“But the wolves have ways of arriving at your own hearthside”: Gender, Socialization, and the Werewolf
Werewolf myths have many similarities. But in the film The Company of Wolves (based on Angela Carter’s short story), we are reminded that there are all sorts of ways to become a wolf, and that wolves come in all shapes and sizes. When we look at these stories, it becomes clear that lycanthropy horror has a lot to say about how they tie to themes around sex and gender. The stories are rooted in humans succumbing to their baser animal instincts, ones that we often try to separate ourselves from. While there is plenty of crossover with films that focus on male or female werewolves, there are also some interesting differences that speak to the ways society holds the two in different spheres.
Both Angela Carter’s story and the film, The Company of Wolves, focus on how “wolves” show up in various ways in our lives. We see various men inflict physical and emotional harm on women. Yet at the same time, wild wolfish women are held in high regard. And when you look at other werewolf horror, though not as overtly stated as Carter’s work, these same themes are present. The wolf curse in men is often a horrid, predatory affliction that aligns with toxic, predatory men. For wolf women, it is more aligned with some wild, dark part of themselves, unfit for society. Importantly, wolf women’s representation is not without its faults. Regardless, there is much to derive from these films in the realm of human nature, gender, and socialization.
Identifying and Fighting the “Innate Predator”
“The wolf is carnivore incarnate.” —Angela Carter, The Company of Wolves
In Women Who Run with Wolves, a book about the “wild woman” archetype in myth, psychoanalyst Clarissa Pinkola Estés describes how young or naive women fall into the trap of the predator. She says,
“This error of judgment is almost routine in a woman so young that her alarm systems are not yet developed. She is like an orphan wolf pup who rolls and plays in the clearing, heedless of the ninety-pound bobcat approaching from the shadow.“
This is not unlike how we struggle to recognize predatory men. While men’s rights activists love to scream “not all men”, the issue is we don’t know which men. Looking at the wolf as a symbol of toxic or violent masculinity, there are several horror films that connect.
In Joe Dante’s The Howling, a TV news anchor (Dee Wallace) is stalked by a serial killer who preys upon women. Later, he is revealed to be part of a werewolf pack that entraps her. Her inability to notice that she is amongst a pack of wolves leads to much bloodshed and her own transformation. The Wolf of Snow Hollow centers on a series of vicious murders in which women are being preyed upon. The Company of Wolves highlights this in several ways, but specifically through the Little Red Riding Hood myth, where Riding Hood is unable to see that the huntsman is not a charming stranger, but a wolf set on killing her and her grandmother.
When we see women as the predators, they’re overtly sexual and use that sexuality to entrap men. One example is Wes Craven’s Cursed, in which a female werewolf is set upon killing women she sees as competition for the man that she loves. A predatory femme wolf also appears in The Howling with the character Marsha (Elisabeth Brooks), who seduces Karen’s husband. In the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Veruca (Paige Moss) is framed as a temptress who drives a wedge between Oz (Seth Green) and Willow (Alyson Hannigan).
The Wolf in Sheep’s Clothing
The wolf in sheep’s clothing is one of the tactics used by predators to lure victims. As the wolf hides his nature from Riding Hood, werewolves hide their identities to try and blend in with and get close to others. In Wolf, James Spader plays the protégé of Will Randall (Jack Nicholson). The two are very close, and Spader’s character continuously acts like he is on Will’s side. Eventually, we learn that he has stolen Will’s job and has been having an affair with his wife. His attempts at being a nice guy are all to hide what beast is truly underneath. And when we learn that he himself is a werewolf by the third act, it’s hardly a surprise.
The reverse is memorably highlighted in one of the segments in Michael Dougherty’s Halloween anthology, Trick ‘r Treat. Steven (Dylan Baker) is revealed to be a serial killer who’s been stalking the town for victims all night. Eventually, he follows Laure (Anna Paquin), who, of course, is dressed like Red Riding Hood, into the woods. Unfortunately, he does not realize that she has actually set the trap and that she and her pack have been picking up boys for a “party” with the intention of feasting upon them. The beautiful young women rip off their clothes and then their skin, revealing their hairy and monstrous nature. Though shown as being sexual in a similar way to the other femme wolves mentioned, they are not demonized, with their transformation and subsequent feast portrayed in a more empowering light.
Puberty and the Awakening of Adulthood
Some of these tales are framed around a coming-of-age story, which puts a heavy emphasis on the role that puberty plays in awakening. The Company of Wolves all takes place in the mind of a prepubescent girl who dreams up these tales. The focus on her stealing her older sister’s clothes and makeup shows how eager she is to become a woman. As we follow the different stories, we cut back to her sleeping, sweaty and writhing around in bed. By the end, she has learned all she can about the wolves, and when she faces them in the end, she becomes a wolf herself. And is therefore fully initiated into her wild womanhood.
