the Curse of the Werewolf - werewolf as puberty - final post for werewolves

Werewolf week is ending, as the Google books preview is rather short, so I will make one short final post on werewolves.
I think one reason werewolves are usually male, is that the 'transformation' is symbolic of male sexual development. The development of secondary sexual characteristics and increased hormones and sexual desire in young men probably seems very disturbing to them. Girls of course have lots of disturbing problems in puberty, but they are not the ones writing this fiction. (Until recent times.)
In the Curse of the Werewolf, the author relates the "body horror" film genre of the 1980's to the werewolf. In these films, (such as ones by David Cronenberg,) the body undergoes terrifying changes, and this is the source of the horror. The changing of ones body in strange and horrible ways does seem a very primal feeling, because all of us have grown into adults, and had strange things happen to us. The graphic novel Black Hole is about a disease that affects only teenagers, turning them into mutated monsters physically, but does not change their minds. The werewolf rather neatly fits into this same idea, a physical change one is helpless over, that occurs at a certain time.
Also notable: on this page which recommends various modern werewolf books, it seems the vast majority have 'graphic sex' and rather sexual covers. Strangely these books seem marketed towards women mostly. (Though women read more books, and more 'romance' books, so this could be the reason.) Perhaps to werewolf fans, the 'beastly' nature includes less inhibited sexuality, and that is part of the appeal.