Post by Oriana on Dec 2, 2017 19:42:32 GMT
Here’s an idea: Feminism has become a commodity
What can Supergirl and Agent Carter tell us about Feminism?
I feel like Supergirl and Agent Carter are interesting in that they are "Feminist Shows!" but... they're very forced about it?
Instead of actually having interesting female characters, are just a self congratulating about how 'progressive' they are.
Good example of something that does not do this, Wonder Woman. Or the BBC show The Sarah Jane Adventures. The SJ is badass, but the show never goes, oh, but she's a GIIIRL! Isn't that good of us making a GIIIRL COOOL!
and I think that's like... an interesting angle to pursue
There's this book I keep meaning to read. It's about the commodification of feminism, and how it's now like... a brand that things want to have?
We Were Feminists Once (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25898263-we-were-feminists-once)
I mean, look at Supergirl. Supergirl has a bunch of mother-figure villains, and one lesbiand couple. It has no trans characters, it has one twofer-token lesbian, it has no disabled female characters (disabled women being super-underrepresented). Almost every female character is thin, white, and conventionally beautiful-by-American-standards. This is like 1970s feminism. "Feminism" has... moved past that. Intersectionality matters, disability matters, it's not just about having lots of gender-flipped versions of male characters and calling it a night. It's a little weird that this is a "feminist TV show" acts as though sexism is evil evil men going "you women shouldn't do XYZ because you're women"
And that is somewhat absurd. There are still old white guys in power who understand that optics are a thing and that don't "want" to be sexist, it's just that [insert thing that has very similar consequences to just being sexist].
Wonder Woman has a strong, inspiring character who happens to be female, and it's not "also, by the way, let's talk about how SHE IS A WOMAN and how she could NEVER BEAT ME, A MAN, oh no, she BEAT ME, A MAN!"
the same is true of Agents of Shield, a very... casually feminist show, in a lot of ways. Like, Agents of Shield just up and wound up having a ton of female characters doing interesting things and having interesting arcs and it handled disability, and race, and beauty, and power, and mental health.
And did it fuck it up sometimes? Sure. But it didn't do those things and then pause, to pat itself on the back, because hey look we are SO GOOD AT THIS THING BECAUSE WE HAVE FEMALE CHARACTERS WE ARE SO GREAT! YOU GO GIRRRL!
Instead it just... like... did the thing. And then the thing was there. And it had been done.
There are also other things. Like, My Little Pony, for example, portrays what is an ambiguously matriarchal society. And... it doesn't sit down to talk about how sexism sexisms with sexism because sexism and GIRL POWER!
It just has people, and they have adventures. And is it ambiguously racist sometimes? I mean, sure. But it's also much better at being "feminist" than Supergirl and it doesn't spend time highlighting how feminist it is.
I mean look at Guardians of the Galaxy 2. That movie is surprisingly very hardcore feminist, and it never once stopped and went "oh look at me. I am feminism-ing".
Same goes for Deadpool when you think about it. Deadpool might be the most feminist solo Superhero movie… like, period? I mean, what is it running against? Thor? Thor 2? Iron Man? The Incredible Hulk? Captain America? Iron Man 2? Iron Man 3? Spider-Man's many iterations? Blade, maybe? Superman's many iterations? Batman's many iterations? I'm pretty sure Deadpool is more feminist than literally all of those movies. And that's... weird.
It almost seems like if you stop at every feminist aspect about your show to let everyone basks in how incredibly feminist you are, then you're probably not feminist enough.
Could we use this as a hook to talk about how token feminism is not only not feminism but actually bad feminism? (is it?) And how a lot of good depictions of feminism aren't noticeable for most people because they aren't as blatant or something.
That is very true about good feminism. And bad feminism is dangerous because rather than really saying that women are equal, by signally the sex of the protagonists, it almost says that women are not meant to be heroic, powerful, clever or witty, and that when appreciating this content it should be for the novelty of seeing that, rather than actual acceptance.
