Sometimes these superhero have an undertunes of "Oh, if only women were all as strong and brave as Buffy then equality would be a peace of cake. No idea why it's not working..."
A while ago, a friend of mine told me that they disliked how Lisbeth Salander was portrayed in GWDT and that entire trope. When I asked why, she said because men turn the woman into them, taking away from her what makes us women. Which I kept tossing about in my head, because when I first heard it...I felt myself bristle and get angry, defensive. But I began to think it over...and she has a point.
In the romance novels, women are not physically stronger than the men. We aren't. With few exceptions. I learned that lesson as a child fighting with my brother - realizing I could win a physical fight with him. But I could win a verbal battle. There were other ways to fight. Physical strength or power isn't the only type of power.
But in the stories like Girl with the Dragon or Buffy or the superhero tales many men tell...it appears that it is. The brave, physically strong hero who fights for the oppressed. The warrior woman, the amazon.
In reality, we fight in other more subtle ways.
In another conversation with a male coworker (who loves Breaking Bad and hates Mad Men, but can't stop watching it - he's the one I got the links from) - he said that Peggy was a piranha, she might as well get a sex-change operation and become a man. (this bothered me, but I've gotten past it...) Peggy has had to exude a physical strength, a ballsy aggression to obtain power. Very realistic in the work place. I've seen it over and over again. And I too, have had to do it.
Joan Harris, my male co-worker liked better (although he did not see this season yet, so that may change). But ...Joan breaks through the glass ceiling not with talent but with sex - or providing sex to a client, she sells her body not her brains, while Peggy can't break through the glass ceiling with her brains, and never will be able to with her body (she's not attractive to most men), so is forced to jump ship and hope she can find that success somewhere else.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2012-06-08 09:55 pm (UTC)Sometimes these superhero have an undertunes of "Oh, if only women were all as strong and brave as Buffy then equality would be a peace of cake. No idea why it's not working..."
A while ago, a friend of mine told me that they disliked how Lisbeth Salander was portrayed in GWDT and that entire trope. When I asked why,
she said because men turn the woman into them, taking away from her what makes us women. Which I kept tossing about in my head, because when I first heard it...I felt myself bristle and get angry, defensive. But I began to think it over...and she has a point.
In the romance novels, women are not physically stronger than the men.
We aren't. With few exceptions. I learned that lesson as a child fighting with my brother - realizing I could win a physical fight with him. But I could win a verbal battle. There were other ways to fight.
Physical strength or power isn't the only type of power.
But in the stories like Girl with the Dragon or Buffy or the superhero tales many men tell...it appears that it is. The brave, physically strong hero who fights for the oppressed. The warrior woman, the amazon.
In reality, we fight in other more subtle ways.
In another conversation with a male coworker (who loves Breaking Bad and hates Mad Men, but can't stop watching it - he's the one I got the links from) - he said that Peggy was a piranha, she might as well get a sex-change operation and become a man. (this bothered me, but I've gotten past it...) Peggy has had to exude a physical strength, a ballsy aggression to obtain power. Very realistic in the work place.
I've seen it over and over again. And I too, have had to do it.
Joan Harris, my male co-worker liked better (although he did not see this season yet, so that may change). But ...Joan breaks through the glass ceiling not with talent but with sex - or providing sex to a client, she sells her body not her brains, while Peggy can't break through the glass ceiling with her brains, and never will be able to with her body (she's not attractive to most men), so is forced to jump ship and hope she can find that success somewhere else.