And then when he acted like such a puss about sleeping with her I was so irritated. I mean he had showed restraint for so long, why wouldn’t he be able to do so when being with her. Man up and git’r'done!

I LOVE my husband…love…love…love but sometimes he feels like I need this protection that just insults me. I am a strong woman and can take care of myself…having a man close by does not make me safer.

In his defense, Edward was trying to protect Bella from supernatural forces, but the way he went about it wasn’t exactly ideal.

I still love him and I will always adore him for what he is and guess what? He actually isn’t perfect.

I really think there will be girls who run into abusive, controlling men and they will take a lot longer to realize it because they’ll be convinced his actions are due to “true love”. This has always been the case, because obviously romance novels existed long before Edward, but Twilight is such a wildly popular phenomenon that is reaching girls who wouldn’t otherwise be reading those books.

But the fantasy is sexy as hell. I’m dom enough to love the idea of having a vampire to order around, and I think had Bella been more confident, she could have gotten so much out of Edward. Now there is a twisted, Machiavellian way to see love, no?

I’d like to say that I agree with everything you said wholeheartedly. I’ve thought about Edward’s stalker-ish, controlling, obsessive behavior on many occasions, & the fact that that sort of obsessive love isn’t healthy for either involved. Hell, I don’t have a psychology degree, and I can see that.

But there is something sexy as hell about the fantasy, isn’t there? Edward can get away with that sort of behavior because of the fact that he’s a vampire, & our society definitely romanticizes the vampire fantasy. Think of Anne Rice’s Lestat – the ultimate bad boy vampire that everyone loved to love. Or Anne Rice’s Louis, for that matter, her version of Edward.

They’re all fantasies, even if the reality would be anything but healthy. Yet another reason the Twilight series should’ve been catered toward grown women rather than impressionable teenage girls. At least most women recognize it as simply fantasy & wouldn’t translate obsessive love into something desirable. ;)

But, as you said, Twilight is all about a girl that falls in love with the perfect fantasy. And, for the span of four books, I was content to live in that fantasy world and wish Edward was mine. So, I will continue to love Edward despite his somewhat annyoing flaws. I do agree that mothers need to read these books with their daughters and talk about Bella and Edward’s relationship. In fact, these books provide a great opportunity to open up dialogue about a whole range of issues that might otherwise be awkward for some teens to talk about.

Once again, a very insightful column, Meesh!