What can Supergirl and Agent Carter tell us about Feminism?
I feel like Supergirl and Agent Carter are interesting in that they are "Feminist Shows!" but... they're very forced about it?
Instead of actually having interesting female characters, are just a self congratulating about how 'progressive' they are.
Good example of something that does not do this, Wonder Woman. Or the BBC show The Sarah Jane Adventures. The SJ is badass, but the show never goes, oh, but she's a GIIIRL! Isn't that good of us making a GIIIRL COOOL!
and I think that's like... an interesting angle to pursue
There's this book I keep meaning to read. It's about the commodification of feminism, and how it's now like... a brand that things want to have?
We Were Feminists Once (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25898263-we-were-feminists-once)
I mean, look at Supergirl. Supergirl has a bunch of mother-figure villains, and one lesbiand couple. It has no trans characters, it has one twofer-token lesbian, it has no disabled female characters (disabled women being super-underrepresented). Almost every female character is thin, white, and conventionally beautiful-by-American-standards. This is like 1970s feminism. "Feminism" has... moved past that. Intersectionality matters, disability matters, it's not just about having lots of gender-flipped versions of male characters and calling it a night. It's a little weird that this is a "feminist TV show" acts as though sexism is evil evil men going "you women shouldn't do XYZ because you're women"
And that is somewhat absurd. There are still old white guys in power who understand that optics are a thing and that don't "want" to be sexist, it's just that [insert thing that has very similar consequences to just being sexist].
Wonder Woman has a strong, inspiring character who happens to be female, and it's not "also, by the way, let's talk about how SHE IS A WOMAN and how she could NEVER BEAT ME, A MAN, oh no, she BEAT ME, A MAN!"
the same is true of Agents of Shield, a very... casually feminist show, in a lot of ways. Like, Agents of Shield just up and wound up having a ton of female characters doing interesting things and having interesting arcs and it handled disability, and race, and beauty, and power, and mental health.
And did it fuck it up sometimes? Sure. But it didn't do those things and then pause, to pat itself on the back, because hey look we are SO GOOD AT THIS THING BECAUSE WE HAVE FEMALE CHARACTERS WE ARE SO GREAT! YOU GO GIRRRL!
Instead it just... like... did the thing. And then the thing was there. And it had been done.
There are also other things. Like, My Little Pony, for example, portrays what is an ambiguously matriarchal society. And... it doesn't sit down to talk about how sexism sexisms with sexism because sexism and GIRL POWER!
It just has people, and they have adventures. And is it ambiguously racist sometimes? I mean, sure. But it's also much better at being "feminist" than Supergirl and it doesn't spend time highlighting how feminist it is.
I mean look at Guardians of the Galaxy 2. That movie is surprisingly very hardcore feminist, and it never once stopped and went "oh look at me. I am feminism-ing".
Same goes for Deadpool when you think about it. Deadpool might be the most feminist solo Superhero movie… like, period? I mean, what is it running against? Thor? Thor 2? Iron Man? The Incredible Hulk? Captain America? Iron Man 2? Iron Man 3? Spider-Man's many iterations? Blade, maybe? Superman's many iterations? Batman's many iterations? I'm pretty sure Deadpool is more feminist than literally all of those movies. And that's... weird.
It almost seems like if you stop at every feminist aspect about your show to let everyone basks in how incredibly feminist you are, then you're probably not feminist enough.
Could we use this as a hook to talk about how token feminism is not only not feminism but actually bad feminism? (is it?) And how a lot of good depictions of feminism aren't noticeable for most people because they aren't as blatant or something.
That is very true about good feminism. And bad feminism is dangerous because rather than really saying that women are equal, by signally the sex of the protagonists, it almost says that women are not meant to be heroic, powerful, clever or witty, and that when appreciating this content it should be for the novelty of seeing that, rather than actual acceptance.