I think one important thing to remember is that a tween/teen who already has the appetite for literature knows when they're reading beneath them. I read way too many Princess Diaries books in my teens, but knew they were just silly pop culture fluff that helped to cure many hours of boredom.
The difference with a lot of Twilight fans, as evidenced by the people who write hate mail to the Anti-Twilight Movement, is that they honestly believe that it is the "greatest book ever" and rant about how boring authors like Austen and Steinbeck are. In cases like that, I really think the "at least they're reading" argument is invalid - not only are they reading poorly written shit, they're actually refusing to expand their reading list to something with more substance.
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Maybe I'm being paranoid, but it reeks of anti-intellectualism that so many people defend Twilight as a book series that is okay if you don't think about it too hard. I agree with Krakened that it's almost unfathomable that people are actually seeking out ways in which not to 'think'. It's the same old fear of being intellectually challenged that allows crap like The Da Vinci Code to be a worldwide bestseller and G-Force to be top of the box office. Escapism is fine once in a while, and maybe even educational (if you're capable of analyzing what it is about the book that creates the psychological response of escapism), but four several-hundred-page novels worth of mindlessness?
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Twilight [...] has subtexts of misogyny and self-loathing when it comes to female sexuality. One basic tension in Edward and Bella's relationship is that she wants to fuck him, and he wants to wait until marriage. This whole abstinence theme has the result that a relationship that is already based purely on lust turns into sexual frustration and obsession. When they do finally get married and consummate their marriage, Bella is basically punished for her desires. She is knocked unconscious and injured by Edward (who apparently couldn't control himself even though he was the one who wanted to wait that long) and doesn't even remember her first time. In a supposedly romantic situation, we instead get implications of violent marital rape. And, on top of this, she's knocked up with a demon spawn who practically tries to kill her from the inside.
When I point out these sorts of observations to Twilight fans (with supposed university educations), they just blink in confusion and admit they'd never thought about Twilight like that before...and then go right back to being obsessed.
Also, I've come across quite the treat.
Here's a synopsis, but it really does deserve to be read in full. I was almost on the floor.
In a sentence, this is a story about Bonita Ingénue a 15-year-old, misunderstood young woman who gets rescued from her provincial, boring life and whisked away to a fantastical world of exciting, sensual, magic and erotic, thick, penetrating whimsy. At the beginning of our tale, she leaves her hometown of Backstory, Massachusetts for the excitement and intrigue of Excitetrigue, Colorado. The kids at her new school are all impressed with how one dimensional and uninteresting she is and it’s only a matter of time before all of the popular boys ask her out on romantic dates in the hopes fingerblasting her. Even though Bonnie has her pick of the litter at school, she really has her heart set on Theo, the mysterious boy who lives just outside of town in Dragon Hills. Theo has feelings for Bonnie as well, but he also has a deep, dark secret. A deep, dark dragon secret. He is a dragon.
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