While not framed in such an empowering light, Ginger Snaps tells a similar story centered around puberty. Ginger (Katharine Isabelle) and her sister Brigitte (Emily Perkins) are “late bloomers” in the sense that they have not had their periods yet, even though they are well into high school. The night Ginger gets her first period, a werewolf is able to smell the blood and attacks her, which begins her monstrous transformation. Aligning perfectly with her transition into womanhood, she deals with an onslaught of emotions and desires. She has uncontrolled rage, hair popping up in strange places, a hunger that she struggles to control, and she becomes more overtly sexual.
In the Scandinavian indie film When Animals Dream, Marie (Sonia Suhl) learns that she has inherited lycanthropy from her mother. For years, her father and their family doctor have been dosing her mother with drugs to keep her catatonic and stop her from showing her animal nature. Once they realize Marie has the same affliction, they attempt to drug her, but she refuses. She gives in to her wild nature and becomes a social pariah hunted by the townspeople. This story also stands out with its focus on accepting your nature and surrounding yourself with people who accept you for who you are.
Twilight: New Moon is the best example of this focus on puberty, but with men. Bella (Kristen Stewart) has a close friendship with Jacob (Taylor Lautner). She looks at him as a kid brother, but he becomes distant and retreats from her suddenly and begins hanging out with a “pack” of boys he used to show disdain for. When she sees him again, he has grown muscular and is literally hot to the touch. He is moodier and manlier than the boy she knew, which stirs up complicated emotions in her and causes him to be more aggressive in his advances towards her.
Damning Sexual Desires
Puberty awakens a slew of alien hormonal urges. Many of us live in a society that’s still too polite and repressed to accept or explain these natural changes. This can cause just as much confusion as someone realizing they might be a wolf. That ultimately forces many people to repress desires, especially as seen in femme werewolf stories. Although not a werewolf movie, Cat People aligns similarly with the portrayal of repressed sexuality and monstrous animalistic change. Irena (Simone Simon) realizes that she is tied to a family curse that causes her to transform into a monster when she has sexual desires for her husband. In the 1990s show She-Wolf of London, Randi (Kate Hodge) has a similar problem where the beast inside can be awakened in the heat of passion.
Heather (Bobbi Salvör Menuez), the protagonist in My Animal from director Jacqueline Castel, faces a similar problem, but with the added layer of queer identity in a small town. She falls for a figure skater named Jonny (Amandla Stenberg) and continues to sneak out at night to be with her, instead of being chained in her bedroom, where she is safe from causing harm. Coming into her own means scaring off those she loves, including Jonny, and being blamed for the strain her sexuality causes on her family.
While love and sexual desire seem to be the crux of the issues with femme wolves, love is also framed as something that can save the werewolf when it centers on a man. In the Hammer Horror classic, Curse of the Werewolf, Leon (Oliver Reed) is born with lycanthropy. Because he is the product of a rape he is cursed at birth. Though there is some hope when he falls in love and realizes he does not turn into a werewolf when he is with her. And in films like The Wolfman from 1941 and the 2010 remake, along with American Werewolf in London, there is a focus on the women they love trying to turn the beast back into a man.
What We Can Learn from Werewolf Lore
When looking at werewolf movies through this lens, many different themes begin to emerge. My Animal, When Animals Dream, and Curse of the Werewolf all focus on genetically inherited lycanthropy and grappling with those inherited traits. Wolf examines a werewolf transformation through a man experiencing a midlife crisis. Dog Soldiers, centered on the military, has interesting commentary around masculinity, teamwork, and leadership. While some are much more specific about a certain realm of identity or gender, they all speak to the very specific experiences of men and women.
Though the werewolf mythology can be very contradictory depending on the gender of the wolf, they do all tie in with socialization. We live in a society that still places too much emphasis on gender as a binary, that struggles to discuss sex, and asks many of us to go against our nature or be shunned by society. Men are often socialized to be aggressive and live up to certain masculine standards. Women are often socialized to be docile, hide sexual urges, and act in a way that is supposed to be alluring to men.
If we spent more time letting people follow what felt right and aligned for them, maybe there would not be so many confusing transformations as we move through each cycle of our lives. Perhaps we can make peace with the wolves inside of us and accept them as lovable. If there were less pressure for people to fit into specific boxes, maybe there would be less violence, more acceptance, and more freedom for the monstrous parts of us to be out in the open. We could forge our own paths forward and move more like a pack than predator or prey. The way forward could look different for each of us depending on our identity, but with a more empathetic society, we might be able to hold space for each other; wolf or not.
Categorized: Editorials
