Esquire has published a provocative article stating the reason that the current Vampire craze is not like the scary vampires of yesteryear:
Vampires have overwhelmed pop culture because young straight women want to have sex with gay men. Not all young straight women, of course, but many, if not most, of them.
Edward, the romantic hero of the Twilight series, is a sweet, screwed-up high school kid, and at the beginning of his relationship with Bella, she is attracted to him because he is strange, beautiful, and seemingly repulsed by her. This exact scenario happened several times in my high school between straight girls and gay guys who either hadn't figured out they were gay or were still in the closet. Twilight's fantasy is that the gorgeous gay guy can be your boyfriend, and for the slightly awkward teenage girls who consume the books and movies, that's the clincher. Vampire fiction for young women is the equivalent of lesbian porn for men: Both create an atmosphere of sexual abandon that is nonthreatening.
So, what do you think? Does Stephen Marche have a point? I suppose there could be something to it, but I think young preteen and early teen girls just find sex in general scary. Vampires have always had to do with sex, the transfer of blood (eek! bodily fluids!) and the puncture of the teeth has obvious connotations. But gay sex? I think girls that age have been attracted to androgynous non-threatening males for a long time, because they can be romantically dreamed about but they aren't dripping with sexual power and machismo. Orlando Bloom, anyone?
His theory, however, falls apart for all us Twilight Moms, because it wasn't all 12 year olds who read those books and went to the movie. We aren't in it for the gay sex, I don't think, all though I can't speak for everyone. ;) It's the unabashed romanticism that appeals. In this day and age, what the hell can keep lovers apart and keep the sexual suspense going? Historic Romance novels are huge because there were different rules then, and the lovers are not going to fall into bed on page one (or at least mostly). Paranormal Romance is also a huge genre, and it isn't all vampires. There are werewolves, witches, fey creatures and shapeshifters of all kinds. We may not want a macho alpha male in our real life, but it's fun to read about them and vampires and werewolves tend to take what they want, and (maybe) apologize later. I'd bet Stephen Marche hasn't read much adult Paranormal Romance, and I can assure him that most of those adult vampires are anything but gay (J. R. Ward novels excepted.)
I'm not saying vampires have nothing to do with gays. The Anne Rice novels surely held allegories to gays and AIDS, and Allen Ball is pretty explicit in True Blood with drawing parallels to vampire persecution and gays. The GOD HATES FANGS sign is right in the opening credits, and the Church of the Light campaigns against the "vampire lifestyle" in the show. It's there, but it's not the only thing that's there. Vampires are simply about sex, both gay and straight.
Tell me what you think!
His theory, however, falls apart for all us Twilight Moms, because it wasn't all 12 year olds who read those books and went to the movie. We aren't in it for the gay sex, I don't think, all though I can't speak for everyone. ;) It's the unabashed romanticism that appeals. In this day and age, what the hell can keep lovers apart and keep the sexual suspense going? Historic Romance novels are huge because there were different rules then, and the lovers are not going to fall into bed on page one (or at least mostly). Paranormal Romance is also a huge genre, and it isn't all vampires. There are werewolves, witches, fey creatures and shapeshifters of all kinds. We may not want a macho alpha male in our real life, but it's fun to read about them and vampires and werewolves tend to take what they want, and (maybe) apologize later. I'd bet Stephen Marche hasn't read much adult Paranormal Romance, and I can assure him that most of those adult vampires are anything but gay (J. R. Ward novels excepted.)
I'm not saying vampires have nothing to do with gays. The Anne Rice novels surely held allegories to gays and AIDS, and Allen Ball is pretty explicit in True Blood with drawing parallels to vampire persecution and gays. The GOD HATES FANGS sign is right in the opening credits, and the Church of the Light campaigns against the "vampire lifestyle" in the show. It's there, but it's not the only thing that's there. Vampires are simply about sex, both gay and straight.
Tell me what you think!
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