Because to me, likeability means palatability. And specifically, how palatable these characters are to a patriarchal world that in many cases still like its women—both fictional and otherwise—to be supine and silent. We are to be nice. To be good. To be soft and yielding. To say we like it when we absolutely don’t. To be grateful and gracious. To swallow our anger and resentment. We aren’t to resist or fight, attack, or confront. We shouldn’t violate the social codes and norms that have offered a blueprint—really, a straitjacket—for women for generations.
