Last week, a friend of mine wanted to go see “New Moon,” the latest movie in the Twilight saga. Her boyfriend wouldn’t take her, so she asked me to go with her. Being the friend that I am, I agreed to go with her and suffer through it.

Two hours and 10 minutes later, I walked out of the theater, struck by two points about the film. The first was how many minutes of sheer shirtlessness made its way on screen. The second was the feeble nature of Bella Swan’s character. Coming from someone who has neither read any of the Twilight novels nor seen the first movie in the saga, Bella struck me as one of the weakest and most dependent female characters ever written. Wait, she was written by a female author? Holy stereotypes, Batman.

Bella is a constant damsel in distress, always in danger or some form of peril, always needing to be rescued by men, always needing their validation and immediate presence to survive. After Edward Cullen leaves her and she has no (attractive) male presence in her life, she becomes deeply depressed and curls up into the fetal position in the middle of a forest, crying in the darkness and most likely listening to Dashboard Confessional. All of this happens simply because there isn’t a man in her life.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline provides a list of ways to recognize if you are in an abusive relationship, asking questions such as, “Does your partner make all the decisions?” and “Does your partner threaten to commit suicide?” The characteristics in Bella and Edward’s relationship answer “yes” to all 15 questions.

With the forward progress we’ve made with gender equality in the workplace, educational institutions and sports, you would think society wouldn’t tolerate such blatant sexism in an internationally known novel. You might expect some sort of public outcry or disclaimer would come from a women’s rights organization and point out how weak women are made to appear in this series. But it hasn’t happened. The series is not just internationally known; it has become internationally acclaimed.

As of Nov. 29, “New Moon” has topped the box office and made more than $231 million in its first two weeks. Millions of people, from the ages of 8 to 85, adore this series and vocally express their longing for their own Edward Cullen. A Google search of the phrase, “I want my Edward” revealed more than 1.5 billion hits. Clearly, the series has made an impact on its readers and viewers in the short time of its existence. But the long-lasting effects have yet to be seen.

By staying silent, we are choosing to raise up a generation of young girls who are being taught that it’s acceptable for a relationship to be abusive. They are learning to come back to their abusers, no matter how many times he may leave her, hit her, threaten her or alienate her from her peers. These same girls are also being told that they need to rely on men to feel validated and accepted. When information like this is combined with the recent Rihanna and Chris Brown domestic abuse situation, the media just seems to be sending its young consumers a mixed message.

I’m not saying that the series should be banned from libraries and schools; it has merit. All that I ask is for people of all ages who read or watch the Twilight saga to simply be aware of its implications, both individually and socially.

Seth Palmer is a television-radio major. He can be reached at spalmer3@ithaca.edu.