Feminism and the vampire novel

In a continuation of our general discussion of all things Twilight, here's an interesting article that summarizes the feminist argument against Twilight, among other things (race, sex, etc.). The author, Caitlin Brown, basically argues that, although the generic vampire novel itself has inherent problems, those problems offer tons of opportunities for subversion, complexity, and individual choice. Furthermore, while Stephenie Meyer, the author of Twilight, defends her writing by claiming that Bella (protagonist) makes choices, which makes her a feminist. However, these choices align Bella, and Twilight as a whole, with all of the failings of the vampire novel, and produce no interesting or empowering twists on the format. Far be it for me to dip my toe into the "does making anti-feminist choices mean you're not a feminist" argument. But the article makes good points about genre and audience and expectations, all in a readable way. Read it!