As much as I give the series grief, I will point out that the books do remind me of how the roles of men and women have evolved with society. A woman can do whatever she wants regarding education, her lifestyle, or even her own goals in life without the constant affirmation from a male figure watching over her and treating her like a child. Furthermore, unlike Bella in the series, women can actually think for themselves and not play the “damsel in distress” card in order to get what they want. Oh yeah, women can decide whether they want the bad boy or a good one (which arguably is stereotypical). Just a side note, Twilight reminds me of a twenty-first century Alice in Wonderland…and I hated that book too – mainly because of the way it portrayed women: as being stupid creatures who can’t think for themselves and need to be constantly supervised by a man who “knows more and is in charge” within society. I’m sorry, but I am of the mindset that women are NOT lower to any man; if anything, they are equal to a man or sometimes even vastly more intelligent than them. Anyways, I digress.
The sobering point of this series is that children are constantly living as Bella, Edward, Jacob, and Dracula – oh wait…too many fictional horror characters. What is worse is that parents, many but not all, don’t step up and guide their children with anything that they may or may not be apart of. Let me clarify, parents would rather be the child’s best friend than the parent of that child. I realize that I’m not a parent and I will – hopefully later than sooner – one day be a parent, but I’d like to be the parent that can stand up to my child and earn their respect and trust. For me, respect is something earned, not given based on a position of power or seniority.
Okay, as much as I review those last few lines in the previous paragraph, the more I have to justify why it is not a conservative point that has been buried deep within me. I firmly believe a parent, regardless of gender, can help shape a child’s life. In addition, the notion of “family values” is absurd to me! It is merely a talking point and just another line of rhetoric used by the right wing of American politics in a way to win votes in an election. I would rather have a child grow up with two parents of the same gender than have a “mom and dad who love each other” but after six months get a divorce because daddy cheated on mommy with one of his old ex-girlfriends he found on Facebook on his lunch-break at work! Now please ask yourself, what values does that father instill into the child? Cheating is not okay in a game of Monopoly but it is expected in the real game of Life??? (Just to clarify, I know there is a game of life and when I wrote that my first thought was, “Hey you just made a pun!” Well, it was not intended.)
I guess my main point was anyone can be a parent, but more need to step up to the job. Another point being made was parenting should not only be confined to one man and one woman…just like marriage! In retrospect, I guess these are a few reasons why I can’t support Rick Santorum, ha-ha! Anyway, I’ll save that discussion for another time. Meanwhile, I’m going to watch the House on C-SPAN (and yes, that was a redundant statement as C-SPAN follows only the House of Representatives whereas C-SPAN2 covers the Senate and C-SPAN3 covers the Court Systems).
To all those who are traveling for the Thanksgiving holiday, please be safe!
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