Vulnerability

A repost from long ago that followed up a rather air-headed post on my favourite terms in English. Well, skip the bad and go staight to the, er, better...

Another favorite word is "vulnerable." I vastly prefer this term to "weak" as a general attribute of heroines because (I think) it emphasizes what makes a damsel so desirable without disparaging them. Of course, most women are physically weaker than men (certainly than me at 6' 3" and 200 lbs), and of course if I use tricks like choloroform on a damsel then she is going to feel quite weakened and confused.


But more generally, vulnerability rather than out and out weakness more comprehensively describes what makes a heroine so attractive. That vulnerability can stem from sheer lack of physical strength, or else innocence and meekness, or excessive curiosity, all the way to a headstrong spirit that gets our intrepid heroine in a situation she can't handle herself, to the classic weaknesses of superheroines (kryptonite or what have you.) - These vulnerabilities are not character flaws -- they actually make the heroine a better person usually, all the more reason for one to be very focussed on her in peril.

Also - and this may or may not make sense -- as villainous as I am, a damsel in distress, even in fantasy, brings out very protective instincts even in a "cad" like me. I can't help it and I suspect most men can't -- we are hard wired to respond to females in trouble. This is the reason why, ladies, if you are ever pulled over for speeding, crying works better than showing a little leg. The protective instinct transcends (but does not replace) the more direct desires a man feels when he sees an attractive woman. It's a very chaste sentiment, actually: "Dans le véritable amour, c'est l'âme qui envelope le corps." (In true love, it's the the soul that surrounds the body.)

Every damsel in peril moment is a hit of such "true love." Even as a villain I feel it. It creates huge tugs of war when I really have to decide if a damsel in my (online) clutches is really going to snuff it or not (which of course is always resolved the right way). Her utter helplessness can be a tremendous source of power to her.

In real life I am not the diabolical fiend at all. I can recall very vividly being on the London Tube (Piccadilly line actually) in a crowded train and some guy was giving a woman (apparently his ex-girlfriend, although it was not clear) a rough time -- verbally. He was just laying into her, "who do you think you are" etc etc - it seemed that her crime was to reject him or she was unfaithful to him. She just had her head down, ashamed, and wasn't even answering back to his abusive onslaught. At any rate, whatever her offense, she didn't deserve public humiliation I thought. Everyone else was pretending this wasn't happening.

Finally the bloke says "And you know what? You're not even that pretty." At that point I just had had enough of this bully. That just crossed a line for me -- not sure why. Maybe because she was in fact quite attractive, but I hope I am better than that. Anyway, I just said, loudly, "Uh, I think you're wrong there, mate." So the guy starts challenging me to a fight (bad idea as I was younger, bigger, and certainly meaner). I declined his offer, long story short.
But out of the corner of the woman's mouth, in a whisper to me, after I had defended her looks, came a soft "thank you." I never saw her again of course. But I was high on that thank you for a week.