I just read an
article by Stephen Marche written for Esquire and let's just say...well...I need some back-up.
He claims - now, brace yourselves, ladies & gentlemen - that the current vampire fad is due solely and absolutely to the overwhelming desire of "young straight women to have sex with gay men".
Gay men are represented by vampires, Marche says; he compares the vampire trend to lesbian porn for men, stating that they likewise create an atmosphere of "sexual abandon" in which women can indulge their wildest sexual fantasies.
He backs this arbitrary assertion up with all sorts of evidence. In Twilight, Bella is attracted to Edward because he is fabulously handsome and seemingly unattainable. Marche says this scenario was often the case in his own high school when girls were attracted to guys that were, similarly, repulsed by them - these guys were gay, the girls would find out in later years.
Bella actually DOES attain Edward, though, which is like a dream-come-true for the movie's teenage female viewers; Marche claims she is like a hero, completing the impossible by winning the gorgeous gay trophy that could never be won in real life.
In True Blood, Marche argues an intentional connection between homosexuality and vampires. There's apparently (I've never seen this) a sign outside of a church in the opening credits that says "God Hates Fangs," and the first episode refers to vampires "coming out of the coffin."
He cites more support, and go ahead and read the article if you'd like to read it all. I, for one, do not find his argument convincing, regardless of the details he includes. Interesting, yes - but not convincing.
For 3 main reasons: 1) The vampire trend is by no means limited to females. All of my male friends watch True Blood religiously, and it is for them (not my female friends) that we have to rewind the bloodiest sex scenes over and over on DVR so they could be sure to catch every detail. (Those of you who watch the show know that these scenes are really quite grotesque).
2) There is nothing gay about the most popular vampires today. Alright, maybe Edward does resemble an attractive, slightly effeminate, metrosexual - fine. But he's the only one.
In fact, one of the most attractive qualities of the vampires to their female audience is their enhanced masculinity - their gruffness, their inherent danger, their ability to take on any combatant at any time, their protective qualities, so on. Just think of every single vampire on True Blood - manly and oh-so-hot.
3) Homosexuality is not, by any means and to any girl, reason in and of itself to pursue a man. No way. In my experience, when I or another girl hears the word "gay", the person of previous interest transforms into a repellent - think of one of those bug lanterns you hang on your porch, repelling girls instead of bugs.
Or think of an electric force-field surrounding a gay guy, that girls suddenly see upon hearing the guy's sexual orientation and head for the hills at top-speed, reprimanding themselves for having stupidly wandered so close to something so dangerous.
And yeah, these are dramatic descriptions, but you get the idea. Nothing against gay guys, but girls feel a little bit lost when they have crossed into male homosexual territory - as though they have awkwardly mis-stepped into something they don't know enough about.
Furthermore, something in the female brain - correct me if I'm wrong - logs "gay guys" as safe territory, like family members or girlfriends. This is a sacred territory that feels violated when sexual feelings accidentally taint it, and when you (as the female) were the cause of that violation (i.e. you were the one with the feelings), you feel as though you just incestuously crushed on a brother you didn't know you had.
That aside - what do we (boys and girls alike) love about vampires? I think it's for two main reasons: 1) They have qualities that emit an impression of inhumanly intense capability as lovers. Vampires not only want to be with and in their lovers, they want to consume them. That's hot.
2) The constant sense of danger that surrounds a vampire is also hot. There's a little part of all of us that likes to live on the edge.
What do you all think - are girls attracted to unattainable gay guys? What is it that we love about vampires?
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Comments (27)
I read an article once about younger teenage girls being attracted to vampires because they have the exciting, stomach-turning excitement of sex without the actual sex (barring True Blood, of course). They sing of dangerous exploits and there being something to separate potential "soul-mates" (ie, vampirism) which is lacking in today's interconnected society.
I'm not so sure about the gay thing, though I did notice both the sign and the "coming out of the coffin" reference in True Blood.Sorry if that made no sense - I'm doped up on painkillers right now.The gay thing with Vampires is new to me. I got into Vampires as a kid, courtesy of Anne Rice. LOL. I personally love the myths & history of Vampirism & I like to see how people interpret it in their own imagination, which is why I defended Stephenie Meyer on one of my posts.
No vampires for me! or zombies or werewolves!! I think they're scary and they need to be locked away somewhere.
I think everyone loves vampire stuff because they want love that is one-in-a-million, extra special, magical, never-going-to-happen-again. Vampires are- I don't believe in them-special, magical, rare, blah, blah, blah. Everyone wants to think that they have something that no one else has, or very few others have. They want to feel lucky, thrilled that this person wants to be with them and no one else. Bella wouldn't of loved Edward if he had been a regular human.
I'm not a romanticist, but I know that if I ever find the man who is my one, my only, my "soul mate, "yada, guy, then it won't matter what he is, what he does, nothing, I will be blessed and lucky to have him, vampire or not (probably not). He'll be special because he is he, not because he's some mythical creature.
what is this
i don't even
IS THIS REAL LIFE?!
alright.
that article... some guy was fucking high when he wrote that, or has absolutely no female friends.
vampires are quite amazing.
They are NOT gay.
???
I don't love vampires... this concept intrigues me though.
What? I never imagined even wanting a vampire..nor a gay guy -_- ; this guy is really high for sure..
