Femme monsters, male targets
Femme and fuckable monsters for hetero males have been, not unlike their distaff counterparts, objects of caution for those subject to seduction and/or abduction. We see this as early as the witch Circe and the sirens during the Odyssey. Stories from antiquity through the reformation find dangerous and often seductive women, leading unwary men to their doom.
Witches are by far the preferred femme monsters pre-20th century (at least if we define monster as a more-powerful-than-human humanoid), with the occasional succubus, Djinn, or malicious spirit thrown into the mix. But vampires joined in early and often, with Dracula's three unnamed brides snacking on Jonathan Harker. In the same story, Lucy Westerna, a woman so attractive she starts the book juggling three suitors at once, goes on a murderous rampage through London after being turned by Dracula. Her destruction is the first victory for team Van Helsing.
Although having very little screentime herself, one of the more iconic femme monsters of the early 20th century was the Bride of Frankenstein, played brilliantly by Elsa Lancaster. A subplot in the original novel that didn't make it into 1931's Frankenstein, the Bride is not only beautiful as she is monstrous, but reacts as one might on realizing that she was not only a monster herself, but purposefully created to fuck a monster.
While the 40's brought about the femme fatales of film noir, they were rarely supernatural creatures themselves. Their influence, however, would definitely be felt in future decades, but not before taking a turn through comedy.
As mentioned in our previous essay, Lily Munster and Morticia Addams came to the small screen and pushed the envelope of broadcast sensuality immediately upon arrival. Morticia's demeanor and garb in particular could have been lifted directly from a film noir. The incongruity of presenting her as a loving homemaker and mother as opposed to a suspiciously cheerful widow just added to the laughs along with the sensuality.
At the same time, Bewitched and I Dream of Jeanie were pulling similar stunts as The Munsters and The Addams Family: using the supernatural status of their leading ladies to push the envelope of the censors. Sidney Shelton knew exactly what he was up to by having Jeanie calling Nelson "Master" every five minuites. NBC let him get away with it, and audiences loved it. Even Star Trek got in on the action, introducing the world to the idea of the green skinned space babe from the very first episode.
The 60's and 70's had somewhat of a drought on the big screen, with one big and controversial exception: Dr. Frank N Furter, notorious antagonist of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Better minds than mine are going to be arguing about the exact nature of Frank's gender, identity, and orientation for decades to come. But I will point out that Frank successfully seduced, in order: Columbia, Eddie, Rocky, Brad, and Janet. The latter three all in the course of a few hours.
The 80's were also a rare period for femme monsters, likely being outshone by the rise of the final girl. Though a few made their way to the screen. In the Hellraiser series, Julia managed to prove more deadly than most of the cenobites. Mae in Near Dark manages to be both a monster girl and a final girl herself, as opposed to her wholly monstrous counterpart Diamondback. At the same time, Elvira was leading the charge of horror hosts, gaining her own film near the end of the decade.
The 90's would start to bring femme monster's like Dracula's brides back to the big screen, introducing new generations and wider audiences in general. If Monica Bellucci, Michaela Bercu, and Florina Kendrck suddenly showed up in my sheets wearing cocktail napkins and jewelry, I'd have Keanu Reeves' look on my face too. Which also opens that version of the story into a twist, as the Harkers end up as a happily married couple having both experienced monsters along the way.
And on the small screen, Xander of Buffy the Vampire Slayer put Jonathan Harker to shame with the sheer volume of femme monsters who tried to eat him, kill him, sacrifice him, or all of the above.
We were even introduced to our first pin-up zombie in the form of Julie, the lead of Return of the Living Dead 3. Killed in a motorcycle crash and resurrected by her boyfriend with zombie gas, Julie becomes more and more cenobite-looking as the film goes on, retaining her sentience and love for her boyfriend even as the hunger for brains grows stronger.
