GRSJ224/vampiresandfeminism

The Vampire as Symbol Through the Ages

The vampire is a "highly adaptable" figure, "an outsider deployed to signal and respond to social anxieties and upheavals," and it has been used for many years as a symbol not just for hidden desires but also as a warning (Taylor, 2012, 33). For Victorians, the vampire represented different fears, including the fear that sex can lead to death due to childbirth and diseases, and the fear of anything but heteronormative sexuality (Schuck, 2013). Dracula, as presented by Bram Stoker, is a clearly evil figure, not romanticized, but placed squarely in a realm of darkness, a realm which requires humans to work together to defeat. Bram Stoker's Dracula was rich, and yet, his wealth did not make him any more endearing to those who wanted to rid the world of a monster. By the time Dracula has been reinvented in Coppola's movie, his wealth has given him a romantic aura, as he uses his money to charm a modern-day Mina, and make her fall in love with him. In modern days, it seems the vampire has become more and more handsome, angelic-looking even. Edward Cullen, in the Twilight franchise is not only missing the fangs but he glows in the sun. His naked body looks like it has an aura, which makes Bella fall in love with him instantly. In the modern days, we can see the vampire as "part of a deeply ideological engagement with questions around feminism, young women's agency and sexuality" (Taylor, 2012, p. 33). What is more, "the casting of the vampire as a romantic hero allows the author and the reader to indulge a craving for old-fashioned, generally wealthy, and socially dominant gentleman" (Mukherjea, 2011, p. 1).

Modern Vampires & Feminism

The trend, in the past 15 years to create romances including vampires, who are most often white and upper class, is a direct challenge to the feminist agenda which promotes equality among genders but also equal recognition for different sexualities, gender fluidity, interracial and non-heteronormative relationships. Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, put forward an image of strong, assertive femininity, which literally "slayed" the evil vampires, but who, when time came, chose vampire partners. Still, Buffy's relationship with the vampires was one of equality and in fact, her relationships with the undead were egalitarian (Mukherjea, 2011). But Buffy seems to be a trend that has come and gone. The new vampire books and movies go in a very conservative direction. In True Blood, as well as the Twilight series, two hugely popular dramas revolving around humans falling in love with vampires, the protagonists are "virginal, girly, feminine," while the vampires are "single, white, childless, middle class, and attractive" (Fitch, 2015, p. 609-610). What is more, these dramas seem to show that today's young women crave "the security and stability of old-fashioned gentlemen," which reflects the reality that many young women have a need for a "male protector," but they would also like to be independent and adhere to feminist ideas and ideals (Mukherjea, 2011, p. 3). These dramas, and Twilight in particular, seem to reflect a need to date and marry an older man, due to a need for dependency but also due to a need to stay young and beautiful forever (Mukherjea, 2011).

Stephanie Meyer's "Twilight" & Post-feminism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFLrRlPBg0A

Meyer's "Twilight" has been enormously successful, both in book sales and in the film franchise. Meyer's image of the woman and the vampire is both futuristic and traditional, and it has a clearly postfeminist flavor. Pre-marital sex is not acceptable as the vampire is "traditional," and in her desire to be with the vampire, Bella Swan needs to give up her humanity as there is a clear link "between eroticism and death" (Taylor, 2012, p. 32). What is more, Bella comes to depend fully on the vampire she falls in love with, losing her personality in the process. One criticism, as voiced by Stabile (2011) is that there are many books out there, which "are equally lively and engaging young adult novels that feature capable girls and young women who don't need to rely on dead white men to protect them," yet these are not nearly as popular as the Twilight series (p. E7).

The vampire family, the Cullens, represent "an upper-class patriarchal nuclear family," and Bella, a rather antisocial teenager, develops a masochistic desire to not only be the one in Edward's life but also to fit within his family (Taylor, 2012, p. 33). Unlike the feisty Buffy, who slays vampires, Bella is seeking submission and even when her relationship with Edward causes her physical and psychological pain, she persists in her desires. In fact, when he leaves her, she seeks ways to hurt herself, even attempting suicide, in order to get another glimpse of her beloved. This can be seen as an all-consuming desire, which leaves today's teens in a bad place, because she has an unhealthy need to be owned, to be transformed, and to belong to someone who is an "Other," who is not even human (Taylor, 2012). On the other hand, the much more earthy suitor, the indigenous Jacob, loses the girl to the white, aristocratic Edward. The Twilight series therefore fits within a pattern, and there are "industrial reasons why girls and women continue to be offered a diet of sexist, racist, antiabortion vampires rather than a more balance menu" (Stabile, 2011, p. E8).

Taylor (2012) argues that "Meyer's reinscription of the dominant hero/passive heroine needs to be seen in terms of the re-animation of 'retro-sexist' ideas about gender seen to mark 'postfeminism' (p. 34). Bella goes from being an awkward but fairly independent teenager to being someone whose entire existence revolves around being with Edward Cullen, the vampire. Schuck (2013) notes that "only when Bella become attached to Edward through vampirism and motherhood, is she truly able to find herself" (p. 5).

References

Fitch, K. (2015). Promoting the vampire rights amendment: Public relations, postfeminism and True Blood. Public Relations Review, 41(5), 607-614.

Mukherjea, A. (2011). My vampire boyfriend: Postfeminism, "perfect" masculinity, and the contemporary appeal of paranormal romance. Studies in Popular Culture, 33(2), 1-20.

Schuck, E. (2013). Re-masculating the vampire: Conceptions of sexuality and the undead from Rosetti's Proserpine to Meyer's Cullen. Lux, 2(1), 1-7.

Stabile, C. (2011). Review essay: "First he'll kill her the I'll save her:" Vampires, feminism and the Twilight franchise. Journal of Communication, 61(1), E4-E8.

Taylor, A. (2012). The urge towards love is an urge towards (un)death: Romance, masochistic desire and postfeminism in the Twilight novels. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 15(1), 31-46.