Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Are Cougars Vampires in Disguise?

 It's not just teenagers fascinated with vampires and the whole damn vamp culture.

We're all bitten by the lure of vampires in books, on TV and in the movies to the tune of millions reading The Passage by Justin Cronin and viewing True Blood and The Twilight Saga. (Is it the third or fourth in the Twilight series?)

The subject of vampires came up among a group of friends who range in age from late 40s to mid 60s. They, like our entire nation, are intrigued by vampires. Why? Well, according to Wikipedia, "The continuing popularity of the vampire theme has been ascribed to a combination of two factors: the representation of sexuality and the perennial dread of mortality." No wonder we're intrigued. Our national obsession with sexuality and how to remain young (i.e., mortality) makes vampire lusting almost instinctive. Sexuality and mortality? The two (often declining) powers fearlessly sought by most people over 35. (I do not need to go into detail here, do I?)

Following this description of vampires, I checked out the term Cougar in the Urban Dictionary [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=cougar]. Among its friendlier references, Urban Dictionary says a Cougar is "...A woman in her sexual prime who prefers to hunt rather than be hunted. A cougar's victims are usually under 25, as cougars prefer to mate with men who still have hair. Cougars generally feed and then continue hunting, as they enjoy role reversal." (Italics, mine.)

Is that, then, the fear and the lure of Cougars? Are we afraid of, and also do we shy away from the Cougar within us because we are attracted/repelled by the possibilities of Cougardom? Is it our puritanical beliefs that, once a woman reaches 35 her sexuality and her mortality are seriously on the decline?

I've got to tell you, when I first met SC (Sweet Cub) 13 years ago, I knew, even before he told me, that he was younger than I. But, I encouraged (yes, encouraged) the relationship. Why? Because I was attracted (i.e., sexuality) to his youth (i.e., immortality). Like a vampire, I could, by association, feel more attractive and younger. Voila! Big Duh! Not unlike the attraction to the cult of vampires.

WHY IS IT THAT... 
We continue to seek immortality, even as we realize we're born to die? Is it the desire for immortality that creates art, success, inventions... and children? Perhaps, like most fairytales, the cult of vampires teaches us a life lesson, which is that, in order to be immortal, we must succeed at something worth remembering.

With love and a wish that each of us attains some form of immortality,
-- Marilyn

2 comments:

  1. You've pointed out some very interesting parallels, Marilyn. Personally, apart from Buffy and a certain episode of The X-Files, nothing vampiric has ever appealed to me. As you know, I'm not a fan of the cougar label, but I like it far better than "vampire"... though I must admit, there IS a certain seduction in immortality...

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  2. Ahhh, yes, Lani. Seduction is the perfect word for immortality. All the talk about apocalypse and destruction always seems to fuel the rise of vampire intrigue. Dracula is the granddaddy, and he's still quite alive today :)

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