The 90's also kicked off a mini-trend of femme monsters appearing in family films, again relying on supernatural status and innuendo to avoid the censors. The Addams Family hit the big screen. Gomez and Morticia's "you frightened me. Do it again." went WOOSH over the heads of Paramount's under-18 demographic, but sent a thousands toes dipping into the BDSM pool.
Hocus Pocus introduced us to Sarah Sanderson, along with a surprising level of reminding the audience that the teenage boy she's stalking had the audacity to light a candle while being a virgin at the same time. The Nightmare before Christmas' Sally distracts a villain by showing some leg (even if it is detached from the rest of her at the time). I'd even include Mavis from Hotel Transylvania, who married and had a kid with her chosen human. As well as the ethical Emily from The Corpse Bride.
While there's been no shortage of femme monsters on the screen since, the end of the millennium also brought about both the rise of cosplay and the sexy anything trend of Halloween costumes. While Elvira, Morticia, and the Bride of Frankenstein have all been popular, genderbent versions of monsters like Freddy Kreuger and Jason Vorhees have also made appearances.
So what lies at the desire for a fuckable femme monster in hetero dudes?
Here's my hunch.
I've said before that monsterfucking is an attempt to rebel against seemingly contradictory modern expectations. The two big ones today are:
One, the expectation of men to be stronger and more experienced.
Moreover, the expectation of men to be the initiator, but only if a woman already desires him. Which he has no means of knowing.
Two, the desire to pursue the "bad girls" without the rejection of her, society, or both.
Fuckable femme monsters relieve their male suitors from all of that.
Worried you're not strong enough? She got this.
Worried you're not experienced enough? She's cool with showing you the way.
Worried she'll reject you? Relax! She won't embarrass you.
Kill and eat you, maybe, but not humiliate you.
Worried you'll be looked down on? She's a vampire, what were you gonna do?
It allows a man to be in a woman's power without societal guilt being attached.
Nowadays we see the memes come around every year of "beware the goth chick suddenly interested in you. it's sacrifice season." immediately countered with. "Don't care. Worth it."
In the end, I think we're all just looking for what we want without worrying about other people's expectations.
Femme and fuckable monsters for hetero males have been, not unlike their distaff counterparts, objects of caution for those subject to seduction and/or abduction. We see this as early as the witch Circe and the sirens during the Odyssey. Stories from antiquity through the reformation find dangerous and often seductive women, leading unwary men to their doom.
Witches are by far the preferred femme monsters pre-20th century (at least if we define monster as a more-powerful-than-human humanoid), with the occasional succubus, Djinn, or malicious spirit thrown into the mix. But vampires joined in early and often, with Dracula's three unnamed brides snacking on Jonathan Harker. In the same story, Lucy Westerna, a woman so attractive she starts the book juggling three suitors at once, goes on a murderous rampage through London after being turned by Dracula. Her destruction is the first victory for team Van Helsing.
Although having very little screentime herself, one of the more iconic femme monsters of the early 20th century was the Bride of Frankenstein, played brilliantly by Elsa Lancaster. A subplot in the original novel that didn't make it into 1931's Frankenstein, the Bride is not only beautiful as she is monstrous, but reacts as one might on realizing that she was not only a monster herself, but purposefully created to fuck a monster.
While the 40's brought about the femme fatales of film noir, they were rarely supernatural creatures themselves. Their influence, however, would definitely be felt in future decades, but not before taking a turn through comedy.
As mentioned in our previous essay, Lily Munster and Morticia Addams came to the small screen and pushed the envelope of broadcast sensuality immediately upon arrival. Morticia's demeanor and garb in particular could have been lifted directly from a film noir. The incongruity of presenting her as a loving homemaker and mother as opposed to a suspiciously cheerful widow just added to the laughs along with the sensuality.
At the same time, Bewitched and I Dream of Jeanie were pulling similar stunts as The Munsters and The Addams Family: using the supernatural status of their leading ladies to push the envelope of the censors. Sidney Shelton knew exactly what he was up to by having Jeanie calling Nelson "Master" every five minuites. NBC let him get away with it, and audiences loved it. Even Star Trek got in on the action, introducing the world to the idea of the green skinned space babe from the very first episode.
