the world have read this book. It might even be the first romance novel a child has read, which make them think, “this must be what true love is like.” But it’s not! This is a dangerously unhealthy relationship, and if a child believes a real relationship is like that, it may lead to them abusing their boyfriend/girlfriend, or being abused.

In conclusion, this story has serious, problematic cases of emotional abuse, physical abuse, and sexism throughout the entire story, leaving me to rate this novel a 0/10. I highly suggest that you don’t read this book, because all it will do will waste your time with an abusive love story, and sexism that makes my blood churn.