The Werewolf Pridemovement - Part 4

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Normally I probably wouldn't have posted another journal entry so soon but the last episode of Teen Wolf and Erica's portrayal, especially her "wolf-face," made me change my mind.
So far her werewolf look is ... well... not disappointing since I never really expected it to be different, but the fact that she was only shown with fangs and some claws but barely anything else and her sexual predator appearance seems typical for the mindset that female werewolves who really look threatening are simply too horrible. No idea why since that look seems to make the males even more appealing.

So here is my next part on my Werewolf Pridemovement series:

Being a monster makes you sexy, if you are a guy

The most common understanding of werewolf in modern days involves a transformation from human into wolf/man-wolf taking place on the full moon. The werewolf in such a schema is usually a ravaging beast when transformed, thereby spending the night seeking victims and changing back to its human form at sunrise. This association with the moon has become so common that in cases when it does not apply it's mocked as a widely distributed myth and treated as though it was a common assumption in the past (which it wasn't in medieval and prior times, at least there is no evidence for it). This connection between the werewolf and the lunar cycle is of course an invitation to associate with the female via the monthly menstrual cycle, as seen in the Ginger Snaps series. Some also go further and associate it with the menstrual cycle as well as the werewolves' erratic behavior and gluttony. However per stereotype these are more commonly male stereotypes and not female ones, who in the stereotype only show it once per month, while men show it all the time, in addition the moon doesn't regulate a woman's menstruation. Therefore I think the connection to the menstrual cycle and the thereby argument that the wolf-condition is so despised because it makes the male female of some sorts is rather misplaced and basically based on the Ginger Snaps films. A connection to the tides of the sea would be more justified in my opinion, since they are directly connected to the moon. Either way this connection also seems misplaced since female werewolves are anything but common in werewolf fiction of our times.

It can be argued, like Giacopasi did, that werewolves were ultimately disowned by medieval texts -- and the society which produced them -- by pointing to the modern narratives' reclaiming of the werewolves into the ordered realm of humanity. Monstrous extremes of sexuality and gender feature in modem werewolf horror films and shows, but not to the myth's complete advantage even if some fans see it differently.
It should be stated that horror films usually show what is normal by making the un-normal horrific and when certain non-common things are done only by the bad guys but never by the good guys it sends a clear message to the average reader and viewer. Nonetheless they do, however, offer a place for the female in the myth which the medieval werewolf literature narratives lack (unlike actual folklore that featured many women and girls with the power to shapeshift into a wolf). But this is a very small "merit" and so far female werewolves are rather an oddity than something normal, and seem especially horrific (thereby reduced to villains more often than not) to many viewers or film-makers since especially the big hybrid wolf-women challenge traditional depictions of acceptable female bodies by developing fangs, aggression, excessive body hair and tremendous physical strength. For male werewolves such features seem acceptable but seemingly not for female ones, not on a big scale that is since many fans of both horror and fantasy actually want to see female werewolves in active and openly physically powerful way, and not with non-threatening depictions like in Buffy, The Vampire Diaries or the new female werewolf in Teen Wolf (in this regard the show is in line with other werewolf-depictions in making them predominantly male, while it deviated from it a bit so far by using mountain ash as a repellent and wolfsbane actually as something that draws out the werewolf instead of harming it, partly at least).

