I am about to do the unthinkable.

It will likely get me in trouble, and I'll likely lose some Facebook friends along the way. I am about to defend…(drumroll) ...Twilight. There is a point to this, however, so if you don't want to read about Twilight, feel free to skip to the conclusion.

Now, Twilight’s protagonist Bella is often accused of being the worst kind of anti-feminist for the following reasons:

1. Bella is clumsy

Really? Being clumsy is anti-feminist? But…I’m clumsy as fuck. Once as a kid, I fell flat on my face from a standing position, for no reason whatsoever, and knocked my teeth out. Another time, I crashed my bike into the only existing tree on a wide, flat path. I have spilled vast amounts of food and drink on almost everyone I know. And I doubt this has anything to do with women's rights.

2. Bella’s boyfriend is jealous and possessive

Yeah, he’s jealous because Bella spends a lot of alone time with her best friend. Her best friend happens to be a hunky dude with a prominent 8-pack who constantly professes his love for her.

What happens if we turn this around? Women of the world, are you telling me that you would not be annoyed if your boyfriend went every day to visit his best friend the Victoria’s Secret model, who never wears any clothes around the house, who has threatened to kill you and who routinely begs your boyfriend to leave you for her? I’m sorry but no one is that understanding.

3. Bella needs men to defend her at all times

Okay people, this is a fantasy story. All the other characters have superhuman powers. All of them. You’d never expect some puny human to compete with the X-Men, would you? Or a Muggle to defeat Voldemort? She gets A's in science class, but she can't kill a vampire? What an outrageous antifeminist! Geez, cut the girl some slack.

To be considered a feminist, do you always have to be better than everyone at everything (i.e. be better than a vampire at killing)?

Today at work I asked a tall man to help me retrieve a heavy box from a high shelf. Then, to get my computer fixed, I called a professional who actually knows how to fix computers. In my desire not to injure myself or break stuff, I guess I accidentally became anti-feminist.

Also, it’s not just male superhuman creatures that defend Bella. It’s female superhuman creatures too. Just sayin’.

4. Bella is focused on/heartbroken over men

Okay, women (and men) of the world. Have you ever been strongly drawn to someone? Did you fall in love with them and wish that you could just curl up with them and forget about the world for a while? Did you lose such a person and feel devastated, knowing that nothing would ever be the same?

If no, then great. Good for you. You may continue judging the rest of us.

If yes…well, why not give Bella a break?

5. Bella doesn’t want to go to college and work for a living etc.

That’s right, because she has the unique opportunity to be transformed into a millionaire immortal with super powers.

This critique always reminds me of those people who say “If I win the lottery, I won’t keep any of the money – I’ll give it all away and keep working 60 hours a week.” That’s great, I admire you, but I’m not so pure-hearted. If I win the lottery, sure, I’ll give to charity...but I’ll also sail around the Mediterranean on my massive yacht. Does that make me anti-feminist – or just a greedy individual?

I feel that there’s plenty of time for Bella to follow noble intellectual pursuits once she is financially set for life and impervious to all diseases.

6. Bella doesn’t abort her fast-growing nightmare baby

Yeah, okay, the baby plot is wack. It is really the one thing about Twilight that is difficult/impossible to defend.

On one hand, it’s a woman’s right to choose. And if she chooses to go ahead with a terrifying bursting-through-the-stomach birth, then who am I to tell her she can’t?

However, inventing this plot device in order to show a female heroine refusing an abortion, well, that’s undeniably icky. You got me there.

I guess my point is: I demand the right to be clumsy, the right to be bad at some things and good at other things, the right to be head over heels in love with my significant other, and the right to blow this pop stand when I win the lottery – and still be considered a feminist, unlike poor Bella here.

Backpacker deathmatch

Remember the old warning: never discuss religion or politics at the dinner table? I would like to suggest a third topic to avoid: international travel.

Why, you ask? Travel is harmless! You went away, did cool things, and now you want to share your adventures with the world!

But, if you’re not careful, travel talk can divide a group faster than you can say "Lonely Planet." For some reason, if you put two or more backpackers in a room together, you end up caught in a death spiral of ridiculous one-upmanship.

Take these two absurd conversations, in which travelers are desperate to prove: “My trip was more authentic than your trip!”

Example 1: A girl, let’s call her Robyn, enters a hostel kitchen somewhere in Germany. A young guy also enters the kitchen. His outfit screams “backpacker” or “that dude with a guitar on every college campus”–complete with dreadlocks, a hemp sweater, and several tattered string bracelets.

Guy: “How long are you traveling for?”

Robyn: “3 months.”

Guy: “Wow, 3 months, that’s…cool (in a tone of voice that suggests it’s not cool at all). I just left my house one day and I’ve been traveling ever since. I don’t know when I’ll go back (stares off heroically into the distance).”

Robyn: “Huh. Wow.”

Guy: “Do you have a Eurail pass?”

Robyn: “Yep.”

Guy: “I didn’t get a Eurail pass. I would just feel so…restricted, you know? Sitting with tourists, going exactly where the train wants me to go.”

Robyn: (Blink blink) “Right.”

Guy: “How did you find this hostel?”

Robyn: “On the Internet.”

Guy: “Pfff. The Internet. Me on the other hand, I prefer to get off the tourist trail and just...go wherever life takes me. Really get to know the country.”

Robyn: (flinging microwave lasagna in his face) “You’re touring a foreign country for fun! Guess what? You’re a tourist! How do you like that? Huh? Tourist!”

That last part may not have happened.

Example 2: Four people are sitting around a table at a party. Two of the guys have been on trips recently, and someone unsuspectingly asks one of them about theirs.

