A Femenist's Sparkly Nightmare

Few phenomena underline the disparity between girl's stated desires and their actual desires more than the obsession surrounding the Twilight series. According to Box Office Mojo the film adaptations of the the first three books have grossed over 750 million dollars, and with the two part adaptation of the final book it should surprise no one when that total passes a billion. Those that doubt the insights provided by game and its description of female desires should seriously consider the type of man a large number of girls are voting for with their money.

When the craze was initially taking off I was working at Barnes and Noble . I saw first hand the interest in the book and borrowed a copy to read. I eventually read all four books in the series, and I admit that it was to see how the whole thing ended, though it did give me something to talk about to the girls who came in to buy it.

Lacking the insights I have now I attributed the popularity of the books to the author's approachable style. There are no challenging concepts, new ideas, or complex sentence structures to slow the reader down. There is nothing to keep a girl from experiencing Stephanie Meyer's fantasies as her own. In fact the lack of characterization for Bella encourages the reader to user her as a proxy, enhancing the fantasy. But these facts only partially explain why the books are so popular. For a complete explanation we have to look at Edward in all his sparkly glory:

-He is a serial killer: During a rebellious period (girls do love a rebel) he went on a killing streak, feeding on humans instead of the more acceptable local wildlife . However this is okay with Bella as he only killed bad people.

-He is dangerous: He wants to kill Bella. As in rip her throat out and drink her blood. He even goes so far as to take her to place where he could kill her. He doesn't, but that is beside the point; he could kill her, he wants to kill her, and it only makes her lust after him more. Also, see serial killer, above.

-He is strong: He is so strong he can make diamonds with his hands. De Beers is currently negotiating with Buffy.

-He is rich: The whole family drives sports cars; (DHV, duh).

-He is manipulative: "No one will believe you".

-He is in control of his sexuality: They never do it until after the wedding. With one exception it is always Ed that stops it before they do the deed. As this particular trait exists only as a means of controlling the relationship, I suspect that any girl who throws herself at a guy the way Bella does is in for a very rude awakening.

-He rapes Bella on their wedding night: The sex is so violent Bella wakes up the next morning with bruises all over her body, and she does not care. So much for being gentle for a girl's first time. Keep in mind that this was written by a Mormon house wife who by all accounts fits every stereotype. If there was anything that confirmed the inner slut theory it would be this. There is even a pair of vampires who explain that they have demolished entire houses because their lovemaking was so violent. It seems that even the sweetest, most feminine women have some pretty violent fantasies.

He has sparkly skin: This of course is an example of peacocking. If he can survive in wild looking like a Vegas stripper then he must have great genes. Darwin says so.

Some would object that Edward has a lot of BETA traits, such as devotion. But keep in mind that women do want these traits as well so long as the guy is sufficiently ALPHA.

As an aside: When the Twilight was released on video a few years ago a local Wal-Mart had a midnight release. As part of the festivities they had a Edward look alike contest. A few of my (alpha) brother's girl friends convinced him to come dressed as a vampire. They went the all the way, covering him with glitter and giving him yellow contacts (gotta have a powerful frame to pull this off). While girls were waiting to purchase the movie he went up and down the line chatting them all up. He even approached one girl and whispered "You are my brand of heroin" in her ear. She lost it. He won a 42" HDTV.

None of the above should come as a surprise to anyone who has ever read Roissy. The whole phenomena reads like a feminist's nightmare. I suspect that many women would say NAWALT to this, and I would have to agree, but it does not matter. If game only worked on a large minority of women it would still be valuable to learn. The fact that so many women have implicitly identified themselves as susceptible to game makes the NAWALT objection trivial. Guys that want only sex need only play the numbers game, since, statistically speaking, they will eventually will run into a responsive girl. Which, based on the type of girl that I saw buying the Twilight books, is often hot (I know, fat chicks are all fans, but many hot girls like the series too). The thing is, despite all the objections to game, all the accusations that game is sleazy, that it does not work on women with high self esteem, as long as women pine after a imaginary alpha, there will be a real alpha, synthetic or natural, who will gladly fulfill her fantasy so she can vote for the type of man she wants. Though for real men, women do not vote with their financial assets.