Rachael Eyre's Blog - Posts Tagged "female-representation"
Representation of women in popular franchises
As a fact junkie, I like to have two books on the go: the obligatory novel but also something non fiction. My non-fic book right now is Laura Bates's Everyday Sexism - and believe me, it doesn't make comfortable reading.
The chapter I'm currently reading examines female representation in girls' toys and magazines; the ubiquity of pink, princesses and Aryan appearance. Horrified by the lack of positive role models and diversity, I couldn't help but wonder: is the landscape all that different once they've grown up?
Exhibit A : Buffy Summers, protagonist of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She's smart, tough, knows her own worth and has beaten hundreds of paranormal beings. Although she often has a boyfriend - brooding vampire with a soul Angel, military lunkhead Riley - she puts her friends and family first. She's a proactive yet flawed character who proves a female lead can be every bit as heroic as her male predecessors.
Exhibit B: Bella Swan, protagonist of Twilight. She is the daughter of amicably divorced parents; she - what exactly does she do again? Bitches, whines, mopes and judges everyone around her. Amidst this packed schedule she finds time to fall in love with Edward Cullen, the only boy she deems worthy. Surprise surprise, Edward and his gorgeous, gifted family are vampires, though not the pernicious bloodsuckers of lore. (Indeed if Meyer had called them aliens or pixies, it would've made a heck of a lot more sense).
Bella is apparently amazing and special, despite this never being substantiated, and doing precisely nothing for the entire series. Even once she (least spoilerish spoiler ever) becomes a vampire, she is absolutely useless, and adored by all.
Imagine for a moment that you're completely unacquainted with teen culture from 1996 to the present. Reading these synopses, you'd be forgiven for believing that Twilight is a supernatural Fifties sitcom (a Bewitched rip off?) while Buffy, with its feminist credentials, is bang up to date. Depressingly, Buffy staked her last vamp in the mid 2000s. Bella is the purported role model for today's young women, spawning numerous imitators. Ana Steele, star of Fifty Shades of Gray? Bella as a Lit graduate, with similar codependency issues. (Who knows why - her paramour Christian is an even bigger creeper). Katniss Everdeen, semi psychotic "tribute" from The Hunger Games? Yes, she's stronger and more resilient than Bella, and a mean hunter to boot, but spends too much time dithering over her two beaux.
Nor does the outlook improve when you go elsewhere. Doctor Who was always the story of a man with a magical box, but his companions (the demeaning phrase "assistant" has been binned), tended to be bright, spirited women with lives outside their adventures. Since the revival, one companion after another has fallen for him, making him the centre of their world. Once or twice you can understand, but virtually every time? No man is that irresistible.
That is, unless he's the lead in a Steven Moffat franchise. His floppy haired, big collared misanthropes have two chief characteristics: overweening arrogance and babe magnetism. (That may well be why Tintin languishes in development hell; there is no way he can shoehorn these qualities onto the decent, compassionate and asexual boy reporter). Women in his shows are rarely more than plot devices, but one thing is certain - they'll be pulled into the hero's orbit before long.
Remember Irene Adler, the "Woman" of Sherlock Holmes fame? In canon, she outwits Holmes and her controlling ex, the King of Bohemia, so she can marry a humble solicitor. The reason for this mésalliance? Her new husband treats her with love and respect - unlike the King, who has had her stalked and burgled across Europe. In the Sherlock rewrite, "adventuress" translates as "lesbian dominatrix" - only her sexuality is miraculously forgotten when she meets Sherlock! If that's not offensive enough, she isn't even acting under her own steam: an agent of Moriarty, she's later rescued from execution by - you guessed it - Sherlock! Somehow a TV show from the Noughties manages to be more sexist and objectionable than a story from the 19th century.
Somehow, somewhere, writers have come to equate female strength with so-called "wiles", reducing women to sexy but disposable objects. Even the maligned Mary Sue - the sickeningly perfect female character so prevalent in fan fic - doesn't escape censure. An idealised woman is just as insulting and unreal as a pretty finger puppet; the incessant harping on how unusual she is makes female attainment seem like a fluke. Can you imagine a story where they kept commenting on a character's race or religion in this way?
It's shocking and saddening that the legions of female protagonists who should have followed Buffy have failed to materialise. What's stopping this generation of writers from creating fantastic heroines? Never mind the roulette of super powered guys in dodgy costumes; let's come up with women who are more than the stock figures of maiden, mother and crone. Why the hell should a woman have to choose between a fulfilling life in the real world and a man, a la Bella? She should be able to have it all.
