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TW and Topics: Rape Culture: Sexual Assault and Toxic Masculinity

Fanfic: Bella's Broken Hand AU Eclipse by Fakin'it

Fandom: Twilight

Context:

The Twilight Saga by Stephenie Meyer explores the challenges Bella Swan, a 17-year-old human, and Edward Cullen, a vampire who’s over a century old, have to face in their romantic relationship because they belong to different species.

In the first book, Twilight, Bella and Edward meet in Forks, Washington, and begin a romantic relationship. They face a group of dangerous vampires known as "nomads," who feed on humans. Bella is nearly killed when one of them attacks her, prompting Edward to regret bringing her into his supernatural world and endangering her life. This leads to his decision to leave Bella in the second book, New Moon. Heartbroken, Bella falls into a depression and starts spending time with Jacob, who develops feelings for her. Toward the end of the book, a misunderstanding reminiscent of Romeo and Juliet nearly leads Edward to end his life with the help of the Volturi, the vampire equivalent of a mafia. Bella intervenes just in time to save him. Edward returns, and they reconcile, much to the disapproval of Charlie Swan, Bella's father and Forks' police chief.

In Eclipse, the third book in the series, Jacob forces two kisses on Bella. This fanfic focuses on the first, nonconsensual kiss, which can be seen as sexual assault. The following quotations are taken directly from the book. During the kiss, Bella “grabbed at his face, trying to push it away, failing again,” and “opened [her] eyes and didn’t fight, didn’t feel... just waited for him to stop,” as Jacob “forces” her lips open and kisses her “angrily, roughly, his other hand gripping tight around the back of [Bella’s] neck, making escape impossible.” Bella ultimately punches Jacob to break free, later telling him, “I don’t count that as a kiss, Jacob. I think of it more as an assault,” clearly framing the incident for what it was. Despite this, Jacob dismisses her reaction, responding unapologetically with, “Ouch! That’s cold.”

When Bella punches Jacob, she breaks her hand. Jacob then drives her home. When Charlie learns what happened, instead of addressing the fact that his daughter has been sexually assaulted and now has a broken hand requiring medical attention, or considering filing a report against Jacob, especially as the chief of police, he congratulates Jacob with, “Good for you, kid.”.

In contrast to the book, where Bella’s anger at Charlie’s response is largely repressed, the fanfic empowers her with a backbone and a voice. She confronts her father and makes him understand why his behavior is unacceptable.

There's an academic text that goes into more detail in regards to Rape Culture, Sexual Assault, Toxic Masculinity and The Twilight Saga: The Courtship Between the Lion and the Lamb: An Analysis of Rape Culture Romanticised in The Twilight Saga (Amalendhu P. Ramesh)