'The Twilight Saga': Is It Promoting Abstinence?

'The Twilight Saga' has been grabbing the attention of women (and men) from all over the world but if you thought the books and movies were just for boy-crazy women, think again.

The Twilight phenomenon has piqued the interests of college professors and researchers and an upcoming book, 'Bitten by Twilight: Youth culture, media, and the vampire franchise', due next year, takes an academic look at the book series.

"What really surprised us was the obvious abstinence message in the books and that teens were responding favorably to this message," said Melissa Click, assistant professor of communication at the University of Missouri and one of the authors of the book.

"Many of the young women that we interviewed had felt pressure to perform sexually by their peers, but now they have a desire to find their own 'Edward,' who will be interested in them for nonsexual reasons," Click said.

This observation leaves me wondering if the researchers read the same book that I did. While Bella and Edward do wait until marriage to become sexually involved, this wasn't by choice. A large portion of their relationship is spent sharing a bed, engaging in steamy make-out sessions that leave the pair frustrated about not going all the way. Let's be real, the only reason the situation doesn't progress is because of Edward's uncontrollable strength. If this factor was removed, there is no doubt those two would take the sexual relationship farther.

On the surface, the relationship between Edward and Bella seems perfect and filled with romance. However, once you take away the sparkles, harmful messages are revealed. There's a series of events in which Edward's behavior appeals to young girls seeking unconditional love, but he's in fact very controlling and borderline abusive. For example, in 'Eclipse,' in an effort to keep Bella from going to see Jacob, he simply removes her car's battery cables. In 'Twilight,' Edward tells Bella, "It makes me ... anxious ... to be away from you" and "You are my life now." As a 15-year-old girl exploring love for the first time this may seem ideal, but will only lead to skewed relationship expectations in the future.

Although adults would love to dissect 'Twilight' 'using it as promotional tool for abstinence in teens, it doesn't look too promising. Perhaps the focus should be on building healthy relationships, recognizing abusive behaviors and how to avoid them.

What do you think about these underlying themes? Do you see abstinence or abuse?

Moviefone is excited to feature the writing of several dedicated 'Twilight' fan bloggers to our readers. Please join us in welcoming What the Forks co-creator Betsey Denberg to the Moviefone family, and expect to find lots of cool original 'Twilight' content from her and her fellow Twihards in the coming weeks.