Portrayal of Women in Urban Fantasy

Photo by Patrick Baum on Unsplash

The number of female vampires and werewolves is curiously small. While women are almost completely excluded from the werewolf narrative, female vampires are usually vilified (if there even are any). Women are usually relegated to one of two roles: The Femme Fatale or the Damsel in Distress. The former represents a fear of feminism and therefore often meets a gruesome death, while the latter embodies traditional views on womanhood and femininity. These dynamics are also mirrored in Film Noir, which is in part due to its conception in the 1940s, before the second wave of feminism. Since then women’s movements and the corresponding increase in female writers and decision-makers have started to (slightly) break down traditional gender norms in Urban Fantasy and beyond. The genre has opened up a space to negotiate new and improved gender norms for the 21st century. This process, however, is far from completed. While there are many characters to be found that rebel (Damsels causing Distress) against traditional gender norms, there are also protagonists like “Bella” from the novel “Twilight”, who very much conforms to the traditional female role.