The 60's and 70's had somewhat of a drought on the big screen, with one big and controversial exception: Dr. Frank N Furter, notorious antagonist of the Rocky Horror Picture Show. Better minds than mine are going to be arguing about the exact nature of Frank's gender, identity, and orientation for decades to come. But I will point out that Frank successfully seduced, in order: Columbia, Eddie, Rocky, Brad, and Janet. The latter three all in the course of a few hours.
The 80's were also a rare period for femme monsters, likely being outshone by the rise of the final girl. Though a few made their way to the screen. In the Hellraiser series, Julia managed to prove more deadly than most of the cenobites. Mae in Near Dark manages to be both a monster girl and a final girl herself, as opposed to her wholly monstrous counterpart Diamondback. At the same time, Elvira was leading the charge of horror hosts, gaining her own film near the end of the decade.
The 90's would start to bring femme monster's like Dracula's brides back to the big screen, introducing new generations and wider audiences in general. If Monica Bellucci, Michaela Bercu, and Florina Kendrck suddenly showed up in my sheets wearing cocktail napkins and jewelry, I'd have Keanu Reeves' look on my face too. Which also opens that version of the story into a twist, as the Harkers end up as a happily married couple having both experienced monsters along the way.
And on the small screen, Xander of Buffy the Vampire Slayer put Jonathan Harker to shame with the sheer volume of femme monsters who tried to eat him, kill him, sacrifice him, or all of the above.
We were even introduced to our first pin-up zombie in the form of Julie, the lead of Return of the Living Dead 3. Killed in a motorcycle crash and resurrected by her boyfriend with zombie gas, Julie becomes more and more cenobite-looking as the film goes on, retaining her sentience and love for her boyfriend even as the hunger for brains grows stronger.
The 90's also kicked off a mini-trend of femme monsters appearing in family films, again relying on supernatural status and innuendo to avoid the censors. The Addams Family hit the big screen. Gomez and Morticia's "you frightened me. Do it again." went WOOSH over the heads of Paramount's under-18 demographic, but sent a thousands toes dipping into the BDSM pool.
Hocus Pocus introduced us to Sarah Sanderson, along with a surprising level of reminding the audience that the teenage boy she's stalking had the audacity to light a candle while being a virgin at the same time. The Nightmare before Christmas' Sally distracts a villain by showing some leg (even if it is detached from the rest of her at the time). I'd even include Mavis from Hotel Transylvania, who married and had a kid with her chosen human. As well as the ethical Emily from The Corpse Bride.
While there's been no shortage of femme monsters on the screen since, the end of the millennium also brought about both the rise of cosplay and the sexy anything trend of Halloween costumes. While Elvira, Morticia, and the Bride of Frankenstein have all been popular, genderbent versions of monsters like Freddy Kreuger and Jason Vorhees have also made appearances.
So what lies at the desire for a fuckable femme monster in hetero dudes?
Here's my hunch.
I've said before that monsterfucking is an attempt to rebel against seemingly contradictory modern expectations. The two big ones today are:
One, the expectation of men to be stronger and more experienced.
Moreover, the expectation of men to be the initiator, but only if a woman already desires him. Which he has no means of knowing.
Two, the desire to pursue the "bad girls" without the rejection of her, society, or both.
Fuckable femme monsters relieve their male suitors from all of that.
Worried you're not strong enough? She got this.
Worried you're not experienced enough? She's cool with showing you the way.
Worried she'll reject you? Relax! She won't embarrass you.
Kill and eat you, maybe, but not humiliate you.
Worried you'll be looked down on? She's a vampire, what were you gonna do?
It allows a man to be in a woman's power without societal guilt being attached.
Nowadays we see the memes come around every year of "beware the goth chick suddenly interested in you. it's sacrifice season." immediately countered with. "Don't care. Worth it."
In the end, I think we're all just looking for what we want without worrying about other people's expectations.
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