After viewing "The Mirror: The Phantom of the Opera and 20th Century Society" for a second time I realized that Olivia Haynes had broken Erik's character down into so many little pieces that ANYONE would be a stereotype if we did that to them. But with all of his traits TOGETHER, like he is in the story, HE"S NOT A STEREOTYPE! Besides if Erik were a women it would be perfectly fine for him not to get married and not to have kids.

No he's emphatic towards others like him and Christine gets drawn to his goodness, light and heart's desire for her because of that because of that :)

I know this and Feel this because I am a young woman and girl myself. It is the truth! for me especially that what draws me to a man like the Phantom who empathizes with his fellow men like him and I go haywire in mind and heart for his light and cherishment for good in others and his want to bring his light with mindfulness to enrich other men to that value and comfort those within his wall of the same kindred dream. That is what draws me to a man solidly and forever 100% truly and I'm young to by the way and much like the CinderBella which is what I am truthfully drawn to a man of enchantment but to be one with his heart and good light forever.

Guys, this has nothing to do with gender/sex/self identification. This has to do with people with disabilities. As a person with a few disabilities, I view the novel as a story where Erik is VISUALLY, in the sense of appearance, disabled. This could be to reflect how society sometimes treats those with mental disabilities, whether people "look" like they are or not, with disdain; and make them out to be less of a person, which may cause isolation as in Erik's case. People also do this with differences; they are afraid of the unknown. Because the characters in Leroux's novel had never encountered someone like Erik before, they were afraid of the unknown that came along with him. This has happened so often in history and has led to so much violence and destruction. Sorry if I sounded too defensive; as I mentioned before, I have a few disabilities of my own and get very opinionated when it comes to such topics.