Woah holy shit! He finally made me realize that I was fooling myself! Yes my desire to screw edward was my desire to screw every homosexual male I see! How didnt I realize this earlier! thankyou stephen marche!
The thing with vampires is that they are the epitome of seduction. They woo in their prey with words or body language or even a stare and the victim is helpless before them. Everyone wants to have that kind of power or for most women, to be the one entranced by it.
The problem is now is that with our very over-sexualized society younger girls are having trouble understanding why they like it so much and see it as a way of life and not just a fantasy. They see a character like bella so helpless with out a man (whether it be edward or jacob). And they think that if they don't have that kind of someone in their life then nothing is worth anything. So they cling despreatly to whatever SO they have and give them whatever they want. They are forgetting that the reason books like Twlight connect with them isn't for things in real life, it's to use as a fantasy.
I have no problem with a girl my age or older they like Twlight or True Blood. Mostly because they also know it's mostly used as a arouseal tool. It's when someone doens't understand that and thinks that those kind of books are on the same level as greatness as books like 1984 is when I start to have problems with them.
I wrote about Dracula for my thesis, and this argument seems to have been around for several years. Of course, vampires have been seen as expressing "repressed homosexual urges" for ages anyway...
I think women like vampires because they're "bad boys" with a sensitive side. Women are suckers for that shit.
i honestly think that the whole vampire trend is just another way of looking at how civil rights have evolved throughout humanity.
think about it this way: the "God Hates Fangs" sign on the first episode of True Blood is just a witty commentary on how people think of stereotypical southern Christianity. normally, we'd think that the sign is meant to target homosexuals, if it weren't for that extra little N in there. the same goes for the terminology used to describe the vampire revelation in the series, the idea of "coming out of the coffin" rather than the closet. so maybe it's not that it's about comparing nearly-unattainable vampires to completely-unattainable homosexuals, but rather that within recent decades homosexuality is the main point of reference that the show's target audience has when thinking about social concepts and inclusion (marriage and other legal rights are mentioned in the series as being goals that vampires attempt to achieve).
additionally, in the True Blood series, topics of racism and homophobia are frequently addressed. the main character often chastises her best friend, who takes offense and claims that others are racist at the slightest provocation, for being judgmental of vampires.
in True Blood (which i openly admit to being a huge fan of), vampires are trying to become a part of mainstream society while retaining their secrecy and seclusion. i don't view this as a reference to homosexuality, but rather a reference to any social group who feels oppressed by the majority. the same goes for Twilight or the Vampire Diaries. the vampires in all of these media are shown as outsiders, and the protagonist vampires are those who yearn for the ability to interact with society without being ostracized or feared. all of those series originated as books, and they are meant to entertain as well as provoke thought.
I just like the hellsing anime, not all shows that are out now.
Vampires are oversexed, which is interesting, seeing as how I would be hard pressed to say how they actually *have* sex (my friend and I discussed this at length once. Right after they feed maybe?) I think the reason women go so gaga over vampires is that they are gentlemen. They're well mannered, and granted, it's only so they can drink the life out of you, but they can charm you right out of your pants/skin/whatever. :) Girls like that.
Never got into Twilight. I am, however, completely in love with Marius from the Vampire Chronicles (nerd love <3).
As far as the unattainable aspect, of course it's an attractive quality. That's why the saying, "We want what we can't have" exists. However, this alone isn't the reason. If it was only about having something impossible, which a vampire would be, then they wouldn't also have to be fantastically attractive and mostly metro.
Nope, the real vampire crazy really didn't come along till there was a whole host of hot ones, which just adds to the validity of "Sex sells". Frankly, these vampires are simply leeches in human bodies. Real vampires don't have true capability of love or pity, they don't have protective qualities. They fucking kill shit, and by shit I mean strictly delicious humans of any kind, in order to suck out blood in some grotesque manner. I mean damn, even in Bram Stoker's Dracula, he doesn't leave Mina alive as a human. Uh uh, he bites the fuck out of her neck because she's tasty (and sexy) so why not have the sexy for eternity. I'm sure had Van Helsing not gotten all hero like, Mina and Dracula would have lived happily ever after laying waste to the populations of every neighboring village for several centuries.
Frankly, I think they only reason vampires are suddenly popular is because some people (assholes) gave each one a giant flappy vagina and made them all obnoxiously attractive. This goes for werewolves too. Speaking of which, the current Wolfman by Benicio Del Toro is what a werewolf is supposed to be.
That is just silly I first was fascinated by vampires as a young girl watching the old black and white on Saturday afternoon spook fests I am quite sure I didn't know what gay meant at the tender age of 6
I've been into vampires for as long as I can remember.
And I don't find gay men attractive, soo.That's ridiculous.total agreement with you. so not because they resemble the unattainable gay guys haha.
@SuperEvilPopTart64@xanga - I know, I know. That's what I said, too.
@Bluekiller2025@xanga - Good post - interesting point.
@Honey14 - Yeah, there were a few articles saying as much. I think that is the most compelling argument for the vampire craze, especially because of its constant reemergence throughout history at turning points for social change.
I think he could have made a good argument if he was discussing the emo scene. (E.g., before it hit our school the only guys I would expect to wear skinny jeans would be the gay ones; the make-up; hair; etc.) And I see where he's going- the more original idea of vampires- skinny, pale, intelligent but weak physically- would have worked better than the stupid vampire ideas of today.
@mcmeister89@mancouch - LIKE.