# What is it about vampire fiction (movies. books, etc) that makes women so sweaty and moist?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [February 17, 2010, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269 "2010-02-17T00:00:25Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/1 "2010-02-17T00:00:25Z")
What makes bloodsuckers so sexy?
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### Author:  [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/2 "2010-02-17T00:03:37Z")
Was vampire fiction popular with women before Twilight?
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### Author:  [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/3 "2010-02-17T00:03:56Z")
My theory is that vampires are just a metaphor for seduction in general. But placed in a horror context, so they (the women fans) can pretend they are not thinking about sex.
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/4 "2010-02-17T00:08:12Z")
You could write a book about this (and I’m pretty sure people have). I don’t find it that odd. If women want to screw – sorry, get ‘bitten’ by – a sexy, suave guy but will be shunned if they have sex too soon/out of wedlock/with a foreigner/whatever’s the in-thing from 1897-2010, what better way to get away with it than to say he hypnotized you first? I think I mentioned this in a bad boy thread, but I think it applies there, too. You get to live vicariously through an independent male and get felt up and when you’re done you can blame it all on his being from the wrong side of the tracks/Europe so you can still find a husband to take care of you.
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### Author:  [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/5 "2010-02-17T00:15:56Z")
> [@garygnu](#):
>
> Was vampire fiction popular with women before Twilight?
Judging by Anne Rice and thrice accursed Vampire AU fanfiction, yes.
AFAICT, it’s an excuse to have an eternally young, pretty man running around, with “vampire” being shorthand for “this character is interesting and dangerous”, without having him do anything I’d identify as interesting or dangerous.
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### Author:  [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/6 "2010-02-17T00:26:31Z")
> [@garygnu](#):
>
> Was vampire fiction popular with women before Twilight?
Yeah, I gradated from high school in the 90s and lot’s of girls were reading Rice and others. Unlike Dungeons and Dragons, you could always find a lot of girls playing _Vampire: The Masquerade_ which was an RPG were players take on the role of vampires. I completely understand that my personal experience is anecdotal and may not represent a national norm. It’s just that in my experience a large subset of vampire fans are women. _Twilight_ is just a really successful vampire story that managed to attract both teenage girls and thirty year old housewives.
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### Author:  [@SylverOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SylverOne)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/7 "2010-02-17T00:37:45Z")
Twilight makes me ill.
The Black Dagger Brotherhood series get me all ‘sweaty and moist’ as you put it.
The Sookie Stackhouse series is just ridiculous. (though the TV series is good…)
Like any other genre, for me, it’s the talent of the author to create the characters and make the narrative interesting. I don’t want to live in Bella’s world, nor Sookie’s. I would, though, in a heartbeat, step into the shoes of any of the females in the Brotherhood series.
'Course, Bella and Sookie are rated PG next to J.R. Ward’s characters.
I don’t think it’s just vampires though. A whole new batch of supernatural authors are hitting the public radar lately. How many different ways can you describe the perfect man or woman in your typical romance novel? After a while, you run out of options and realize you’ve read the same book over and over. The only difference is the character’s name and the picture on the front cover. Adding a supernatural twist gives an whole new set of traits and personality quirks, and conflicts and resolutions.
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### Author:  [@Tristan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tristan)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/8 "2010-02-17T00:39:14Z")
In _Danse Macabre_ Stephen King actually goes on about this a bit, stating that Vampires, like a lot of monsters, are all about sex and seduction.
That being said, [this cracked me up to a HUGE degree…](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93dsT8a9aAU)
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### Author:  [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/9 "2010-02-17T00:44:21Z")
> [@Grumman](#):
>
> Judging by Anne Rice and thrice accursed Vampire AU fanfiction, yes.
>
> AFAICT, it’s an excuse to have an eternally young, pretty man running around, with “vampire” being shorthand for “this character is interesting and dangerous”, without having him do anything I’d identify as interesting or dangerous.
Can’t they just have him smoke? 😉
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### Author:  [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/10 "2010-02-17T04:49:45Z")
> [@garygnu](#):
>
> Was vampire fiction popular with women before Twilight?
> [@Grumman](#):
>
> Judging by Anne Rice and thrice accursed Vampire AU fanfiction, yes…
> [@Odesio](#):
>
> Yeah, I gradated from high school in the 90s and lot’s of girls were reading Rice and others…
Thanks. I ask because _Twilight_ is fundamentally different from the vampire fiction that preceded it. As far as tone, before it was macabre and goth; now it’s pouty and emo. Thematically, before it was about repressed sexual desires being expressed in the story; now it’s repressed sexual desires staying repressed.
