Elsa Voytas is a high school senior interested in academics, sports, belly-dancing and baking. She has attended the Eleanor Roosevelt Girls’ Leadership Conference and the Pennsylvania Governor’s School for International Relations. She is active in international human rights causes and founded a local chapter of STAND, a student anti-genocide coalition. She plans to study political science and international relations in college.

The other day I asked my friend why she was a fan of the Twilight series by Stephenie Meyer. She responded, “All girls love it—it’s the story of a love that survives in the face of adversity.” It may be true that Edward and Bella’s love “survives in the face of adversity”, and although it’s certainly not true that all girls love it, many girls are obsessed with the series. But it truly is a shame that these girls are obsessed with a series that portrays the female character as weak, the boyfriend as controlling and manipulative, and the love in the story as superficial and based strictly on the mystification that the two inspire in each other—not on building a relationship based on trust, loyalty, and common interests. And it’s also a shame that my friends will kill me after seeing that I have written this article.

Bella’s infatuation with Edward begins on her first day in Forks at her new school. Does she know him? Not at all, but somehow she managed to instantly fall deeply in love with him. Although at the time we do not know it, Edward, too, has become completely smitten with Bella at this point. It takes more than one day to build a successful relationship, but I guess that does not apply if the relationship is half-vampire. As the saga continues, Bella discovers that Edward has been watching her quite closely. I don’t see the romance in a guy Bella hardly knows stalking her every move and watching her while she sleeps. That’s not sweet—that’s creepy! When Bella found out about Edward’s shadowing tendencies, she should have run. Instead, she showed her weakness by being complacent. She decides that she cannot live without him.

Wouldn’t it be better for teen girls to read about strong women who have successful relationships but also can be independent? Instead, they are reading four novels in which the main character is completely fixated on a man who controls and manipulates her to no end. When Bella goes shopping in Port Angeles, Edward is conveniently stalking her when she is assaulted. He then proceeds to decide FOR her that she will not travel home with her friends, but instead will travel with him. In a time of emotional turbulence that undoubtedly accompanies assault, wouldn’t it have made sense for Bella to get support from her friends rather than be forced to rely on Edward? Again, this situation portrays Edward as almighty and shows him as having the upper hand in the relationship at a time when Bella is very vulnerable.

How can Bella be so blind? How can she trust this man who sees her as merely an object to control? Edward then encourages Bella to lie to her father while he takes her to a meadow where he glows in the sun, and they stroke each other. That’s not romantic—that’s just weird! In the car, Bella is frightened at the immense speed of Edward’s driving. He is resistant to her pleas to slow down. If you are frightening the one you “love most in the world”, wouldn’t you want to stop that immediately? Edward does not, perhaps to reassert his position as dominant in their relationship.

But the author insists that Edward is godlike. Ever wonder why the books are so long? Because they include absurd amounts of descriptions of Edward, mostly physical, that depict him as a hero who can do nothing wrong. In the first four chapters (84 pages) of Twilight, there are 39 descriptions of Edward, who is introduced on page 19. In comparison, there are 20 descriptions of other characters.

I’ve heard people compare the Twilight series to the Harry Potter series. That is completely unfair to Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter shows both female and male characters as heroic and rightly so, and the books are composed much more substantially. Hermione is both smart, powerful, and portrayed as equal to her male counterparts. She is someone a teenage girl should look up to.

Now, I’m not saying that Twilight fans are “retarded,” the way Kristen Stewart, who plays Bella in the movie, did. I’m just saying they should think about what they’re reading.