[quote=Magic Magnum]Guys, this was honestly meant to be an off-hand side note about a personal concern I see with it.It wasn't meant to be a "Why do you think women can't think for themselves!" thing this seems to be exploding into.[/quote]

Because it's exactly what you're saying.

[quote=Magic Magnum]No, I'm voicing a concern that an abusive relationship is even a fantasy for such a large portion of people.[/quote]

It is. In case you failed to notice that massive wiki list I gave you, there are [b]tons of insane fantasies[/b]. Literally hundreds. Potentially thousands. This is honestly extremely tame compared to what's out there, that thousands of people enjoy. Every. Day.

[quote=Magic Magnum]I only highlighted women here because that is demographically the majority of it's fan base.My points would have also applied to any men who were the same as well.[/quote]

It's still an insane point. It's on the same tangent as violent video games making people into violent killers. It's literally the exact same argument.

[quote=Magic Magnum]I completely get the whole fantasy and exploring fantasy to grow thing. And I get people separating fantasy from real life.But when it starts to turn into self such as "I totally relate to Bella", it starts to suggest more at play.[/quote]

No it doesn't. O.o Relating to a character is perfectly normal. It means you understand that character and share personal traits or ideas. I relate to the Zerg's desire for constant growth, change, and food. For fucks sake, that doesn't mean I want to be a man eating bioplague monster in real life. :lol 

[quote=Magic Magnum]I mean when have you ever heard a gamer say something like "I relate to Duke Nukem" or some other character that's clearly meant to be an exaggerated/fantasy experience, where if you behaved such way in the real world... it wouldn't be good.[/quote] 

... Yes. All the time. Commander Shepard, who is responsible for murdering countless hundreds by his/her hand, yet people are attached to this character. Mordin helped engineer a bioplague, people liked his character and related to him. Thane is an assassin, Jack is a psychotic killer, so on and so forth. Relating to a person or character just displays that you have the capacity to either understand their plight on an intellectual level, or that you feel an empathetic connection to them. It doesn't mean you want to be like them, and even if you want to be like them, that doesn't imply that you want to do everything they do.

I like Jim Raynor from Starcraft. I relate to his can-do attitude, his depression, and his refusal to quit even when shit gets pretty dark. However, I'd never want to be an alcoholic, gun toting, rebellion leading, mass murderer... [b]Which is what Jim Raynor is[/b].

Do you see the point yet? Do you see how ludicrous this argument is yet? Just because I can relate to something, or understand something, or even like something that is inherently twisted or disturbing or evil (like the Zerg), that doesn't then make me want to [i]be[/i] that in real life.

Remember that Twilight Fans have a hell of a lot of other stuff that they read and watch too. Twilight is just a thing they like and potentially obsess over due likely to emotional immaturity. This doesn't mean they don't also like other things with more respectable characters.

[quote=Magic Magnum]Honestly though, I do not get how being concerned that people are turned on enough by an abusive relationship that they start to say they relate to it in the real world... I don't see how that's sexist.[/quote]

It was sexist in the context that you were specifically talking about women specifically liking 50 Shades of Grey and Twilight because they have abusive relationships in them, like that despite it being normal, there's something inherently [i]wrong[/i] with that fantasy in particular and not, say... Rape fantasies, fantasies about fucking animals, or tentacles, or god knows whatever else. The worst one you can pick is the abusive relationship fantasy. Which is, by the way, a power fantasy, which is extremely common in people. (Subs and Doms for example.)

It's just inane nonsense. And I'm attacking it because it's an insane standard that you can't reasonable hold any adult to, leave alone the young tweens that often get suckered by this shit. Best they fall for it now and learn from it over time (and most do) rather than have this shit happen to them in the real world. Because, again, a fantasy is at worst harmless, at best you learn something. Get it yet? Please? :lol