To women, before it was being unable to resist a seductive but dangerous man; now it’s about a perfect man finding you to be so special he’ll change his very nature just for you.
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### Author:  [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/11 "2010-02-17T05:26:11Z")
> [@garygnu](#):
>
> To women, before it was being unable to resist a seductive but dangerous man; now it’s about a perfect man finding you to be so special he’ll change his very nature just for you.
Maybe that’s what passes for ‘empowering’ these days.
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### Author:  [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/12 "2010-02-17T05:32:57Z")
Its about the specialness of Bella. Shes not an ordinary girl but a special girl that even an immortal cant help but fall in love with. These stories put the idea of the exceptional girl into the reader. What girl doesnt want to be exceptional, different, and wanted? This concept is especially easy to sell in the hackneyed world of the paranormal with the added plus of the drama of being in love with a dangerous magical creature.
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### Author:  [@EllisDee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EllisDee)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/13 "2010-02-17T05:34:37Z")
> [@garygnu](#):
>
> Thanks. I ask because _Twilight_ is fundamentally different from the vampire fiction that preceded it. As far as tone, before it was macabre and goth; now it’s pouty and emo.
My guess is it’s because women have been [girl-ified by the pill](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-1218808/Contraceptive-pill-women-attracted-masculine-men--interested-boyish-looks.html).
> [@astro](#):
>
> What makes bloodsuckers so sexy?
I rather like **wierdaaron** ’s [take on it](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11480376&postcount=7):
> [@](#):
>
> Vamps are just an eternally useful metaphor.
>
> The vampires in Twilight are used as a metaphor for abstinence. In True Blood they’re a metaphor for racism/homophobia, as well as sexual repression. Anne Rice’s swishy vampires were a metaphor for sexual and material indulgence.
>
> There’s a reason the Twilight books, the True Blood books, and the Lestat books are all written by women. Women fucking love sexual metaphors.
>
> Women love vampires.
>
> Women hate zombies.
>
> Men love zombies.
>
> Men hate vampires.
>
> Zombies are usually used as metaphors as well, but never as sexual metaphors. The metaphor of Zombies is usually a sociological one, representing a frustration with society/order/rules/other people.
>
> Women have vampire fantasies because they all secretly want to be seduced by a powerful, dark man and be completely powerless to him. Men have zombie fantasies because they all secretly wish society would go to hell so they could run around and shoot people without repercussion.
>
> The fact that vampires and zombies are both unusually trendy right now makes me think that our current culture is having some kind of repression issue. Even we’re unusually repressed with these fantasies, and have to live via these tired undead metaphors, or we’re finally unrepressed and allowed to revel in our undead trope of choice.
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### Author:  [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/14 "2010-02-17T05:49:23Z")
You know, sex _is_ inherently dangerous for women. At best even having sex in a socally acceptable context risks pregnancy and possible death in childbirth or if you live, weight gain, aging, and a life of responsibility and messes. Vampires at least don’t lead to drudgery. For the right girl they lead to sex, perpetual youth, power, and never having to have dinner ready again, and the outfits are awesome. Vampires are also neat (most have OCD doncha know) and never throw their dirty socks under the bed. They are strong. They don’t scratch themselves while sitting in front of the television while watching football. Perhaps best of all, being seduced by a vampire means that you will not turn into your mother.
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### Author:  [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/15 "2010-02-17T05:56:32Z")
[Great article](http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/print/200812/twilight-vampires)by Caitlin Flanagan in the Atlantic on the point.
Some quotes:
> [@](#):
>
> The salient fact of an adolescent girl’s existence is her need for a secret emotional life—one that she slips into during her sulks and silences, during her endless hours alone in her room, or even just when she’s gazing out the classroom window while all of Modern European History, or the niceties of the passé composé, sluice past her. This means that she is a creature designed for reading in a way no boy or man, or even grown woman, could ever be so exactly designed, because she is a creature whose most elemental psychological needs—to be undisturbed while she works out the big questions of her life, to be hidden from view while still in plain sight, to enter profoundly into the emotional lives of others—are met precisely by the act of reading.
