A heavy list of alternative feminist reads other than the Twilight Series - where the hero is the woman.

We emailed a Women's Studies prof at the University of British Columbia, Kim Snowden, and she suggested us some readings and a description of each...

1) Angela Carter's The Lady of the House of Love (in her book, The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories).
"It's loosely based on Sleeping Beauty yet this fairy tale princes is a teenaged vampire who dreams of true love and "for her prince to come" but always kills the men who visit the castle.  When the "hero" of the story arrives, his kiss doesn't end in love and marriage but it turns her human and she dies.  It's a fantastic story about the passive heroines of fairy tales and an exploration of why passivity is a desired trait in women - I compare this to the passivity of Bella in Twilight."

2) Fledgling by Octavia Butler
"It focuses on Shori, a 50+ year old vampire who looks like an adolescent girl.  She is the most powerful vampire because she is genetically modified to be able to walk in the sun.  The novel deals with discrimination as Shori is black and is not without it's problems when it comes to racialized bodies or sex (she looks like a child but has sex with older men)."

3) Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlene Harris
"These are the stories that True Blood is based on.  Sookie - at least in the books - is a very feisty and strong character.  Again, not without problems but compared to Bella I would call Sookie feminist."

4) Laurell K. Hamilton's Anita Blake Vampire Hunter series
"they push the boundaries of traditional vampire mythology especially when it comes to romance between vampires and humans and they deal with all kinds of sexualities.  There's a great essay in Third Wave Feminism and Television: Jane Puts it in a Box edited by Merri Lisa Johnson that compares Buffy the Vampire Slayer to Anita Blake. It claims that Anita Blake is much more feminist because of the way the books deal with female sexual desires."

5) Karen Chance's series of Cassandra Palmer books.
"Cassandra (who is clairvoyant and has obvious links to Greek mythology)  apparently evolves into a strong heroine in control of her sexual desires and powers and is often compared to Bella."

6) Dracula by Bram Stoker


FILMS AND TV SHOWS:

-Let the Right One In (the Swedish version, not the US remake). - movie
-Thirst - movie
- Buffy the Vampire Slayer - tv show
- True Blood - tv show


Thanks SO much for the recommendations Kim Snowden!