Guy 1: “Yeah, I just came back from Poland.”

Guy 2: (Eagerly jumping in)“Cool. I just spent a month in Cuba.”

Guy 1: “Oh, I spent two months in Poland.”

Guy 2: “Cool, but the people in Cuba, man, they’re just so laid-back and the country is just so beautiful.”

Guy1: “Yeah, the people in Poland are sooooo laid-back too, and I made such great friends and became fluent in Polish.”

Guy 2: “Oh that’s cool. Yeah, I picked up a lot of Spanish too and toured the country with a traditional Cuban band.”

Guy 1: “Yeah, I met this really cool family in Poland and they took me in and adopted me as their son.”

Soon they are raising their voices and speaking at the same time, as their listeners look from one to the other, trying to make sense of this crazy word salad.

Guy 1: "And there was this drink called -"

Guy 2: "The music, man, the music was really - "

Guy 1: "-THE CULTURE-"

Guy 2: "-JUST SO MUCH HISTORY, REALLY INCREDIBLE - "

Unfortunately, this last bit did happen.

Don't get me wrong, I love travel pictures, travel stories, all that stuff. But somehow travel talk always becomes a competition. I am not immune. On my last trip, when someone asked me, "Is this your first time away from Canada?" - I was ready for pistols at dawn, too. "I'll have you know that I spent FOUR months in South America..."

Confessions of an Unfriendly Vancouverite

You've probably heard (or said ) something like this before:

“Vancouverites are so cold. It's so hard to meet people in Vancouver!”

I always thought I was the exception to this rule, a friendly Vancouverite, open to meeting new people and having conversations on the street. However, on a recent trip to Cuba, I realized that I am the worst kind of cold-hearted, jaded Vancouverite.

Walking down the street in Cuba, I would always stare straight ahead with a stony expression and walk briskly toward my destination. Then, I would look back and notice that my Australian and Irish tourmates were stuck 3 blocks behind me.

One guy would be kindly consoling a local artisan: “Listen, your sculptures of big-breasted women are really very nice. Although I can’t buy one today, you should really keep up with your art – you’re really talented.”

Another woman would be calmly explaining to an eligible bachelor, “I’m really very flattered by your catcalls, and you seem like a nice guy, but I’m not able commit to anything serious right now.”

And I realized: they have an urge to be polite to their fellow man, no matter what. And I do not.

This epiphany led to further self-reflection. Turns out I’m guilty of a number of small crimes. I didn’t respond to this really long e-mail from an acquaintance in my editing class. One time, a girlfriend and I told some guys we had to go to the bathroom – and then we left. When someone approaches me at a bar or in the street, I often pretend I don’t see or hear them.

When did I become such a terrible person?

My theory is this: Vancouverites are used to getting the cold shoulder. So, when someone is polite to them, they think they’ve hit the jackpot.

One time in 1^st or 2^nd year university, I was naïve enough to engage one of those charity canvassers in conversation. I told them that, due to my financial situation, I couldn’t commit to monthly donations, but it was a great cause and I would love a brochure or some more information.

This, predictably, led to me being chased down Main Mall by a hippie: “I'm broke too, but I can always find money for the children! Just tell me WHY you won't help the children!?”

So, now I turn up my iPod, stare at a fixed point on the horizon, and VOILA! No more hippie chases.

More recently, my weird letter-writing neighbour invited me for coffee. I politely accepted, hoping to clear up any misunderstandings between us. My politeness opened up the floodgates: “Oh, you go to boot camp? I like exercising too – hey, do you like hiking? Let's go hiking together EVERY DAY! And we can grocery shopping together every week too, and I'm home most evenings – let's cook together and watch movies together and...”

It's just a vicious cycle of awkward. I become cold and standoffish to avoid being pushed into things I don't want to do. However, the “pusher” only becomes pushy to overcome the coldness he or she encounters from Vancouverites every day. So I become even colder to combat the increased pushiness....and so on, until we achieve the strange phenomenon known as “Vancouver.”

And yet – on several occasions, I have stopped and talked to strangers, and found it very rewarding. In fact, some of those “strangers” became my best friends. So...I guess I don't have a conclusion here, but....yeah.

Release your inner misanthrope!

I saw an article the other day which I can’t find a link to, so you’ll just have to take my word for it. It was “3 Weeks to a Better You.”

Sounds innocent enough, right?

One of your tasks to better yourself was to go on Facebook, read through your News Feed, and delete everyone who wrote or posted something negative.

Well, okay, but…

Am I the only one who is skeptical of “wellness plans” that involve slashing and burning your way through your social network like some sort of Facebook Attila the Hun? Deleting everyone who is not currently useful to you?

That asshole doesn't like his job/lunch/current surroundings/government? The nerve of that guy! DELETE!

That bitch is complaining about her splitting headache? How dare she? DELETE!

What happened to patience, or empathy? The ability to tolerate, and even like, someone you disagree with? The ability to stand by a friend who is going through a rough patch, without condemning him or her as an “energy vampire?”

There is a bizarre misanthropic undercurrent in self-help these days, which goes something like this:

“Once you have rid yourself of all those pesky energy-draining stimuli (a.k.a human beings), you will achieve your full potential!!!”

Meanwhile, my new favourite author Emily White argues that true self-fulfillment doesn’t come from isolation at all. Rather, humans as social animals reach their full potential only with the give-and-take support of a community (made up of close friends, significant others, relatives, or even…online contacts).

Read the book – it’ll rock your world. And make you think twice about choosing solitude as the path to enlightenment.

http://www.lonelythebook.com/