> [@](#):
>
> Reading the book, I sometimes experienced what I imagine long-married men must feel when they get an unexpected glimpse at pornography: slingshot back to a world of sensation that, through sheer force of will and dutiful acceptance of life’s fortunes, I thought I had subdued. The Twilight series is not based on a true story, of course, but within it is the true story, the original one. Twilight centers on a boy who loves a girl so much that he refuses to defile her, and on a girl who loves him so dearly that she is desperate for him to do just that, even if the wages of the act are expulsion from her family and from everything she has ever known. We haven’t seen that tale in a girls’ book in a very long time. And it’s selling through the roof.
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### Author:  [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/16 "2010-02-17T06:36:41Z")
Well, from a male perspective a girl once offered me the opportunity to go down on her, I did gladly and with much passion, our first encounter… I went to the bathroom afterward and my mouth and face was a smeared crimson blood smile. I came out of the bathroom and noticed the bloodstain on the floor. That was without warning and I think I induced her period with oral sex, I’m sure she was on the cusp, but she probably wouldn’t have let me do it if she were flowing. I am still confused, did I turn her, or did she turn me… It wasn’t at all unpleasant.
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### Author:  [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 7:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/17 "2010-02-17T07:49:33Z")
> [@devilsknew](#):
>
> Well, from a male perspective a girl once offered me the opportunity to go down on her, I did gladly and with much passion, our first encounter… I went to the bathroom afterward and my mouth and face was a smeared crimson blood smile. I came out of the bathroom and noticed the bloodstain on the floor. That was without warning and I think I induced her period with oral sex, I’m sure she was on the cusp, but she probably wouldn’t have let me do it if she were flowing. I am still confused, did I turn her, or did she turn me… It wasn’t at all unpleasant.
My old pappy always told me… You can wade the Red River… but don’t take a drink!
---
### Author:  [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 10:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/18 "2010-02-17T10:12:03Z")
> [@garygnu](#):
>
> Thanks. I ask because _Twilight_ is fundamentally different from the vampire fiction that preceded it. As far as tone, before it was macabre and goth; now it’s pouty and emo. Thematically, before it was about repressed sexual desires being expressed in the story; now it’s repressed sexual desires staying repressed.
> To women, before it was being unable to resist a seductive but dangerous man; now it’s about a perfect man finding you to be so special he’ll change his very nature just for you.
You are leaving out the important part. Edward, with his constant desire to eat Bella, still is dangerous. There’s no guarantee at any point that he won’t give in to his vampiric urges
And Bella, the character you are supposed to identify with, is pretty unrepressed. The difference is that, rather than giving her what she wants right away, Edward “protects” her by holding off until she’s ready.
So basically, you still get the thrill and sexual expression of being with a vampire, without all the nasty downsides.
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/19 "2010-02-17T10:43:02Z")
> [@EllisDee](#):
>
> I rather like **wierdaaron** ’s [take on it](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=11480376&postcount=7):
>
> > [@](#):
> >
> > \< snip \>
> >
> > Women love vampires.
> >
> > Women hate zombies.
> >
> > Men love zombies.
> >
> > Men hate vampires.
Well, to quote myself from that thread:
> [@Enough With The Stupid Vampire Shit](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/enough-with-the-stupid-vampire-shit/507579/52):
>
> I think plenty of men like vampires; they just fantasize about BEING the vampire, not be seduced by one. Or about being the one who kills the vampire. And not the teenage girl fantasy vampires like TwiVamps; the terrifying, badass slaughters-his-enemies-and-drinks-their-blood type.
Depending on how they are portrayed, vampires can be a male power fantasy as much as they can be a repressed-woman’s sexual fantasy. In fact, I think there’s at least three major vamp categories here; male power fantasy vampires, female romance/sex/danger fantasy vampires, and Just Plain Scary vampires. With a fair amount of overlap with the milder versions of course; but sparkly “emo” TwiVamps and monstrous, badass mastermind Kain of the Legacy of Kain games are wildly different in style.
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### Author:  [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)
#### Post date: [February 17, 2010, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-it-about-vampire-fiction-movies-books-etc-that-makes-women-so-sweaty-and-moist/529269/20 "2010-02-17T11:07:36Z")
I think the dark brooding bad boy thing for sure, but I think many women also like the “tortured man” element. I’m not crazy about most of the vampire stuff, as it is layed on too thickly IMO, but I do, in fiction, find it sexy if a man suffers a bit. I’m not particularly comfortable with that, but there it is.
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