Arts
Vampires, and the Sluts and Virgins Who Love Them
The latest craze for bloodsuckers is bad for women.
The New York Times Thursday Styles had a trend story last week on the new vampire glamour, with the sultry bloodsuckers showing up in fashion magazines, dominating the paperback sections at bookstore chains, and starring in a host of new TV shows. As the piece points out, the new crop of fanged fantasy fodder are light years away from the original Dracula, Béla Lugosi. Vamps are a combination of “deathless good looks and decadent sexuality,” writes Ruth LaFerla, but the piece misses the undercurrent in the trend. The latest wave of novels and series are not like the glossy look-but-don't-touch sexuality you see in Vogue. They reflect our culture’s deep ambivalence about women's sexuality and our obsession with glorifying chastity and sexual violence.
The latest in the genre is HBO’s True Blood. From its opening down-and-dirty guitar peals (chorus: “I want to do bad things to you”), it taps into the old notion of vampires as our own ids, unleashed. Sookie Stackhouse, the major protagonist in True Blood, is tender, chaste, and completely inexperienced in the ways of love. In her case, being a virgin marks her as different in the Southern town of Bon Temps, where sleeping around is one of the few recreational activities available. Particularly in the first season, when women who lay with vampires are marked as loose (and quite a few end up dead at the hand of the town's deranged serial killer), a theme emerges dividing the "good girls" from the "bad girls" or "fangbangers." Sookie, who sleeps with her undead suitor Bill, ends up marked as bad, although she ultimately gets the upper hand on the killer.
Stephanie Meyer, the author of Twilight, has been criticized for emphasizing chastity in the story arc between Bella Swan and Edward Cullen. Quite often, their scenes together felt like an extended tease, or a test of will, exemplified by Edward conquering his lust for blood (read: booty). Some critics attributed it to Meyer being a both a Mormon and a housewife when she started the series. Alan Ball, the creator of True Blood, may have more progressive politics than Meyer—he openly discusses the allegory that the struggle for vampire rights on the show is a pop culture critique of the current climate toward gay rights. But, from a feminist perspective, he is still transmitting the same idea: To be desired, a woman should be beautiful, virginal, and submissive.
In both series, sex is spiked with danger. A man’s protection and a woman’s desire are intimately connected to violence. Sookie frequently finds herself the subject of Bill’s wrath while he is trying to protect her. In Twilight, Edward’s penchant for pointing out all the ways in which he could maim Bella by accident borders on S & M foreplay. This would have never gone down with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
The original new vampire heroine, Buffy possessed her own powers and could easily protect herself. For her, fending off a man’s threats was all part of a day’s work. If one of her lovers (either vampire or human, as she dabbled with both) decided to get a little rough, Buffy’s super strength and agility kept the fight fair.
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Comments
@lagata181
By: Shana | Fri, 07/17/2009 - 16:28
I admit that I have not read the books, but that is the complaint I keep hearing about it. I have watched True Blood. Watched the whole season despite not being a fan just because I wanted to know who the killer was. It's like a freaking soap opera!
But yeah, Edward sounds scary, vampire or not. From what I know of the stories (I just read the Wikipedia spoilers), Bella does not have any friends or any interests at all even before Edward. Maybe I'm just wrong. Maybe people should look at this series as an allegory for an unhealthy relationship rather than an abstinence bodice ripper. I totally get why some girls like this book. It makes complete sense to me why it is liked. But I can't help but agree with a lot of the criticisms this book has faced (based on my knowledge of it).
...and this is ART?
By: delightw | Fri, 07/17/2009 - 14:35
...and this is ART?
Angel and Drusilla
By: pepk | Tue, 07/14/2009 - 21:17
In the Buffy Sex chart, the line between Angel and Dru should be very, very dark, in one of the flash backs it showed Angel having sex with Dru and Spike caught them.
So many problems with this argument; too little time...
By: Tina C. | Tue, 07/14/2009 - 05:31
This is either one of the more egregious examples of a bad argument or it's a great example of how to make a bad argument. First, the description of Sookie's personality makes it very obvious that Latoya Peterson has very little familiarity with the source material for "True Blood". Even worse, the use of the wrong preposition in the line that she quotes from the theme song--"to" instead of "with"--indicates that she has just as little familiarity with the actual show that she's critiquing. The lyrics are fairly well enunciated, especially the chorus. So if she made such an obvious mistake, she couldn't have seen that many episodes -- or she purposely misquoted it to make her point. As others have pointed out, there is a world of difference between someone wanting to do bad things to you and someone wanting to do bad things with you. The latter implies that you are participatory and complicit. The other implies that you are merely acted upon. Second, as others pointed out, you can't use two examples of something and then make a blanket statement that the entire genre "reflect[s] our culture’s deep ambivalence about women's sexuality and our obsession with glorifying chastity and sexual violence." That's lazy at worse and flimsy at best.
There are holes throughout this entire argument that you could drive a truck through but I have to leave for work and don't have time to go through them all.
I adored Buffy and I can't
By: Cheruth | Mon, 07/13/2009 - 22:41
I adored Buffy and I can't get into True Blood to save my life. But Sookie was a virgin because her special powers made sex difficult. Not wanting to hear men talk about how they want to get in her pants on dates. She and Bill have sex. And she has almost had sex with Sam. She doesn't let Bill disrespect her and when he does she dumps him or walks away. She also makes a stand against other vampires. And was the one to finally kill the ultimate bad guy in Season 1. And, she manages to hold down a job (something Buffy always had trouble with). She is more valuable than Bill to the head vampires because her power is special whereas Bill is just a run of the mill vamp. Isn't a powerless female making an effort to hold her own more impressive than a girl whose power and strength grows every day?
