Why aren’t vampires more promiscuous?
In an interview the other day, I was asked whom I would bite if I were a vampire. Without hesitation I said ‘my husband.’ We have been together for nearly thirty years, and I can’t imagine life without him. But when I thought a bit more about it, I found my answer rather strange. Why? Let me share my thoughts with you.
Vampirism has the attraction of eternal life. Not a life where, after you die, you become a zombie and your flesh starts to decay and eventually falls off. No, when you’re a vampire, you stay forever young, beautiful, and never get sick. So, you can’t catch a cold and, I’m assuming, can’t contract any other communicable diseases.
When you think about this, this is great! No venereal diseases, hep C, nor AIDS as a risk of having multiple sexual partners. Yet I can’t recall any (blockbuster) vampire movies where promiscuity is celebrated. In the movie ‘Interview with the Vampire,’ there is no sex between humans and vampires, although there is a sexual undertone between the vampires themselves (in the book there is a sexual relationship between the child vampire Claudia and Louis, but this was omitted in the film). Usually, the vampire story is about eternal love, about a male vampire pining for that one human woman they love. But why stick to only one?
If we take science into the discussion, in particular evolution, we know the speceis has a greater chance of survival when females choose a sexual partner who will provide security during the raising of their offspring. But vampires can’t have offspring, at least not in the form of growing children. Female vampires don’t need anyone to provide an income for them while they produce babies. Next to this, they aren’t in need of a strong partner who will protect them physically as they are strong themselves. So, technically, female vampires don’t ‘need’ men. And male vampires don’t need to stay with the one woman out of fear of contracting the clap, the pox, or the gift that keeps on giving, not to mention the virus.
Since the dawn of vampirism in folklore, the vampire has always been portrayed as beast-like, a monster that has to be slain. Yes, it kills to survive, but humans do the same (vegetarians and vegans excluded). We don’t eat our own species as cannibalism is still frowned upon (though Soylent Green is going to be real one day. I’m sure of it). I guess the vampire doesn’t see itself as being human in that respect and therefore doesn’t think of himself as a cannibal.
So why do we write vampire stories where they are monogamous af? Why not have vampires that are more evolved and see the pleasures of the flesh as something to be shared by one and all? I can imagine you get bored with being with the same person for centuries. I mean, spending a lifetime with someone… okay. But several? Why not spice it up with a change now and again? Live and let live, mi casa es su casa, and all that? Why the possessiveness?
I guess it all has to do with culture. In the twentieth century, being monogamous was the norm. People wanted to read books and see movies about superheroes; better versions of themselves. Being promiscuous was therefore frowned upon. People began to loosen up during the sixties and early seventies, but that changed back to frugal times again when the AIDS epidemic began.
I haven’t been in the dating scene for a long time, but I’ve been told that young people aren’t as monogamous as they used to be anymore. They go for the trial-and-error method, swapping partners until they are certain whom they want to spend the rest of their lives with before tying the knot. This means people marry at an older age, but the marriages last longer.
So, on the one hand, you have young folk who are more promiscuous than ever before. Yet on the other hand, you have the older folk who form a strong, long-lasting relationship.
I’m curious to find out what effect this will have on vampire stories and when we are going to see a change (if any).
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