If we assume that the "original" or "medieval" werewolf myth succeeded by revealing the potential for "queerness" in humanity we must come to the conclusion that this is a clear breach with modern depictions, since modern representations seem to send conflicting messages regarding masculinity: is it "queerness" in excess, if ideal masculinity is "tremendous strength and sex appeal?" It cannot be argued that both feature heavily in the hitherto mentioned examples of fictional werewolves and it is not a new phenomenon.
An American Werewolf in London suggests that a bestial form of masculinity -- achieved by transformation into a werewolf -- is attractive, inevitably fatal, but attractive. The film Cursed by Wes Craven suggests the same as the male lead of Jimmy not only gets the girl and more secure (perhaps an expected psychological effect) after being bitten but also the interest of former bully Bo, with Jimmy stating quite bluntly that as a werewolf he now has an "unnatural sexual allure." Albeit in his case this doesn't seem to be connected to excessive masculinity (in addition werewolfism in the film can at least infect dogs, also by biting a werewolf and not just get bitten by it). The film Red Riding Hood (starring Gary Oldman) was so far an exception to this rule among werewolf films of the past decade in that the last surviving werewolf Peter was already a romantic interest before his transformation and his infection actually caused him to separate (at least temporarily) from the female lead Valerie. In An American Werewolf in London however (a film with a big influence on the genre as far as I understand it) the protagonist David is nursed back to health by a woman who soon becomes his live-in lover, all happening after him being attacked and thereby transformed. Even before David physically shows any of the curse's telltale signs, the woman seems to sense something different in him: something worth pursuing despite his lunatic ravings about ghosts and Nazis. Her last words to David's completely transformed body profess her love; the werewolf curse itself appears to be responsible for her inexplicable attraction. Something that is eerily reminiscent of The Vampire Diaries and Teen Wolf. In both shows the main werewolf character becomes actually attractive to a female character, his true love of course, after he becomes a werewolf. In the case of The Vampire Diaries it is especially obvious because prior to Tyler Lockwood's triggering of his family curse the character of Caroline Forbes never showed any romantic interest in him and later it was portrayed as not only strong sexual attraction but also true love, albeit in the usual shallow way of the show when it doesn't concern the three main characters. In the case of Scott and Allyson of Teen Wolf it is not so clear since both never met prior to the happenings of the pilot episode. However the fact stays that Allyson only met Scott after he had been bitten and showed first signs of his new status (as evident by his increased hearing), together with Allyson's statement that there was something about Scott that made him just right for her, suggests that his new status as a werewolf is not only a later element their relationship had to deal with but also a fundamental reason that they have a relationship to begin with.


While excessive masculinity as a defining factor of the werewolf myth results in undeniable sexual attraction, the myth's horror remains effective for any potential victim of the werewolf's charms, in case of sympathetic or monstrous werewolves that is. Whereas the modern werewolf often exudes an excessive masculinity which attracts the opposite sex, the medieval werewolf did not have the same allure.
The modern werewolf trope of masculinity gone wild is matched by an equally horrific femininity. Female biology has come to be equated with the werewolf curse (mostly due to the association of the lunar cycle, mirroring for many the monthly cycle of women) much like the vagina dentata, a classic symbol of the male's fear of heterosexual sex, in furry disguise. The female werewolf, however, shatters traditional expectations of femininity thereby providing a possible explanation for the female werewolf's relative rarity. The same "tremendous strength" and sexual vigor so attractive in male werewolves make female werewolves repulsive. Considered that actual wolves rather go towards a slender physique and female wolves use violence and aggression just as openly as males do points once more to the fact that modern werewolves really just represent humans instead of another species on its own, thereby providing another piece of evidence that modern werewolves are simply too normal on average to be considered "queer" or anything different than heteronormative.


Coming up next: The Werewolf Pridemovement - Part 5: Too normal
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jylerforever19's avatar
The entire show, they must have spoken to each other probably no more than three times (could be wrong). One of them was the only time that really showed they knew they existed (very first ep). Love? Chemistry? On. What. Planet? lol Scott and Allison are alot more interesting than Caroline and Tyler. I think those two have more chemistry even though they also just "teens".

So how i understood it is that female werewolves do not tend to look attractive like the males do. Males quickly get more muscle definition. Though we can't entirely tell if Erica had that a pretty good body before she got bitten. Maybe she only managed to get toned or something overnight. *insert shrug here* Erica's wolf side did not look attractive. Honestly I don't think any of the male wolves in Teen Wolf do too either but if I had to choose, I'd say Erica did look more unattractive.

Jeff noted in Twitter that Derek would be making out with someone in the next week's upcoming episode. Yes, I do believe it's Erica. Boooo...lol

Bring on part 5! :D