The chapter I'm currently reading examines female representation in girls' toys and magazines; the ubiquity of pink, princesses and Aryan appearance. Horrified by the lack of positive role models and diversity, I couldn't help but wonder: is the landscape all that different once they've grown up?
Exhibit A : Buffy Summers, protagonist of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She's smart, tough, knows her own worth and has beaten hundreds of paranormal beings. Although she often has a boyfriend - brooding vampire with a soul Angel, military lunkhead Riley - she puts her friends and family first. She's a proactive yet flawed character who proves a female lead can be every bit as heroic as her male predecessors.
Exhibit B: Bella Swan, protagonist of Twilight. She is the daughter of amicably divorced parents; she - what exactly does she do again? Bitches, whines, mopes and judges everyone around her. Amidst this packed schedule she finds time to fall in love with Edward Cullen, the only boy she deems worthy. Surprise surprise, Edward and his gorgeous, gifted family are vampires, though not the pernicious bloodsuckers of lore. (Indeed if Meyer had called them aliens or pixies, it would've made a heck of a lot more sense).
Bella is apparently amazing and special, despite this never being substantiated, and doing precisely nothing for the entire series. Even once she (least spoilerish spoiler ever) becomes a vampire, she is absolutely useless, and adored by all.
Imagine for a moment that you're completely unacquainted with teen culture from 1996 to the present. Reading these synopses, you'd be forgiven for believing that Twilight is a supernatural Fifties sitcom (a Bewitched rip off?) while Buffy, with its feminist credentials, is bang up to date. Depressingly, Buffy staked her last vamp in the mid 2000s. Bella is the purported role model for today's young women, spawning numerous imitators. Ana Steele, star of Fifty Shades of Gray? Bella as a Lit graduate, with similar codependency issues. (Who knows why - her paramour Christian is an even bigger creeper). Katniss Everdeen, semi psychotic "tribute" from The Hunger Games? Yes, she's stronger and more resilient than Bella, and a mean hunter to boot, but spends too much time dithering over her two beaux.
Nor does the outlook improve when you go elsewhere. Doctor Who was always the story of a man with a magical box, but his companions (the demeaning phrase "assistant" has been binned), tended to be bright, spirited women with lives outside their adventures. Since the revival, one companion after another has fallen for him, making him the centre of their world. Once or twice you can understand, but virtually every time? No man is that irresistible.
That is, unless he's the lead in a Steven Moffat franchise. His floppy haired, big collared misanthropes have two chief characteristics: overweening arrogance and babe magnetism. (That may well be why Tintin languishes in development hell; there is no way he can shoehorn these qualities onto the decent, compassionate and asexual boy reporter). Women in his shows are rarely more than plot devices, but one thing is certain - they'll be pulled into the hero's orbit before long.
Remember Irene Adler, the "Woman" of Sherlock Holmes fame? In canon, she outwits Holmes and her controlling ex, the King of Bohemia, so she can marry a humble solicitor. The reason for this mésalliance? Her new husband treats her with love and respect - unlike the King, who has had her stalked and burgled across Europe. In the Sherlock rewrite, "adventuress" translates as "lesbian dominatrix" - only her sexuality is miraculously forgotten when she meets Sherlock! If that's not offensive enough, she isn't even acting under her own steam: an agent of Moriarty, she's later rescued from execution by - you guessed it - Sherlock! Somehow a TV show from the Noughties manages to be more sexist and objectionable than a story from the 19th century.
Somehow, somewhere, writers have come to equate female strength with so-called "wiles", reducing women to sexy but disposable objects. Even the maligned Mary Sue - the sickeningly perfect female character so prevalent in fan fic - doesn't escape censure. An idealised woman is just as insulting and unreal as a pretty finger puppet; the incessant harping on how unusual she is makes female attainment seem like a fluke. Can you imagine a story where they kept commenting on a character's race or religion in this way?
It's shocking and saddening that the legions of female protagonists who should have followed Buffy have failed to materialise. What's stopping this generation of writers from creating fantastic heroines? Never mind the roulette of super powered guys in dodgy costumes; let's come up with women who are more than the stock figures of maiden, mother and crone. Why the hell should a woman have to choose between a fulfilling life in the real world and a man, a la Bella? She should be able to have it all.
