Twilight Of The Virgins

What the hell is Kathryn Jean Lopez reading?

abstinence doesn't have to be WEIRD. i feel like girls (&guys) obsessed with twilight need to know that.
about 5 hours ago via web

Lie down with Mormon fantasy writers, wake up with Bella, a grossly passive young woman of 18 who has no dreams, no desires, no interests and no plans but to marry her boyfriend, who speaks and acts exactly like a bad imitation of Heathcliff. A Heathcliff, moreover, who sneaks into her bedroom at night to watch her, fights over her obsessively, and makes all her decisions for her.

Meyer, a Mormon, acknowledges that her faith has influenced her work. In particular, she says that her characters "tend to think more about where they came from, and where they are going, than might be typical."[43] Meyer also steers her work from subjects such as sex, despite the romantic nature of the novels. Meyer says that she does not consciously intend her novels to be Mormon-influenced, or to promote the virtues of sexual abstinence and spiritual purity, but admits that her writing is shaped by her values, saying, "I don't think my books are going to be really graphic or dark, because of who I am. There's always going to be a lot of light in my stories."

The Mormon church teaches that the only role in life for women is wife and mother, and supporter of her husband. A Mormon workbook for girls states:

President Kimball cautioned, “Do not … make the mistake of being drawn off into secondary tasks which will cause the neglect of your eternal assignments such as giving birth to and rearing the spirit children of our Father in Heaven” (Ensign, Nov. 1979, pp. 102–3).

[Teachers should] Point out that if we have the proper attitude toward our role as wife and helpmate, we too can have great influence for good in the lives of our future husbands, regardless of their station in life. We should never underestimate how important women are as wives.

President Spencer W. Kimball has given us this encouragement:

“To be a righteous woman is a glorious thing in any age. To be a righteous woman during the winding up scenes on this earth, before the second coming of our Savior, is an especially noble calling. The righteous woman’s strength and influence today can be tenfold what it might be in more tranquil times. She has been placed here to help to enrich, to protect, and to guard the home—which is society’s basic and most noble institution” (Ensign, Nov. 1978, p. 103).

Lopez should embrace the weirdness of the Twilight fans and the books' depiction of obsessive love, abstinence, dominance and submission; she has the same beliefs about women's roles in society. The only difference is the thin Catholic veneer that makes such beliefs acceptable to The Littlest Missionary. Slap a crucifix on Bella and K-Lo would be stocking up on Twilight merchandise just like every other female who is emotionally thirteen years old.*

*No offense to actual 13-year-olds, who are sometimes very shrewd and could probably think rings around our K-Lo.