Are Werewolves the Ultimate Woman?

By: Marlee Hargis 

We have always seen werewolves as big hulking men, ripping through their clothes and transforming into a hideous monster once the light of the full moon hits them. But the core of the werewolf lore is intrinsically feminine. Having to hide their true self, operating through monthly cycles, the connection to nature, these are all things often related to women. Then why are most of the werewolves we see men? Perhaps it’s linked to the violent and masculine edge of the wolf, or simply the sex appeal of a man getting his shirt ripped off.

Let’s get into the lore of the werewolf and how it might relate to the feminine. Werewolves are creatures that change from a man into a wolf, or wolf-like monster, in the presence of a full moon. The moon is the center of the world for a werewolf, and it has always been a big symbol of the divine feminine. It represents cycles, growth, renewal, and is heavily utilized among witches and other pagan faiths. The cycles of the moon emulate the cycles of the menstrual cycle; both being around twenty-nine days long, many cultures around the world believe the two are linked.

Women have always been aligned with nature, darkness, and otherness. From witches dancing naked in the forest to the crazy cat lady alone on a farm; they are ostracized, lowered, and made to hide who they are to fit into the world they are forced to live. Werewolves must hide who they are or they would be taken away or killed.

Mary Klages states in “Literary Theory” that poststructuralist feminist say that women are on the margins of the Symbolic order, not being anchored in place like men, they are closer to the imaginary. Just like werewolves are not quite man, not quite wolf, there are not secured into either category, merely exist on the outskirts of society.

Klages provides us these binaries to describe the Western phallogocentric culture: male/female, order/chaos, language/silence, light/dark, good/evil, she says the first term, relating to the masculine, is valued above the second term, which relates to the feminine. When we look at these, we can see that the second term can also be used to describe werewolves. They are chaotic creatures that have no language, act only in the dark, and are seen as evil.

 

I haven’t seen or heard of any female werewolves in all my consumption of media. Except for a book I picked up in middle school called Liar. It starts as a normal, slice of life book about a teenage girl who lies a lot. But halfway through (Spoiler Alert) we find out that she is a werewolf, and all the transformations of the wolves in this world revolve around the nearest she-wolf’s menstrual cycle. It was a welcomed disruption from a male-centered myth and worth the read. 

What does it say about our phallogocentric society that we took something that was clearly feminine and powerful and made it male-centered? Perhaps if women saw that they could be as strong and powerful as a wolf they would have been empowered to take charge and no longer live under the thumb of the patriarchy.