Buffy and Spike's relationship didn't verge on S&M. Unlike Bella and Edward, it was actually S&M! Violence was a huge part of their foreplay.
I am totally unconvinced that this is "bad for women". Its escapism. A type of escapism that has captivated people for centuries.
@ Shana
By: lagata181 | Mon, 07/13/2009 - 22:05
Shana, I think you raise an interesting point, which is the (quite legitimate, imho) criticism that Bella is totally gonzo for Edward, to the point where she sinks into a deep depression and starts acting very recklessly (suicidally?) when he attempts to leave her. Certainly not what Gloria Steinem had in mind, no . But Edward’s obsession with Bella is no healthier, and it brings me to one of my pet theories about the insane popularity of the Twilight series: everyone, in some hidden, dark place inside them, secretly wishes to love and be loved as fervently as Bella and Edward love each other. But without the supernatural/destiny element, that type of love could only be destructive, unhealthy, and frightening. I mean, imagine how Edward’s behavior would be interpreted if it took place in a non-supernatural story setting: sneaking in through windows to watch Bella sleep, following her out of town without her knowledge, constantly picking her up and carrying her around, buying off his sister to keep Bella under lock and key when he’s out of town, etc. etc? P-S-Y-C-H-O..... The only reason Edward is considered a hero rather than a psycho or a domestic abuser is because we can trust that his motives are rooted in his true love and concern for Bella - and the only reason we can trust that is because of the supernatural element. Their attraction for each other goes beyond the normal human realm, which explains why it is so intense. We (okay, maybe it’s just me) enjoy reading about it because THAT is what’s truly dangerous and forbidden – loving and being loved by someone to the exclusion of all else. Without the whole “Me vampire, you human” thing, Edward and Bella’s love would probably be little different from Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen’s tragic affair.
So yes, it would have been a nice touch for Meyer to write Bella with a little more personality and ambition, but honestly, I can’t say that I had that much of a personality or any real ambition when I was a 17 year old girl – or at least not as much as I have now, a decade (give or take a few years ) later. So even though I think Twilight would have been better had Bella been written a bit more colorfully, I can’t really judge Bella (or Meyer) for not being a fully actualized human being at the tender age of 17. And as for those who have said that they have a hard time understanding what Edward sees in her, the many aspects of his attraction to Bella are amply explained in the draft version of the indefinitely-shelved book project, Midnight Sun.
My other pet theory about the popularity of the Twilight series is that Stephenie Meyer, like P. Diddy, George W. Bush, and the Shamwow guy before her, made a deal with the devil, trading her immortal soul for instant fame and fortune. “[The idea for Twilight] came to me in a dream”? Come on.
lagata181, I think the
By: Shana | Mon, 07/13/2009 - 18:38
lagata181, I think the problem so many people have with Twilight is the fact that Bella is so wrapped up with Edward. She seems to have no personality or interest beynd being with Edward. At least Sookie had and has a life beyond Bill. But I agree with the rest that said it was wrong to call Tre Blood anti-feminist. She chose not to have sex because she all the dudes that provided that opportunity before Bill were beneath her as far as she was concerned.
Spoiler Alert re: Twilight (book 4)
By: lagata181 | Mon, 07/13/2009 - 16:07
As a lifelong feminist, and certainly no moralist when it comes to sex,(teenage, vampire, or otherwise), I am well aware of the *issues* people have with Stephenie Meyer and the Twilight series. Yes, Bella is often irritatingly subservient to Edward; yes, Meyer neglects to mention any ambition Bella might have had for a future or a career had she not met Edward; yes, Edward is a possessive control freak, etc., etc. But Bella's the one whose talents and powers (which had already begun to manifest themselves in her human state) come to the rescue at the end of the series - she saves not only Edward and their child, but also the entire Cullen clan and their allies from almost certain decimation by the Volturi. I think that this is Meyer's answer to those who had trashed Bella as being weak in the other three books - always the damsel in distress. In the end, she's the strongest, most gifted, and, in this case, the most powerful vampire of them all - little ole Bella!
I can see how some people might be bummed out by the whole Twilight-abstinence thing, but honestly, I don't think that Meyer lays it on too thick. The sex-is-danger thing is ALWAYS at least a subtext of vampire stories, and the fact that vampires are once again in vogue at a time when sex is both ubiquitous and also a potential death sentence should come as no big surprise. Meyer makes the abstinence theme work well within the world she has created, and frankly, I think it does set a good example for young women to read about a protagonist who holds out for "the real thing" (love and a committed relationship, if not marriage) before doing the deed for the first time.
I'm not saying that in the end Twilight adds up to one for the feminist canon, but I don't see it as anti-feminist, either. I think it straddles the lines, which is one of its (admittedly few) redeeming literary qualities.
WITH you
By: Barry | Mon, 07/13/2009 - 14:15
The lyrics to the theme song are actually more ambiguous: "I want to do bad things *with* you."
True Blood not necessarily anti-feminist
By: WeCareALot | Mon, 07/13/2009 - 13:22
I don't think that Sookie is submissive at all actually. And she definitely was not virginal just for the sake of being virginal. The guys that took interest in her turned out to be freaks or trying to hide their homosexuality. She was simply waiting for the right person.