Homosexuality and Heteronormativity in Vampire Fiction
By Syeda S. Raza
With the predisposition of seducing, biting, penetrating and sucking vampirism is
perhaps the highest symbolic representation of eroticism. Vampires in
literature are often not fixed in their sexuality but prefer both men and women.
They are often polygamous and driven by a thirst of blood combined with sex.
While vampires represent eroticism broadly, a recent trend has materialized in
vampire fiction, particularly Dead until
Dark, that focuses on the association between vampirism and homosexuality.
Contrastingly, a frightening tendency toward the normalization of bloodsuckers within Twilight is also seen.
In Dead until Dark where vampirism is
presented as an illness, homosexuality is also presented as an illness. Like
homosexual couples, the novel portrays that vampires are also not able to conceive
biological children. In the novel, the bill explains Sookie “We can have sex, but we can't make children or have them” (78). Also,
vampirism and homosexuality both are presented as an illness specifically when
Charlene portrays the homosexual vampire infected with the “Sino-virus1”. Where
Sino-virus makes vampires sick, weak and could even kill them, it also provides
evidence that Charlene Harris is comparing Sino-virus with AIDS and HIV among
homosexual men. Moreover, the fictional term “fan-banger” seems to be adapted
from the word fag hag. A “fag hag” is a heterosexual woman who associates
mostly with homosexual or bisexual men. While fan bangers are not respectable
women in the novel, so are fag hags in contemporary society. Sookie
describes fan-bangers in the novel as “…extraordinary,
and extraordinarily pathetic”. (110). Thus, it is evident that Charlene
Harris has stigmatized homosexual men as vampiric. Not only do homosexual men
and vampires share the same stigmatizing traits but the vampirism itself is shown
as a metaphor for homosexuality.
However, Stephanie Meyer’s chaste and
conservative Twilight demonstrates this tendency toward the “so-called” normalization of the vampire figure. Despite the obvious ambiguity of
Edward’s sexual appeal, there are no homosexual couples in the novel nor even a
nod to the fact that not everyone on the planet is hetero! As for the
widespread heteronormativity the book upholds, all characters are represented
as heterosexual in a hetero-monogamous marriage and thus represent the ideal. Twilight mostly
centers around a morally righteous family of vampires referred to as ‘The Cullen’s’
who construct an image of vampirism that is white moneyed, educated,
patriarchal and domestic; contrary to what is shown in Dead until Dark. It seems as if in the light of Cullen’s, Stephanie
Meyers was representing the American dream family. The question arises as to
why Meyer’s chose to make every single character
heteronormative and have monogamous relationships?
As simple as it
seems, Stephanie Meyer and Charlene Harris are a representation of so-called
ideal writers who show no compliance in their own writing. Meyer’s
representation of an ideal vampire or non-vampire shows that it is extremely
likely that she herself believes homosexuality is wrong or because
she didn’t have confidence in writing of a homosexual character. Similarly,
Charlene Harris’s presentation of vampirism and homosexuality as an
illness, and also the representation of homosexuality in minorities shows
how limited she is in her writing. I believe, the writing of both authors depicts
their conservative thinking and their in-acceptance of the fact that we live in
a society where there are freedom and liberty in the choice of one’s sexuality.
Thus, writers should focus on portraying that diversity in their writing
without stigmatizing the beliefs of people that are distinct in their
practices.
No comments:
Post a Comment