An illustration for Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu’s novella, Carmilla (aka the OG sexy lesbian vampire) from Wikimedia Commons.
I don’t think it’s far-fetched to say everyone loves a good sexy lesbian vampire. And usually, unless you’re fetishizing lesbians, it’s okay. The problem is, a lot of media about sexy lesbian vampires does just that.
Instead of being a cool queer love story, it’s catered exclusively to straight men. The lesbians in this media aren’t characters–they’re just sexual objects for men to consume. Of course, that’s to be expected. Lesbians and WLW in literature (and in real life), especially those that are femme-presenting, constantly experience fetishization simply for existing.
Difference between fetishization and representation
Fetishization is to literally degrade something (or someone) into an object of sexual fetish. For example, a lot of asian women are hyper-sexualized and fetishized because of the stereotypes tied to their race and sex.
Key components of the fetishization of women
- Dehumanization/objectification
- Sexualization
- Obsession/power
- In general, fetishization requires a degree of obsession, even with nonsexual fetishes. The magazine “Communication” describes it as imbuing an object or idea with power. The act of fetishization in and of itself requires you to hold something with exaggerated regard. With sexual fetishization, however, this does not translate to respect or even glorification. Just a means to satisfy oneself. This component is closely related to the objectification aspect of fetishization, but I thought it was an important thing to mention on its own.
Unlike representation, queer fetishization does not help the LGBTQ+ community. Instead, it fuels the idea that queerness–especially WLW–exists for male consumption.
Lesbian Fetishization
A lot of you might be wondering “hey, so why do so many straight men fetishize lesbians in particular?” The “appeal” of lesbians to some men is their sexual value. Essentially, instead of getting to objectify just one woman, now they can objectify two! Misogyny is the root of this problem.
Identity erasure and women fetishizing lesbians
Just because fetishizing lesbians is misogynistic doesn’t mean it’s done exclusively by men. Due to praise received by men, straight women are encouraged to kiss each other. This “kissing to get attention from men” phenomenon is a product of the male gaze because it pushes the idea that lesbian affection belongs on a metaphorical stage. Thus, queerness is seen as performative. This denies WLW of their identity, degrading it to something of sexual value to men.
So why vampires?
So, we know why sexy lesbian vampires are lesbians, but why are they vampires? Vampires and sensuality are almost always paired together. In fact, a big part of vampires is their ability to seduce people to suck their blood. With women vampires in particular, them being a vampire acts as a soiling of their “purity”, which oftentimes also means sexual purity. With homosexuality seen as immoral, especially in the time the idea of the vampire was developed, it wasn’t a far leap for writers to make to incorporate queerness into their vampires.
Trope roots of the lesbian vampire
Vampire literature was originally inspired by the vampire panic that swept through Serbia in the 1720s. This sparked the eventual popularity of the vampire, as it started showing up in poetry about 20 years after the event. From poetry came tales and plays, and then finally books. The first instance of a sexy lesbian vampire in literature was the novella Carmilla, written by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu in 1871–26 years before the publication of Dracula. This means not only was Carmilla the first sexy lesbian vampire novel, it was the original vampire novel.
The plot of Carmilla follows Laura, a young English woman being preyed upon and seduced by Carmilla, a woman vampire. Like the women in surrounding towns, which are afflicted by a strange illness, Laura herself eventually becomes ill–which is Carmilla’s doing. Laura would’ve eventually died by Carmilla–who sees Laura’s death as a means for them to become one forever (which is totally meant to be implied Carmilla sees Laura’s death as an act of love)–if it wasn’t for the intervention of a general, Laura’s father, and a vampire hunter, who end up killing Carmilla. Laura survives, but can’t seem to forget Carmilla. Most sexy lesbian vampire media to come would follow a similar plot.
Some films that have the predatory sexy lesbian vampire trope:
- Dracula’s Daughter (1936)
- I included this on the list because it falls under the predatory WLW trope with Lili and Countess Marya Zaleska
- Blood and Roses (1960)
- A retelling of Carmilla
- The Vampire Lovers (1970)
- Another retelling of Carmilla
- Vampyros Lesbos (1971)
- The Hunger (1983)
Sexy lesbian vampires that aren’t fetishized by their creators
While it’s safe to say there’s an abundance of media that fetishizes lesbians, especially in the form of a sexy lesbian vampire, are there any that aren’t? The answer is yes, totally! Due to the popularity of the lesbian vampire trope and the lessening censorship of LGBTQ+ writing, writers were bound to make lesbian vampire media that actually had good representation. I’ll leave y’all with a list of some respectful lesbian vampire books and films to look into!