Christian Men and Twilight

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If you like it, expound upon your enjoyment or comment flowers.

So, like every other breathing female, I’ve also fallen down the Twilight Saga rabbit-hole. I love that the movie has totally flipped history’s gender roles. Seriously, thousands of years of men sexually objectifying women and we got all our revenge at a three-day Twilight convention.
As I’m sure you’ve noticed, this movie has put guys ON EDGE, Christian and non. Guys tend to focus on the sparkling and the “vegetarian” life-style that greatly contrast with the other vampires in the story and other vampire series. On a side note in defense of Stephanie Myer, vegan vampires were already around, such as those in True Blood, Angel from Buffy and Louis from Anne Rice’s decadent saga.
When I hear guys talk about the sparkling, it’s always in that tone that says these vampires are so pathetically girly and weak I can’t take them seriously. Which is funny, because with each vampire’s particular gift, they look an awful lot like X-Men……..
I haven’t taken a poll or done a study on this; it’s purely based on my experience, but some guys are a little bit more honest at times about what actually bugs them about Twilight vampires. While comparing other heart throbs with Edward (sorry, I’m Team Edward, don’t judge me), a guy friend complained to me that Edward sets the standard impossibly high for how men treat women. So let’s remove the smokescreen, shall we?
Guys: We need to point out the sparkling or we’ll have to explain why we don’t measure up to them.

Bullocks.

Pay attention guys.
It’s not the incredible strength and speed, though that’s nice. It’s not his willingness to watch while Bella sleeps, though that’s creepy AND nice. It’s not the money that doesn’t seem to have a limit, though that’s nice. It’s not anything that you yourself can’t do. Here are a few (million) examples.

Edward is a Gentleman
 He introduces himself to Bella’s father.
 He picks her up for school even though she has a car (I concede that it’s easier to do this in a small town).
 He opens doors for her.
 Edward uses his “time” to learn languages and earn diverse and sundry degrees.
 Edward encourages Bella to pursue her education.
 Edward doesn’t use his life to whine and moan (at least not in the book anyway, I’m not saying anything about the movies) like Louis (Interview with A Vampire), to develop a Messiah Complex like Angel (Buffy/Angel), to get rich off Strip Clubs (True Blood), or to stalk beautiful young women for blood and sex (I had to end with Dracula).
 Edward is cultivated but not a snob; he discusses philosophy, literature, history, ethics, and so on with Bella, which in my book is a two-pointer.

Edward has a Spine
 He doesn’t require the approval of his family and he makes Bella one of them (not in the vampire sense here).
 He doesn’t hide their untraditional relationship from family or people at school.
 He acts when Bella is insulted, unhappy, or in danger, but he doesn’t go all HULK SMASH. Other vampires leave Bella alone because of his presence. He never looks at her and says, “Well, what do you want me to do about it?”
 He, quite simply, takes action on Bella’s behalf.


Edward is Sentimental
 He understands stupid events like the proms or weddings and refuses to let Bella miss them (I’m actually more with Bella despising these events but most guys might ask a second time after a refusal and then burst into a joyful hymn to God.

 He spends a considerable amount of time not making out with Bella, simply chatting, listening to music, helping her study, watching her cooking or doing chores.

 Edward isn’t a third date kind of guy; he’s actually willing to marry Bella before sex, of course making the huge risk he’ll be stuck with bad sex his entire life…existence (and yes, I did hear that from one guy, explaining why it was necessary to have sex before marriage). I mean, really?


Okay, there is nothing here requiring super human speed and strength. Most girls don’t even expect a third of this. But you know what? They hope for it, desperately.
Some lyrics by popular artists:

So much for my happy ending…-Avril Lavigne
Bury the Castle…-Paramour
This time, I’ll save myself…-Evanescence
I am a princess on the way to my throne-Alanis Morisette
I’m not your princes; this ain’t a fairy tale.-Taylor Swift
Romeo, take me somewhere we can be alone….
You’ll be the prince and I’ll be the princess…-Taylor Swift again.

Now look at the names of some devotions for women:
Captivating-Staci and John Elderidge
Let me be a Woman-Elizabeth Elliot
Knight in Shining Armor: Discovering Your Life Long Love-P.B. Wilson
There’s not enough room to list all the books in the romance section….


And the best part, is that this is possible because for so long it was the norm.

But the women were suppressed when social codes demanded men were gentlemen.
Then change the freedoms of the women, not the chivalry of the men. Because today, we’re still paying more for our jeans except the guys can treat us like crap AND get sex.

But guys aren’t used to expressing themselves.
GET OVER IT.

But people will think we’re gay!
First of all, there are worse things, but anyway, stop letting gay guys be the only ones with swagger! If we could wear corsets for hundreds of years, and high heels and have PMS (sometimes all at the same time), you can develop your masculinity beyond cutting down trees and peeing standing up.

And if this article made you angry, you’re probably the kind of guy for whom it’s written. 