by Dyana Hepburn

Created on: August 14, 2009   Last Updated: December 31, 2009

The female vampire in art is a female persona that inspires and intrigues. She emanates a dark allure which appeals to us as a forbidden object, she has a beautiful evilness about her.  Portrayed usually with long, dark hair, blood red lips and nails, dressed in a low-cut, floor length black gown, she is exotically beautiful, until she lunges with mouth open to reveal wolf length fangs.

She is a stereotype-as are all cartoons and stylized images-as portrayed by cartoon artists. Typically lithe and soft armed, she is beautifully evil. Portray her as muscular and she is no longer the vampire but a warrior or valkyrie. Teenage "Goth" girls wearing blood red nails and lipstick, black eye shadow, silver jewelry and black clothing model their appearance after the vampiress. The sultry woman of the silver screen was popularized in Hollywood in the role of the "vamp."  The vamp is characterized by silky, low cut slinky clothing, with dark lipstick and heavy eye shadow. 

The vampiress is a new addition to the Jungian collective subconscious, a lovely appearing feminine creature who seduces a mesmerized male with her mystical charms. These images in the subconscious mind transform into terrifying fantasies and coalesce into the dreaded female image of the vampire that drains her victim's life force by drinking his blood.

If you think back on all of the early black and white vampire movies, it was usually a male vampire seducing a female.  He would seduce a human female with a hypnotic gaze into her eyes, then bite her on the neck, turning her into one of his group of vampire ladies.  When he needed to drink a meal of blood, he would usually drain it from the body of a male.

In modern books and movies there has been a change to reflect the emergence of the women's equal rights movement.  Women wanted a more forceful role in the military and more opportunity in the business world; subsequently they became more powerful in the world of vampire lore.  Now in the latest vampire movies you see women as vicious, attacking creatures rather than as seductive and hypnotically alluring, or trying to throw off the stigma of an evil vamp and earn a place in humanity.

The latest trend is for vampires, both male and female, recanting and seeking a way to become human.  Their appearance is also changing as they adopt a modern look.  They are no longer dressing in black suits and flowing white gowns.  The modern vampire is apt to be found on a high school or college campus, blending in wearing jeans, and secretly living off small rodents in order to survive.  They are trying to lose their gothic look.

The legend of the vampire needed to grow.  It played out its old role from anti-human to a creature longing to be accepted into the human world.  As a modern vampire trying to become human it has gained acceptance in how we perceive them more favorably, but their style has an appeal that humans want to emulate.

Learn more about this author, Dyana Hepburn.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.